A bird I’m still trying to identify
I took this photograph of a bird on the west coast of Papa Westray in Orkney last summer. At first I thought …
Dunters
Eider Ducks are called Dunters in Orkney. There are great floats of them off the coast. The males have done their job …
A bird I’m still trying to identify
I took this photograph of a bird on the west coast of Papa Westray in Orkney last summer. At first I thought …
Air rage
Spending time in nature really helps you appreciate it. I’ve had such a great summer on the gentle hills and cliffs of …
A juvenile Arctic Skua flypast
I have to say it. These juvenile Arctic Skuas are… a little bit ginger. It’s fabulous to watch them sweep imperiously past. …
Arctic Skuas v Arctic Terns
I’ve seen Arctic Skuas get into quite a few scraps this summer. There was the time one chased a Raven. Then the …
Kittiwake, Kittisleep
There’s a Kittiwake at the end of the pier where the Papa Westray ferry arrives. It’s stunning in the early morning light. …
Juvenile Arctic Skua
Arctic Skuas come to Orkney to breed. They’re kleptoparasites, attacking birds with fish and stealing their meal. They also attack people with …
Wave rainbows and bubble-bath seals
Seeing transient rainbows flicker into and out of life on the crests of waves is a magical feeling. At the north end …
Magnificent Mallimacks
There are Fulmars, called Mallimacks here in Orkney, on the wing at the pier on Papa Westray This one is flying a …
Rainbow Stormbird
Starlings need a brand refresh. I’m surprised they haven’t engaged a top London marketing firm to challenge public perceptions of them. Their …
Sitting pretty
A little further along the coast of Papa Westray I see an Arctic Skua sitting on a wall. It’s really not what …
Stumbling across a Great Skua
Great Skuas are one of my favourite birds. They are a constant delight as they patrol the shoreline, flying low and surprising …
Dunters on the waves
There are Common Eider ducks on the growing waves here on Papa Westray. Their colours are very understated. As soon as they …
The flight feathers of the Tappie Whaesie
How amazing is flight? These young Shags are just getting their new flight feathers. Some feathers are still emerging and unfurling. One …
A bit of singing and dancing
Black Guillemots are the connoisseur’s auk. If you find Puffins too gaudy, or Guillemots too dowdy, then Black Guillemots are for you. …
The gift of two summers
There are Arctic Terns fishing in uneven seas off Papa Westray. Their concentration skills are immense: Arctic Terns spend the northern summer …
Don’t try that old broken wing trick on me, Sandy Laverock
We’re walking around the north coast of Papa Westray. It’s one of the smaller inhabited islands of the Orkney archipelago. It’s full …
Blood-footed Oyster-pickers
There are Oystercatchers on Papa Westray and they intend to let us know that. As soon as we arrive, and walk into …
720 Auks make a mattress
Papa Westray is one of the few places in which the amazing, and sadly extinct, Great Auk bred. People often think that …
A trip on the Golden Mariana
Today’s the day we have a day trip to Papa Westray. We have two choices; a trip on a ferry called Golden …
A Caution to Everybody – The tragedy of the Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis. This magnificent bird was made extinct by humans in the 1850s. Were all those feather pillows worth their death?
Holland Farm from the air
Every time I visit Papa Westray I say “Next time I visit Papay I must have a look at all those beautiful …
St Anne’s Kirk, Papa Westray, from the air
I’ve got three cameras with me, sitting in the back of a four seater aircraft flying over the islands of Orkney. I’m …
A small island with a smaller island and a smallest island
Westray is a small island. Just off Westray is a smaller island; Papa Westray. Just off Papa Westray is an even smaller …
I sent my love two roses…
I’ve always loved wild roses. The cultivated varieties rarely do anything for me, especially in garage forecourts, but wild roses are something …
Hay Turner
It’s a long way from Papa Westray to a large landfill site or recycling centre so if it’s large, heavy or rusting …
Sharing a bench
On Papa Westray the wind knows how to blow. That means that anything that’s not tied down or cemented-in will eventually take …
A 5,600 year old picnic venue
The island of Papa Westray is just off Westray, part of the Orkney Islands just off the north-east coast of Scotland, part …
Holland
Today there’s time to visit Holland. No, not the province of the Netherlands, but Holland the farm on Papa Westray. It’s a …