Kleptoparasitism
Why bother fishing when you can steal another bird’s fish? Arctic Skuas are adept at kleptoparasitism. I’m on Papa Westray for the …
Fish delivery
On the North Sea coast of Westray the Puffins nest in old rabbit holes and their own earth burrows. On the Atlantic …
The Atlantic coast
The west coast of Westray is the Atlantic coast. The east coast of Westray is the North Sea coast. It’s possible to …
Finding a Cooter-neb
The Razorbills along the Westray coast make a spectacular sight. Their dramatic Emo-Puffin plumage is glorious against the dark rocks. The Orkney …
Butterfish incoming!
I’ve been enjoying the Black Guillemots on Westray this summer. Here’s one bringing a Butterfish, Pholis gunnellus, or Rock Gunnel, into its …
Common Cormorant v Shag
One of the trickiest id challenges for me when I re-started birding was telling the difference between a Common Cormorant and a …
Owl across the road
As I drive back to the house I spot a Short-Eared Owl on a fence post. I swing the car into the …
The Sand Messengers return
It’s a joy to see the Ruddy Turnstones have returned from their brief trip to the most northerly coasts on Earth. The …
North Sea spray on an Atlantic Puffin
My friend Martin and I are on Papa Westray for the day and we are both entertained by the Puffins flying along …
Diving Gannet and Noup Head
It’s a distant view of Noup Head lighthouse from the bay, but when I see a Gannet circling I know just the …
Nestled in a hollow and surrounded by Sea Pinks
It was lovely to see an Eider Duck incubating its five eggs in the middle of an exposed field at the far …
Always take your camera with you
One of my friends says, “Always take your camera to the supermarket”. It’s a wise suggestion. I’m outside in beautiful weather when …
Brightening a grey day
Linnets always brighten a grey day.
Lapwing in a field
I’ve wanted to take a photograph of a Lapwing like this, but not like this, for years. As I drive past the …
Eider flypast
Eiders are fast, powerful flyers. They can reach 70mph, so successfully photographing one in full flow is always tricky. Tricky, but worth …
Where Golden Roseroot proliferates
As soon as I saw Golden Roseroot, Rhodiola rosea, I assumed it was a garden escapee. It’s a brightly flowering succulent; surely …
Shocking a Shag
I appear to be standing in a place which Shags usually land to dry and preen and be social. That can be …
Linties
A pair of Linnets is a constant joy. Especially when the male is singing from a perch in my garden. The female …
Laverick in heather
There’s precious little heather moorland left on Westray. Most of the land has been converted to pasture with a monoculture of grass, …
Noise to weight ratio
There’s a Wren on a post. I wouldn’t have seen it if it wasn’t for the enormous volume of its call. Wrens …
Soon, Sangar Mill will be lost forever
I’ve visited Sangar Mill before. It’s a tiny windmill which was built in the 19th Century and which was still used to …
Dropping in for a bath
I’m crouching down on shattered bare rocks in the desolate far north of Westray trying to get a photograph of a Ringed …
Mallimack in Sea Pinks
A garden of Sea Pinks makes every bird photograph look better. This incubating Fulmar has the perfect vantage point, surrounded by a …
Floating Eider
I’ve been enjoying floats of Eider Ducks all around Westray this summer. Occasionally I’ll see a group of males hassling a female. …
Kits
Young Rabbits are such perfectly packaged bundles of protein that it’s no wonder Rabbits need to breed like… well, Rabbits. Some parts …
Green fields and red legs
Westray truly is the land of a million stabs. That’s what the wooden fence posts are called here. They’re perfect perching posts …
Teeick
I’m grateful to a Hooded Crow for rousing this Lapwing into a frenzy of protest. It’s been circling, complaining, and swooping at …
Twite
There’s a Pennine Finch on barbed wire. That’s a cue for me to lift my lens up: Lovely, aren’t they?
Watery Pleeps
There’s a Watery Pleeps overhead. At least that’s what an Orcadian would call it. South it would be a Redshank and internationally …
The rabbit chase
Ravens love a choice cut of Rabbit. Skin on. There can be over twenty of them in the dunes at the Sands …