Tuesday’s Puffin
Tuesday’s Puffin is full of grace.
Monday’s Puffin
Monday’s Puffin is fair of face.
Mice nibble #15
When arriving back at Einar I go through the same routine. It involves turning the electricity on: That wiring looks safe, doesn’t …
Peace to you
Orkney’s Italian Chapel is a jewel, a relic, a prayer and a tiny beacon of hope. It’s also a spectacular work of …
Pipping Pipits
Meadow Pipits are very common birds of farmland. It’s the most common songbird in upland Britain. They thrive in Orkney. They fly …
To bee or not to bee
There’s a bumble bee on this thistle. At least I think it’s a bee. Then I see its eyes. Its eyes are …
Once a decade, the Thistle Butterfly
The UK is full of butterflies at the moment. It’s a once in a decade phenomenon. Have you seen one? They are …
Technology
Arriving in Orkney by ferry is a great experience. We’ve got a day on the Mainland before heading to Westray on yet …
Honey Bee
No, not that kind of Honey Bee. The metaphorical Honey Bee. Back in 2013 I popped down to the beach with my …
2018 highlights of walking the Westray Coast 50
In 2017 I had a wild idea; I was going to walk the entire coast of the Orkney island of Westray in …
2018 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
My trips to Orkney in 2018 were full of wildlife surprises. I spent some time in the summer with the Black Guillemots …
Hedgehogs are to blame
There was a Hedgehog in my garden in Orkney. We all ran outside to see it and it curled up in a …
Common Seal in the 1970s
Leafing through my childhood scrapbooks I come across a drawing of a Common Seal. It has all the characteristics of a Common …
The Bird by Edwin Muir
Here’s another of my favourite poems by Orcadian poet Edwin Muir. The Bird Adventurous bird walking upon the air,Like a schoolboy running …
What did Barn Swallows do before barns?
Our UK Swallows are known as Barn Swallows in the USA. It’s a good name because they love nesting in barns. Here’s …
Swallow over the rainbow
I’ve seen some spectacular rainbows on Westray. Some have been fleeting. Some have been intense. Some have been full arcs which split …
Location of injury
Walking in the garden at the back of Einar I can see a mess of rotten wood painted green, tangled with chicken …
The most persecuted bird in Britain
I’m hoping to see a Hen Harrier today. I’m going to visit the Eddie Balfour hide on the mainland of Orkney. The …
There are stars in the daytime sky
There are Starlings in the sky. Their plumage sparkles like stars that twinkle in the daytime. Their green and purple iridescence is …
“…beside the lake are stones high and broad, in height equal to a spear, and in an equal circle of half a mile.”
At Stenness stands a stone circle over 4,000 years old. The stones are surrounded by a ditch cut into the bedrock. The …
The Secret Purple Sandpiper
Back in July I saw a wader on the rocky coast. I didn’t recognise it so I knew I had to get …
A Hen Harrier in my back garden
When a Hen Harrier came to visit
Westray Coast 50 – Day Five
My adventures on the fifth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
The Battle of Bere Bannock
The Battle of Bannockburn is a famous Scottish victory in the first Scottish War of Independence. Equally as momentous is the Battle …
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four and a Half
My adventures on the four-and-a-half-th of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four
My adventures on the fourth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Three
My adventures on the third of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Two
My adventures on the second of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day One
My adventures on the first of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Knots landing at the Peedie Sea
I’m wandering the shore at Kirkwall Harbour for an hour before the ferry takes me to Westray. I’m loving the complex singing …