The One Minute Puffin Cure #7
Comical Puffins in golden sunlight on Westray: Recorded using a tiny remote control camera at the Castle o’ Burrian on Westray in …
Collapsed burrows
The headlands and inlets of Westray are covered in spongy tufts of damp grass. Beneath them lie normally invisible tunnels. They are …
Fulmars
The Fulmars look beautiful in this light. They look odd on land because they sit low down on their feet rather than …
The Fulmars of Backarass
We’re walking down past Backarass on Westray. It’s a special landscape of shattered rocks and still pools: The weather is fabulous and …
The North our home, the sea our friend #4
Earth exists in a goldilocks zone for life; the temperature is just right for liquid water. We are all here because of …
Pottering Puffins
I’m pottering and decide to have a look at this summer’s Puffin portraits. There are a few I haven’t developed yet. I …
The Orkney Ram
The three rams at Backarass are in a huddle. They are all fine, big boys but not quite yet of Derby Ram …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #6
It’s time for another One Minute Puffin Cure. Recorded using a tiny remote control camera at the Castle o’ Burrian on Westray …
Black Guillemot with a Butterfish
It’s a sparkling day on Westray. As we look out we can see a Black Guillemot on the waves. It’s caught a …
Magnificent Mallimacks
There are Fulmars, called Mallimacks here in Orkney, on the wing at the pier on Papa Westray This one is flying a …
Puffincoming!
Looking back at some of this summer’s Puffin photographs I find a sequence I really enjoy which I haven’t developed. How entertaining …
The North our home, the sea our friend #3
As soon as you look at the universe as a whole, everything looks very different. As soon as you look at something …
Grass of Parnassus
Scattered across the rough grass behind Rack Wick bay are delicate limpid flowers. They are Grass of Parnassus. It’s a plant of …
Parasiticus
Animal behaviour is happening all around us; curious acts, of ancient origin, repeated in ever-changing patterns. Living things are incredibly complex, but …
Rainbow Stormbird
Starlings need a brand refresh. I’m surprised they haven’t engaged a top London marketing firm to challenge public perceptions of them. Their …
Sitting pretty
A little further along the coast of Papa Westray I see an Arctic Skua sitting on a wall. It’s really not what …
Stumbling across a Great Skua
Great Skuas are one of my favourite birds. They are a constant delight as they patrol the shoreline, flying low and surprising …
Scootie Allan
On our walk around Papa Westray we are excited to see Arctic Skuas. At least we are until they attack us. There’s …
Dunters on the waves
There are Common Eider ducks on the growing waves here on Papa Westray. Their colours are very understated. As soon as they …
The flight feathers of the Tappie Whaesie
How amazing is flight? These young Shags are just getting their new flight feathers. Some feathers are still emerging and unfurling. One …
A bit of singing and dancing
Black Guillemots are the connoisseur’s auk. If you find Puffins too gaudy, or Guillemots too dowdy, then Black Guillemots are for you. …
The gift of two summers
There are Arctic Terns fishing in uneven seas off Papa Westray. Their concentration skills are immense: Arctic Terns spend the northern summer …
Nasal drift
“Dolphin!” I yell. “Dolphin!!!” I yell again, pointing as if my life depends upon it. The Puffin Whisperer looks at me from …
“I’m shy!”
Not everyone wants their photograph taken. Especially when you’re just getting ready to go out.
Don’t try that old broken wing trick on me, Sandy Laverock
We’re walking around the north coast of Papa Westray. It’s one of the smaller inhabited islands of the Orkney archipelago. It’s full …
In salutem omnium
Noup Head lighthouse is a major feature of the coast of Westray. Planned in 1895, it was announced in Parliament because, “Her …
Blood-footed Oyster-pickers
There are Oystercatchers on Papa Westray and they intend to let us know that. As soon as we arrive, and walk into …
720 Auks make a mattress
Papa Westray is one of the few places in which the amazing, and sadly extinct, Great Auk bred. People often think that …
A trip on the Golden Mariana
Today’s the day we have a day trip to Papa Westray. We have two choices; a trip on a ferry called Golden …
A floating circus
I’ve heard of a travelling circus. I’ve heard of a flying circus. But a floating circus? That’s a new one on me. …