Common Bulbul calling “doctor-quick doctor-quick be-quick be-quick”
There’s just time before sundown to visit the lake a few hundred metres from my tent. One of the most common birds …
Fifty people under a tree
Our volunteer literacy programme with Kenya Connect today is for a group of parents with children from 0 to 5 years old, …
The goat-sellers at Wamunyu market
We’re heading to Wamunyu Market on our way back to Kenya Connect’s headquarters building. It’s clearly an experience our Kenyan partners want …
African Woolly-Necked Storks at the lake
It’s the evening after a busy day volunteering in Kenyan schools for Kenya Connect. We have dinner together at Muthoki Country Lodge …
‘I Love Trucks’ on a school visit in Kenya
My colleague Liz suggests I might like to read to the literacy class today. I’d love to. If only I’d had chance …
Birding back at camp
There’s very little daylight left after a full day volunteering in Kenyan schools, but I intend to make the most of it. …
My Kamba name is…
My English name is David, but everyone here needs to have a Kamba name. We’re amongst the Kamba tribe here in one …
Our first Kenyan school visit
We’re at Kenya Connect‘s Headquarters in Wamunyu. We’re preparing for our first school visit. I’m cutting out 60 Elmer the Elephants in …
Kenyan faces
There are many things to love about Kenya. The sincerity of the people. The lack of cynicism. The beautiful faces. Kithoto Women …
Basket weaving with Kithoto Women Group, Kyeengai
We are on the Institution Bus again, in rural Kenya, headed out from Wamunyu along dirt roads to Kithoto Women Group in …
Mr Bonface’s Curio Shop
We’re having a visit to Mr Bonface’s curio shop. It’s a gloriously arranged tin shack with a beautiful Zebra painting on the …
A visit to the Wamunyu Handicraft Cooperative Society
Our volunteering in Kenyan schools doesn’t start until tomorrow, yet we have a full programme of activities planned. One of our first …
Welcome to my tent for the week
We’ve arrived in Machakos county in Kenya after our journey from Nairobi. We’ve passed one of the largest shanty towns and seen …
Mango and matcha with a Black Kite display
It’s lunchtime on our trip to Wamunyu in Kenya and the out-of-town shopping centre is modern and wholesome. There are security checks …
Bushbuck
There’s what looks like an East African Bushbuck on the forest edge. They’re elusive and solitary and brilliantly camouflaged. It’s unusual to …
The fascination of Anubis Baboons
Being a Baboon seems like quite a fun lifestyle. At least if you’re a male. There’s a nursing female carrying an infant …
Elephant bath time
It’s Elephant bath time at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi. There’s excitement in the small, quiet crowd as a herd of …
Notty the Zebra
We’re at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi for a brief visit. We’ve stopped off on our way to our volunteering assignment …
Tytan the baby Black Rhino
I’m in Kenya volunteering on a literacy programme with a charity called Kenya Connect. We’re on our way from Nairobi, heading east …
My first day in Kenya
I’m off to Kenya volunteering on a literacy programme based in Wamunyu, two-hours east of Nairobi. I’m going to be with colleagues …
Tree Sparrow
I’ve seen Tree Sparrows before. I visited Tree Sparrow farm to see them. That’s how sadly depleted their population is.
Swallow on a mission
It’s mud-hut-building time for the Swallows of Westray. Whether it’s a new nest or urgent repairs to an old one, the Swallows …
Polenta
Polenta is a quartet of three fiddles and a guitar and I was delighted to be asked to photograph them at the …
Rainbow Stormbird
Starling is a good name, but I prefer the title Rainbow Stormbird. I think it suits them better. They’re busy collecting food …
Sunset over Einar (again)
I’m out to see the Puffins at the Castle o’ Burrian on Westray.
The pace of life
I recently filmed a bird at 120 frames per second. I decided to slow it down to 24 frames a second to …
Dramatic chase as Sandwich Tern pursued by Arctic Skuas
It’s a stunning day at Mae Sands, or, as one Westray inhabitant insists it is called, the Sands o’ Maesan. It’s a …
Aimée Leonard and the Orkney Folk Festival Choir
It was a pleasure to photograph Aimée Leonard as part of Orkney Folk Festival in Stromness Parish Church. What a great venue …
Common Tern feeding time
There’s been a Common Tern in Pierowall Bay for a while now. It loves to sit out in full view of the …
Sunset over Einar
If you’re new here, Einar is the name of my house on Westray.