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 …
The Kelp Store
One of Orkney’s most important exports used to be the ash from Kelp, the seaweed which is regularly washed ashore by storms …
Holland Farmstead
Wandering on Papa Westray it’s impossible to miss Holland Farm. It’s a hugely impressive steading which once owned the island of Papa …
The shortest scheduled flight in the world
The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between Westray and Papa Westray (and, of course, the other way round). It’s in …
Steam Rollered
Wandering about on Papa Westray there are traces of old farming methods everywhere. There’s also an abandoned steam roller with the crumbling …
Grinding Stone
The farmstead at the Knapp of Howar is the oldest standing building in northern Europe. It’s been here for 5,600 years and …
Wooden gutters
I’d never even considered that gutters could be made out of wood in the UK. However, someone in Papa Westray thought it …