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Westray, Page 3

Notes on a very small island

Short-Eared Owl - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Owl across the road

As I drive back to the house I spot a Short-Eared Owl on a fence post. I swing the car into the …

Ruddy Turnstone - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Sand Messengers return

It’s a joy to see the Ruddy Turnstones have returned from their brief trip to the most northerly coasts on Earth. The …

Gannet - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Diving Gannet and Noup Head

It’s a distant view of Noup Head lighthouse from the bay, but when I see a Gannet circling I know just the …

Curlew - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Always take your camera with you

One of my friends says, “Always take your camera to the supermarket”. It’s a wise suggestion. I’m outside in beautiful weather when …

Lapwing - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Lapwing in a field

I’ve wanted to take a photograph of a Lapwing like this, but not like this, for years. As I drive past the …

Eider Duck - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Eider flypast

Eiders are fast, powerful flyers. They can reach 70mph, so successfully photographing one in full flow is always tricky. Tricky, but worth …

Shag - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Shocking a Shag

I appear to be standing in a place which Shags usually land to dry and preen and be social. That can be …

Linnet - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Linties

A pair of Linnets is a constant joy. Especially when the male is singing from a perch in my garden. The female …

Skylark - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Laverick in heather

There’s precious little heather moorland left on Westray. Most of the land has been converted to pasture with a monoculture of grass, …

Wren - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Noise to weight ratio

There’s a Wren on a post. I wouldn’t have seen it if it wasn’t for the enormous volume of its call. Wrens …

Arctic Skua - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dropping in for a bath

I’m crouching down on shattered bare rocks in the desolate far north of Westray trying to get a photograph of a Ringed …

Fulmar - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Mallimack in Sea Pinks

A garden of Sea Pinks makes every bird photograph look better. This incubating Fulmar has the perfect vantage point, surrounded by a …

Eider Ducks - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Floating Eider

I’ve been enjoying floats of Eider Ducks all around Westray this summer. Occasionally I’ll see a group of males hassling a female. …

Rabbits - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Kits

Young Rabbits are such perfectly packaged bundles of protein that it’s no wonder Rabbits need to breed like… well, Rabbits. Some parts …

Redshank - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Green fields and red legs

Westray truly is the land of a million stabs. That’s what the wooden fence posts are called here. They’re perfect perching posts …

Lapwing - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Teeick

I’m grateful to a Hooded Crow for rousing this Lapwing into a frenzy of protest. It’s been circling, complaining, and swooping at …

Twite - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Twite

There’s a Pennine Finch on barbed wire. That’s a cue for me to lift my lens up: Lovely, aren’t they?

Redshank - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Watery Pleeps

There’s a Watery Pleeps overhead. At least that’s what an Orcadian would call it. South it would be a Redshank and internationally …

Raven and Great Black Backed Gull - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The rabbit chase

Ravens love a choice cut of Rabbit. Skin on. There can be over twenty of them in the dunes at the Sands …

Arctic Skua - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dark morph

Arctic Skuas come in several different colour varieties. Here’s the darkest: Aren’t the feather patterns on its underwings beautiful? They’re elegant and …

Swallow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Swallows and streamers

Scientists have placed Swallows into wind tunnels and studied the aerodynamics of their flight. Their long tail streamers appear to help their …

Sea Pinks - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Hearts and Sea Pinks

The Sea Pinks are at their quivering best and this tight group in a cosy crevice has a heart-shaped stone for company. …

Raven - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A world turned upside down

Ravens are wary birds. They recognise humans from a huge distance and fly away, because all of those who didn’t have been …

Oystercatcher Nest - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Like pebbles on a beach

Every beach on Westray has a different character. There are pure white shell sand beaches which wouldn’t be out of place in …

Pied Wagtail - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A pied landscape

Out past the beach and the relative calm of the Bay of Swartmill is a shattered and splintered landscape of monochrome rocks …

Linnet - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Industrious Linnets

I love to see Linnets, with their bouncing flight, and constant twittering. They are nesting in my garden again.