Winner, winner, chicken dinner
I’m delighted that I’ve won a prize in the inaugural Orkney Nature Festival Photography Competition 2026.
My image, Black Guillemot flying past with a Butterfish, won first prize in the Terrestrial Animals of Orkney category. I’m particularly delighted that the prize is sponsored by Ola Gorie, whose jewellery I adore. I’ve been collecting her cuff-links for years. My favourites are a pair of silver ones from 1979. I’ve bought old pieces of jewellery by Ola at auction and bought new ones in Kirkwall. It’ll be wonderful to receive something from their collection.
I’ve been delighted that the competition has been featured on the BBC’s website:
Here’s a link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cre30pkpn0w3o
It’s currently on the BBC Scotland home page:
It’s a shame the BBC chose to credit me only as ‘David’ rather than ‘David at the Hall of Einar’, which is my full name for photography purposes.
A greater shame is that my dad, whose encouragement means I entered some photography competitions in the first place, has dementia which has progressed to such a point that he’s not really able to understand the success. I’m sure he’d be thrilled. He loved a good competition. Congratulations to all five of the other category winners and the six runners up. There are some beautiful images.
More adventures on safari in Kenya
Kenya has many species of Heron Here's a Rufous-Bellied Heron. It's one of the many species of Heron in the wetlands here. It has a beautiful… read more
African Green Pigeon There's an African green pigeon, Treron calvus, at the top of this tree. I can hardly believe its colour. What a… read more
The Long-Crested Eagle awaits us I'm glad that I've learned never to turn my camera off or to put my lens hood on until I'm… read more
A Lilac-Breasted Roller perched and waiting Lilac-Breasted Rollers are chunky birds. They also have unusually large heads. I particularly like the long tail streamers which the… read more
A Saddle-Billed Stork and its dangling wattles The Saddle-Billed Stork or Saddlebill, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, is a truly huge bird. It's 4' 9" to 4' 11" tall. That's taller than my… read more
A Yellow-Throated Longclaw There are many yellow birds here in Kenya. It's a brighter world. Red, orange and yellow pigments are ones which… read more
A fluffy young Zebra Seeing Zebras at a watering hole in the Masai Mara is a pleasure. It's dry work munching the parched vegetation… read more
A Striped Skink I expected to see many more reptiles in Africa. I thought there would be snakes and reptiles with four legs… read more
Southern Ground Hornbills There's a massive bird as big as a Turkey wandering through the close-cropped grass. It has a strange-shaped bill, a… read more
Common Drongos Today's another chance for me to appreciate Common Drongos. They have distinctive forked tails and intense red eyes set in… read more
Lilac-Breasted Roller attack Sometimes there's such an extraordinary moment and it seems impossible that you could have captured it. There's a dispute between… read more
Grey Crowned Crane It's one metre tall and has a two metre wingspan. It has a ridiculous crown. It has an inflatable red… read more