Respiratory choreography
Air pollution because of road traffic is something which affects us all. Some people suffer particularly badly. Air pollution kills 7 million …
The North our home, the sea our friend #2
The north end of Westray is completely different from the south. There are bare cliffs, epic rock features and spectacular waves. Here’s …
The North our home, the sea our friend #1
In Latin, that’s ‘Boreas domus, mare amicus’. It’s the motto of Orkney. Isn’t the sea amazing? It’s the power and the fragility, …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #5
Puffins are hunted by Great Skuas (known in Orkney as Bonxies). The Bonxies patrol the coast and appear, low and fast, unseen …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #4
Alfred Schnabel, the incredible digging Puffin, almost throws himself off the cliffs in his Herculean efforts to dig grass roots out of …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #3
Puffins are delightful to watch. The more you watch, the more you notice. The more you notice the less you understand. We …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #2
It takes an extraordinary amount of time to keep in tip-top waterproof condition when you spend your time in the salty ocean. …
The One Minute Puffin Cure #1
I met a German tourist at the Castle o’ Burrian on Westray in Orkney. He’d just been to see the Puffins. His …
Sunday’s Puffin
And the Puffin that hatches on the Sabbath dayIs bonny and blithe and good and gay.
Saturday’s Puffin
Saturday’s Puffin has a fight at a party.
Friday’s Puffin
Friday’s Puffin laughs loud and hearty.
Thursday’s Puffin
Thursday’s Puffin has far to go.
Wednesday’s Puffin
Wednesday’s Puffin is full of woe.
Tuesday’s Puffin
Tuesday’s Puffin is full of grace.
Monday’s Puffin
Monday’s Puffin is fair of face.
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 …
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 …
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.