The advantages of species extinction
It was both sad and entertaining to see that BBC Bitsize, the BBC’s resource for school children, had a list of the …
The Third Ladybird Book of British Birds – #12 The Herring Gull
I’m currently reading the third volume of the Ladybird Book of British Birds and their nests from the 1950s. Times have changed: …
Are these the most northerly cliff-nesting House Martins in the UK?
I spot a House Martin, Delichon urbicum, on the cliffs at the Castle o’ Burrian. That’s nice. Then I spot another one. …
The return of the pot-boiler
There’s a spot on Westray where a buried ruin of a house is being lost to the sea. Whenever there’s a storm …
Harbour Seals
Amazingly, there are limbs inside the fat-suit which seals wear. You would, however, be forgiven for thinking otherwise: This one is delicately …
Greta Gannet
We’re watching the Gannets at Noup Head when the Puffin Whisperer gets very excited. She’s seen one with an egg. The adult …
Puffling in a flap
It’s rare to see a puffling, as young Puffins are called. They’re usually hidden in their rock or earth burrows, safe from …
Noup in the mist
Noup Head lighthouse isn’t visible until we’re almost on top of it. There’s dew on the grass and on the purple flowers …
Skeldro, Chaldro or Shaalder
There’s a Skeldro, Chaldro or Shaalder, as the Oystercatcher is known in Orkney, in the air. It’s giving me what can only be …
Chasing Puffins
There’s a marked difference in the size of fish which Puffins bring to their burrows. I’m sure that they were bringing smaller …
Harsh life
We are at Noup Head watching the birds fly by. We get a close pass from a Great Black-Backed Gull. Aren’t they …
Goodbye to Puffins
Puffins have gone from our shores for another year. It’s been a wonderful summer with them and a pleasure to see them …
Knees up Meadow Brown
There’s a Meadow Brown butterfly, Maniola jurtina, on Angelica, Angelica sylvestris, at the Castle o’ Burrian. It makes a lovely scene.
Silage and Hay
I’ve enjoyed seeing the meadows being cut on Westray this summer and then being baled and wrapped. The skill of the farmers …
The first flight of the Kittiwake
Kittiwakes are one of my favourite birds. I love their delicate bills, their dipped-in-ink wings and their streamlined bodies. And their “Kittiwaaaak” …
A precarious life on the edge of a precipice
Who would have guessed that Gannet chicks could be so cute close up? Their white downy feathers are not quite as brilliant …
Mackerel with Einar’s rhubarb
All it takes is a silver spinner and Mackerel are tickling my line. I have my Robert Welch kitchen knives with me. …
The Short-Eared Owl makes another appearance
We’ve toured the Island today and our final destination is the Ouse. There were reports of a Short Eared Owl there earlier …
A male Hen Harrier hunting
We’ve come to look for the Short-Eared Owl. Instead, as I pull up the car, there’s a male Hen Harrier heading over …
“The flesh of the stare is very bitter”
This week I’m reading Reverend George Low’s Fauna Orcadensis from 1813. Today it’s the entry on the Starling: This is a harmless, …
The corby betakes himself to the precipices
There’s a raggedy Raven in the skies. I’ve been reading the Reverend George Low’s Fauna Orcadensis from 1813 on the Raven. It’s …
The Orcadian name for the Wren is the Wirran or Wrannock
The Orcadian name for the Wren is the Wirran or Wrannock. What brilliant names. I’ve just had a small Wrannock in my …
Bonxies on a boat
Great Skuas, Stercorarius skua, are known as Bonxies in Orkney. Their flashing go-faster white wing-stripes are a familiar sight as they patrol …
Giving lobster the ‘v’ s
The Lobster creels are groaning with Lobsters, Homarus gammarus, today. Not all of them are regulation size, so Stewart measures them carefully …
“…it meddles not with lambs or poultry, but for carrion and garbage none is more so.”
We have the largest gull in the world in the waters around our coast. And it is magnificent. The Fauna Orcadensis by …
Sanday Sunday and a 5,000 year old tomb
I hesitate to tell you about my trip to Sanday. It was awful. I don’t want to paint the island in a …
Playing British Bulldog with the sheep of the Holm of Aikerness
The Holm of Aikerness is a series of small islets just off Aikerness, which is the northernmost tip of Westray, where the …
The struggle for survival
In the battle of Bonxie v Baakie there was only ever going to be one winner. It was the Bonxie. Here it …
Unattractive and covered in slime. But enough about me…
There’s a Three-Bearded Rockling, Gaidropsarus vulgaris, in the creel. It’s a spectacular fish, a relative of the Cod and Haddock, but very …
Partan and the famed red leather from Persia
I find crabs endlessly fascinating. We’re out on a creel boat and I’m enjoying seeing crabs being hauled in. How marvellous is …