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Westray, Page 4

Notes on a very small island

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

Perching Linnet

I loved seeing this male Linnet perching on the wind-burnt twigs in the garden of Einar this summer. He’s a beautiful sight …

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

Raven

Have you ever looked at a photograph and seen something in it which you didn’t see at the time you took it? …

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

Lovely Linnets in the garden

Each year at Einar, the Linnets build their nests and raise their chicks. It takes two weeks from laying to hatching and …

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

Fledgling Rock Pipit

I’m climbing down the shallow cliffs to the sea to take photographs of Puffins in flight when I hear the usual pipping …

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

Tracing the outlines

I’m tracing the outlines of a barnacle city on the rocks of Westray’s shore. The outlines remind me of looking down on …

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

Puffins

Here’s a small collection of some of my previously unposted Puffin shots from this summer. Little sweetheart: Don’t look now, but I …

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

One dramatic evening

It’s a dramatic evening, already quite dark, yet this Fulmar is still flying. The sun is lighting up the high clouds with …

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

Sundogs and Skuas

There’s an Arctic Skua hunting Puffins for their fish. The weather is stunning, with interesting clouds making rainbow sundogs either side of …

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

Final Puffin evening

It’s time to head out to the Castle o’ Burrian to see the Puffins for a final time. The light is unexpectedly …

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

King of the Castle o’ Burrian

It’s been great to watch the Puffins this year. This one was collecting last-minute bedding for its Puffling. The air must get …

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

Razorbill – with fish!

I’ve seen hundreds of Puffins with beak-fulls of fish recently, but it’s still a rarity to watch a Razorbill fly past fully-laden …

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

Working Westray #3

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray. Cass, the vet, has come out to the island to scan …

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

Kittisleeps

Fledgling Kittiwakes are littering the inlets and cliffs of Westray. They seem like they are playing, delighted with their wings, whirling around …

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

Chasing

Once species chasing another is the order of the day. Inter-species conflict is breaking out all over the island. We’ve had an …

Ringed Plover - The Hall of Einar

How low can you go?

I’d like you to have a look at two of my photographs, taken a minute or two apart. They are of a …

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

Synchro Puffin

Synchro Puffin should be a new Animal Olympics sport. Or should that be Animalympics? Maybe not, that was a cartoon. These two …

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

Working Westray #2

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray. I’m in a spacious garage in Pierowall with Edith of Westray …

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

Juvenile Puffin flypast

I’ve taken a few thousand photographs of Puffins flying past me in the past few days. Most of them have fish in …

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

Twinkle twinkle little Puffin

Evenings are special when the sun sets slowly over the North Sea. Puffins gather in huge floats in the bay and fly …

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

Outbuilding Sparrows

There’s a male House Sparrow chirping insistently on a bare patch of ground. He’s fluffed up his belly and is enjoying the …

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

Leave only footprints

They say ‘Take only photographs, leave only footprints’. The Dunlin wading in the mud in the pools at the north end of …

Red-Throated Diver - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Red-Throated Diver

I had a message that there was a Red-Throated Diver, Gavia stellata, in one of Westray’s many bays a few days ago. …

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

Working Westray

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for the first in my series on Working Westray. Here’s my good neighbour Alistair sharpening one of …

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

The Arctic Skua family

The Arctic Skuas on the Westside have a chick. It appears to be bigger than they are. It’s easy to see the …

Ringed Plover nest - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Ground-nesting Sandy Laverock

There’s a Ringed Plover nest here, next to the footpath, near the coast: I can tell that because, as I walk past, …