…you’re sure of a big surprise
The instructions our Slovenian guide, Miha, gives us are impeccably clear. He speaks in Italian first, then checks our nationalities and speaks …
If you go down to the woods today…
We’re going to see wild Brown Bears in Slovenia. That means taking a first-class train from Rome to Venice, picking up a …
One dramatic evening
It’s a dramatic evening, already quite dark, yet this Fulmar is still flying. The sun is lighting up the high clouds with …
Working Westray #4
It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray. I’m at the harbour and Willie is repairing the hull of …
Sundogs and Skuas
There’s an Arctic Skua hunting Puffins for their fish. The weather is stunning, with interesting clouds making rainbow sundogs either side of …
Final Puffin evening
It’s time to head out to the Castle o’ Burrian to see the Puffins for a final time. The light is unexpectedly …
The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #41
Joanne Coates – Daughters of the Soil
Juvenile Peregrine pursued by Arctic Skuas
I hear a loud Keeeeoww; a scream coming from above me. I manage to get its source in my viewfinder. It’s a …
King of the Castle o’ Burrian
It’s been great to watch the Puffins this year. This one was collecting last-minute bedding for its Puffling. The air must get …
Razorbill – with fish!
I’ve seen hundreds of Puffins with beak-fulls of fish recently, but it’s still a rarity to watch a Razorbill fly past fully-laden …
Working Westray #3
It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray. Cass, the vet, has come out to the island to scan …
Kittisleeps
Fledgling Kittiwakes are littering the inlets and cliffs of Westray. They seem like they are playing, delighted with their wings, whirling around …
Chasing
Once species chasing another is the order of the day. Inter-species conflict is breaking out all over the island. We’ve had an …
Feeling the breeze on your belly
Why do I like birds? A large part of it is that they make you feel intensely, vibrantly, alive. Seeing individuals going …
How low can you go?
I’d like you to have a look at two of my photographs, taken a minute or two apart. They are of a …
Synchro Puffin
Synchro Puffin should be a new Animal Olympics sport. Or should that be Animalympics? Maybe not, that was a cartoon. These two …
Working Westray #2
It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray. I’m in a spacious garage in Pierowall with Edith of Westray …
Juvenile Puffin flypast
I’ve taken a few thousand photographs of Puffins flying past me in the past few days. Most of them have fish in …
Twinkle twinkle little Puffin
Evenings are special when the sun sets slowly over the North Sea. Puffins gather in huge floats in the bay and fly …
The Black Guillemots of Aikerness
I’ve had a few trips recently to the far north of Westray. It’s a great place to go as it’s too far …
Outbuilding Sparrows
There’s a male House Sparrow chirping insistently on a bare patch of ground. He’s fluffed up his belly and is enjoying the …
Red-Throated Diver
I had a message that there was a Red-Throated Diver, Gavia stellata, in one of Westray’s many bays a few days ago. …
Leave only footprints
They say ‘Take only photographs, leave only footprints’. The Dunlin wading in the mud in the pools at the north end of …
Working Westray
It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for the first in my series on Working Westray. Here’s my good neighbour Alistair sharpening one of …
The Arctic Skua family
The Arctic Skuas on the Westside have a chick. It appears to be bigger than they are. It’s easy to see the …
North Ronaldsay and ‘the invention that saved a million ships’
It’s my only chance this year to go to North Ronaldsay from Westray. There’s an inter-island excursion, with a ferry which goes …
Ground-nesting Sandy Laverock
There’s a Ringed Plover nest here, next to the footpath, near the coast: I can tell that because, as I walk past, …
Oystercatchers in buttercups and bill-tip clines
Eurasian Oystercatchers are loud in volume and loud in plumage. There are no words for skulking, camouflage or whisper in the Oystercatcher’s …
Gannetry
There’s a Northern Gannet colony at Noup Head on Westray. Whenever there’s a breeze in the right direction the Gannets appear at …
Sunset through the haar
It’s easy to forget the time when you’re immersed in nature. When the light is this orange, though, you know it must …