Russian Corks
It’s getting more and more unusual to find Russian corks on the beaches and sea caves on Westray. Here are some sheltering …
Seal haul
In Pierowall on Westray in Orkney, the seals haul themselves up onto the rocks in the Bay. They lie scattered like the …
Edwin and the shipwreck cabin
Westray is a small island and has some really interesting characters; Edwin Rendall is one of them. My theory is that everyone …
Udal Law
The law on who owns what land isn’t as simple as you might think. Living in a country with a name like …
Windows
I love the windows of the old buildings on Westray in Orkney. The stonework is wonderful, the walls are so deep and …
Oystercatcher – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
It’s over forty years since I first saw Oystercatchers and noted it down in my nature notebooks: I was probably on a …
Tentative
Arriving at Einar, the cattle are always keen to see what’s happening. They approach me with tentative noses:
The Bay of Skaill
On a glorious day on Westray this boat on the Ouse on the Bay of Skaill makes a beautiful scene:
Curious wet nose
Westray is a farming and fishing island, with wildlife largely confined to the edges and margins. It is a very productive island with green fields and very healthy-looking cattle.
Here’s a curious wet nose:
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?
Green-haired Limpet
I suspect this Limpet has been experimenting with a new hairstyle. That green hair must be quite high maintenance, because the waves …
Razorbills
Looking back at my photographs from 2017 I come across some which I haven’t posted. They are Razorbills. They nest along the …
Bridled Guillemot
Looking back at my photographs from Westray in 2017 I’m struck by this beautiful Bridled Guillemot. It’s a Guillemot, Uria aalge, but …
Identifying Goose Barnacles on a floating wheel
Walking the coast of Westray I can see a yellow plastic wheel floating in the sea among the seaweed and flotsam and …
2017 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
2017 was a wonderful year for wildlife experiences in Orkney. In July the seabird city at Noup Head was a whirling, wheeling …
Cud
The sheep on Westray are hardy beasts. Here’s one with a white face doing what a sheep does best; chew:
Driftwood
There are precious few trees on Westray. Wood for buildings was a scarce material and driftwood was always salvaged by Islanders and …
Hoverflies on the Biting Stonecrop
Biting Stonecrop is a wonderful plant. It grows on the stone walls at Einar, creeping along the stone with small succulent leaves …
Foam and spray
The coast of Westray on any day is invigorating:
Too much for dinner
The seals on Westray always look in such good condition when I see them: I’m hoping that’s because the seas are clean …
Plastic ocean
The coast of Westray is beautiful. Beautiful, but blighted. It’s the recipient of plastic rubbish from across the ocean. There are more …
Trouble With Lichen
There’s lichen everywhere on Westray. It shows how clean the air is here, how salt-tolerant lichen is and also how difficult it …
Green Shore Crab
Have you ever noticed that crabs have their head inside their body? That can feel a little weird if you think about …
The linguistic displacement of Ravens
There’s a Raven’s nest in this ruinous building on Westray:
Ravens are special because, just like humans, they display linguistic displacement; they can communicate using language about objects far away in space or time.
That’s what I’m doing now, with you.
Swallowing a flatfish
This gull is about to swallow this flatfish whole: I’m not sure I can watch.
Vanessa through the ages
This summer I saw a Red Admiral butterfly in high winds feeding on Westray in Orkney: The scientific name of the Red …
The last call of the wilderness
Curlews are a familiar site on Westray. Their distinctive ‘Whaup whaup’ can seem very eerie when it echoes around the Island. The …
Going over the top; walking the coast of Westray
Westray is full of Neolithic, Iron Age and Bronze Age middens; rubbish dumps full of wonderful finds. If you live on a …
Sniff my fingers
Grey seals are very distinctive. This one was hauled out at Broughton in Pierowall. They have that famous Roman nose: I first …
Domestic
Puffins live so close together that there are frequent small territorial acknowledgements and disputes. They also pair for life so there are …