The lack of trees on Orkney has meant that generations of people have relied upon driftwood and whalebone for building materials. Orkney’s Neolithic settlements had driftwood and whalebone roofs covered in turf over 5,000 years ago. Here’s a whalebone from a 50ft Sperm Whale washed onto one of Westray’s beaches. This one’s not much use [...]
It’s wonderful to see that the Swallows who visit Orkney in the Summer to breed have done so well. There are at least three nests in the outbuildings here and the young are learning to catch flies on the wing and perching around the house. I don’t think that catching flies here can be too [...]
Worm casts at the Sands of Woo.
A cycle ride to Mae Sands and a picnic of bread, cheese and water with a nice apple. Mae Sands is so close to the Knowe o’ Skea, the Iron Age burial site that a trip round the headland is a must. I sit and look out across the water with the island of Rousay [...]
It’s late at night and I’m sitting on the wide window ledge in the kitchen. The light is on and the curtains are open. I’m reading. There’s the sound of pitter patter on the window – the perfect sound of large raindrops hitting the glass. It’s a romantic sound to me, speaking volumes of the [...]
No, not that kind of circus. I mean Circus cyaneus, the Hen Harrier. Sitting in the window seat looking over the fields and out to sea I see a huge brown raptor flying towards Einar. It looks like a chunky owl until I see the characteristic white rump and long tail. With a wingspan of [...]
Gannets have started breeding on the Noup Head cliffs and are taking over many of the narrow ledges and expanding the number of breeding pairs each year. I sit on the edge of the cliffs and look down.
A 16 metre-long adult Sperm Whale beaching its carcase on the Bay of Tuquoy in 2007 was a source of much excitement on Westray. An adult male of 60 to 80 years old like this is a wonderful sight. Unfortunately, it took two years of putrefaction of rancid fat giving a stench of smelling-salts proportions [...]
When you move to an abandoned house there are always inhabitants who need to be evicted. Some are simply guests. Some are unwanted relatives and others are fierce squatters. Woodlice in the lamp shades. Spiders in the bath. Mice in the understairs cupboard. Birds in the hall. Wonderful primitive bristletails on the windowsills. In this [...]
Grey seals strike ridiculous poses in Pierowall Bay.
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