The lost sock
There’s a lost sock impaled on the barbed wire at Noup Head. The other one is probably still inside your duvet cover …
The ruins remain
On Westray the ruins of old buildings litter the farming landscape. Memories of the lives lived in joy and hardship linger around …
Rock pool gardens
The rock pools of Westray are magnificent underwater gardens. Here, red Coral Weed makes a frondy jungle.
Razorbill
I didn’t even see this Razorbill on the cliffs last summer at Noup Head until The Puffin Whisperer pointed it out to …
Russian Corks
There are corks jammed tight into the cracks in the rock in this Westray cave.
Cormorants – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Forty years ago on 17 August 1976, when I was a 12 year old boy, I saw Cormorants while on holiday in …
Fulmars
Fulmars look like gulls but aren’t. Look closer and they have strange adapted bills with tubes on their noses. Their countershading colouration …
Collapsing roof
With the weight of flagstones on the roof timbers, a Westray roof needs love and attention to keep it keeping the rain …
Drips
Drips of water run down the cliffs on Westray.
Green pool
Walking along Westray’s rocky shores through a rock arch and into and out of caves we come across this dripping waterfall with …
Westray sea cave
Wandering along the coast of Westray it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s in the cliffs below. Only when there’s a promontory can …
Evening Puffin
A Puffin at the Castle o’ Burrian as the low evening sunlight streams through the grey clouds.
Family picnic on the grass
Editing a photograph from last summer makes me want to be on those cliffs again with these picnickers.
Wrinkled and cracked
The exposed rocks of Westray are endlessly fascinating even if you’re not a geologist.
Puffin watchers
Looking back at my photographs from the summer I found this one. I’m a keen photographer of the Puffins on Westray: I …
Fish scales at Snaky Noust
‘Scattered fish scales of Osteolepis are common at Snaky Noust.’ From the wonderful Westray Heritage Centre.
Wet pebbles
The pebbles are beautiful and wet inside the mouth of this sea cave on Westray.
Frozen Moment
The sea on Westray is so clean and clear when the waves crash and it bubbles and foams in the air.
Telegraph insulator
I recognised this piece of pottery on a Westray beach instantly. It’s that bit attached to a telegraph pole which insulates it. …
Diamonds under your feet
I love the way Westray’s flagstones break naturally into diamond shapes over their surface.
Colourful seaweed
I always had a sneaking suspicion that seaweed was all that strange brown colour. Not so. Just look:
Lapwings – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
As a child I remember seeing upwards of 500 Lapwings in a field on many occasions. I remember the ‘pee-wit’ sound they …
It’s getting late at the Bay of Tafts
I love sunsets at the Bay of Tafts. The sun is getting lower and there’s a warm glow in the sky.
Once the roof goes…
Once the roof goes, the walls are sure to follow.
Seaweed on the shore
All it needs is a little rough weather and the beach at Grobust is filled with beautiful seaweed.