Fields like corduroy
I love the hay and silage fields on Westray. From above they look just like corduroy, with their parallel cords of cut …
What was this artificial island used for?
There are several large lochs on Westray. Naturally they’re in depressions in the landscape. The Loch of Burness is in a natural …
Scenes from the sea
It’s all about perspective. Looking at familiar scenes from a different place always makes you think more deeply about them. Similarly, seeing …
Grobust
Grobust is one of my favourite beaches on Westray. Can you see the bodyboarders with their bright boards? I love the slightly …
10 ways you know you’re in Orkney
10 ways you know you’re in Orkney Orkney is a very special place. What makes it so special? Here are ten ways …
Are these the most northerly cliff-nesting House Martins in the UK?
I spot a House Martin, Delichon urbicum, on the cliffs at the Castle o’ Burrian. That’s nice. Then I spot another one. …
Regatta Day
I love the Westray Regatta. I don’t understand which boats are which. I don’t know the rules. I don’t know where they …
The return of the pot-boiler
There’s a spot on Westray where a buried ruin of a house is being lost to the sea. Whenever there’s a storm …
Harbour Seals
Amazingly, there are limbs inside the fat-suit which seals wear. You would, however, be forgiven for thinking otherwise: This one is delicately …
Greta Gannet
We’re watching the Gannets at Noup Head when the Puffin Whisperer gets very excited. She’s seen one with an egg. The adult …
Puffling in a flap
It’s rare to see a puffling, as young Puffins are called. They’re usually hidden in their rock or earth burrows, safe from …
Noup in the mist
Noup Head lighthouse isn’t visible until we’re almost on top of it. There’s dew on the grass and on the purple flowers …
Skeldro, Chaldro or Shaalder
There’s a Skeldro, Chaldro or Shaalder, as the Oystercatcher is known in Orkney, in the air. It’s giving me what can only be …
Chasing Puffins
There’s a marked difference in the size of fish which Puffins bring to their burrows. I’m sure that they were bringing smaller …
Harsh life
We are at Noup Head watching the birds fly by. We get a close pass from a Great Black-Backed Gull. Aren’t they …
Goodbye to Puffins
Puffins have gone from our shores for another year. It’s been a wonderful summer with them and a pleasure to see them …
The first flight of the Kittiwake
Kittiwakes are one of my favourite birds. I love their delicate bills, their dipped-in-ink wings and their streamlined bodies. And their “Kittiwaaaak” …
A precarious life on the edge of a precipice
Who would have guessed that Gannet chicks could be so cute close up? Their white downy feathers are not quite as brilliant …
Mackerel with Einar’s rhubarb
All it takes is a silver spinner and Mackerel are tickling my line. I have my Robert Welch kitchen knives with me. …
The Short-Eared Owl makes another appearance
We’ve toured the Island today and our final destination is the Ouse. There were reports of a Short Eared Owl there earlier …
The Orcadian name for the Wren is the Wirran or Wrannock
The Orcadian name for the Wren is the Wirran or Wrannock. What brilliant names. I’ve just had a small Wrannock in my …
Bonxies on a boat
Great Skuas, Stercorarius skua, are known as Bonxies in Orkney. Their flashing go-faster white wing-stripes are a familiar sight as they patrol …
Giving lobster the ‘v’ s
The Lobster creels are groaning with Lobsters, Homarus gammarus, today. Not all of them are regulation size, so Stewart measures them carefully …
The pattern of Tangle dykes at Grobust
Westray has traces of a formerly thriving seaweed industry scattered above many of its shores. These kelp-drying walls are called tangle dykes, …
“…it meddles not with lambs or poultry, but for carrion and garbage none is more so.”
We have the largest gull in the world in the waters around our coast. And it is magnificent. The Fauna Orcadensis by …
Playing British Bulldog with the sheep of the Holm of Aikerness
The Holm of Aikerness is a series of small islets just off Aikerness, which is the northernmost tip of Westray, where the …
The struggle for survival
In the battle of Bonxie v Baakie there was only ever going to be one winner. It was the Bonxie. Here it …
Unattractive and covered in slime. But enough about me…
There’s a Three-Bearded Rockling, Gaidropsarus vulgaris, in the creel. It’s a spectacular fish, a relative of the Cod and Haddock, but very …
Partan and the famed red leather from Persia
I find crabs endlessly fascinating. We’re out on a creel boat and I’m enjoying seeing crabs being hauled in. How marvellous is …
Mallimacks
We’re aboard the Ailsa Jane and I’m taking advantage of the creel boat having a very low side where the creels get …