I’ve visited Sangar Mill before. It’s a tiny windmill which was built in the 19th Century and which was still used to thresh oats and bere barley in the 1950s. I even managed to get my photograph of it on a biscuit box, which I count as a huge success: …
I’m crouching down on shattered bare rocks in the desolate far north of Westray trying to get a photograph of a Ringed …
A garden of Sea Pinks makes every bird photograph look better. This incubating Fulmar has the perfect vantage point, surrounded by a …
I’ve been enjoying floats of Eider Ducks all around Westray this summer. Occasionally I’ll see a group of males hassling a female. …
Young Rabbits are such perfectly packaged bundles of protein that it’s no wonder Rabbits need to breed like… well, Rabbits. Some parts …
Westray truly is the land of a million stabs. That’s what the wooden fence posts are called here. They’re perfect perching posts …
The scientific name of the Grey Seal is Halichoerus grypus. The title of this post may tell you what the translation of that …
I’m grateful to a Hooded Crow for rousing this Lapwing into a frenzy of protest. It’s been circling, complaining, and swooping at …
There’s a Pennine Finch on barbed wire. That’s a cue for me to lift my lens up: Lovely, aren’t they?
There’s a Watery Pleeps overhead. At least that’s what an Orcadian would call it. South it would be a Redshank and internationally …
Ravens love a choice cut of Rabbit. Skin on. There can be over twenty of them in the dunes at the Sands …
Arctic Skuas come in several different colour varieties. Here’s the darkest: Aren’t the feather patterns on its underwings beautiful? They’re elegant and …
Scientists have placed Swallows into wind tunnels and studied the aerodynamics of their flight. Their long tail streamers appear to help their …
The Sea Pinks are at their quivering best and this tight group in a cosy crevice has a heart-shaped stone for company. …
Ravens are wary birds. They recognise humans from a huge distance and fly away, because all of those who didn’t have been …
Every beach on Westray has a different character. There are pure white shell sand beaches which wouldn’t be out of place in …
Out past the beach and the relative calm of the Bay of Swartmill is a shattered and splintered landscape of monochrome rocks …
I love to see Linnets, with their bouncing flight, and constant twittering. They are nesting in my garden again.
It’s a dull day but I’m forcing myself to go out. If you only ever went out on sunny days in Orkney, …
I’ve abandoned the car and I’m exploring some of the abandoned buildings of Westray. This building has what must be a piece …
It’s rare for me to photograph Dunlin. They’re normally too far away and I don’t want to disturb them. It’s only if …
As soon as I walk anywhere on the coast of Westray, there’s a noisy complaint. The Shaalders, or Scolders, are out, and …
Wheatears are back on Westray. They’ve made their way from Africa to Westray to raise their families in hollows, rabbit burrows and …
South Devon is a special place, full of beautiful coves, red sandstone cliffs, flooded river valleys and a history of seafaring and …
I’m fascinated by the senses and consciousness of other species. They inhabit such strange ‘other’ worlds. Judging by how fascinated this Grey …
I’m walking in the far north of Westray. I’ve been scrambling up cliffs, walking across rocky beaches and yomping across grassy fields. …
I’d like to know if there’s some research about the angle of dive which different tern species use. Is the angle they …
It would be easy to think, as an outsider, that Orkney is a single place. It isn’t. It’s a whole series of …
Sometimes Oystercatchers call out in alarm as I approach. Sometimes they fly and harass me. Sometimes they just sit and watch. This …
Walking, cycling or driving around Westray is accompanied by Skylarks tinkling and fluttering in the air. They’re either buried deep in cover, …