Earthballs – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
The Common Earthball is also known by the charming common name of the Pigskin Poison Puffball.
The Common Earthball is also known by the charming common name of the Pigskin Poison Puffball.
Editing a photograph from last summer makes me want to be on those cliffs again with these picnickers.
Here’s my nature notebook entry from 1976 about Jays: ‘You can not get near them,’ I said. It’s still true. However, with the wonder of modern telephoto lenses, large numbers of megapixels, and heavy cropping, it appears now that you can.
The exposed rocks of Westray are endlessly fascinating even if you’re not a geologist.
Looking back at my photographs from the summer I found this one. I’m a keen photographer of the Puffins on Westray: I …
‘Scattered fish scales of Osteolepis are common at Snaky Noust.’ From the wonderful Westray Heritage Centre.
The pebbles are beautiful and wet inside the mouth of this sea cave on Westray.
The sea on Westray is so clean and clear when the waves crash and it bubbles and foams in the air.
I bought my first SLR camera when I was 11 from my neighbour Ron for £6. It was a massively heavy Russian …
Mandarin Ducks are one of the most spectacular birds in existence. They are originally from the Far East and were introduced to …
In life Saint Olaf was a violent and brutal warlord; a killer Viking who lived 1,000 years ago. Yet he’s a Christian …
I love the description of Long-Tailed Tits that I wrote in my nature notebooks forty years ago: They really are a very …
I recognised this piece of pottery on a Westray beach instantly. It’s that bit attached to a telegraph pole which insulates it. …
When I was eleven years old I joined my local natural history and microscopical society. The next youngest member was called Darwin …
I love the way Westray’s flagstones break naturally into diamond shapes over their surface.
I always had a sneaking suspicion that seaweed was all that strange brown colour. Not so. Just look:
Forty years ago I was excited to see every mushroom or fungus I could find. Even something as plain as Dacrymyces deliquescens …
Forty years ago I drew a Snipe. I was 13 years old and probably copied it out of a book I borrowed …
It was foggy.
As a child I remember seeing upwards of 500 Lapwings in a field on many occasions. I remember the ‘pee-wit’ sound they …
I love sunsets at the Bay of Tafts. The sun is getting lower and there’s a warm glow in the sky.
Once the roof goes, the walls are sure to follow.
I remember reading as a small child that Black Headed Gulls don’t have black heads; they’re chocolate brown, and only that colour …