Puffin icon
It was a very Puffin Christmas here. I received a Puffin Icon from the Puffin Whisperer. She used a solid wooden block …
Notes on a very small island
It was a very Puffin Christmas here. I received a Puffin Icon from the Puffin Whisperer. She used a solid wooden block …
We’re watching a kayaker paddle across Pierowall Bay with his fishing rod safely stowed when a motorboat comes past. Which one would …
A Fulmar from summer, sitting pretty on the top of a wall in the skeleton house. Its beached carcass and exposed ribs …
It’s hard to see that cliffs are dangerous from the top of them. Seeing the Island from the sea gives a completely …
Orkney is full of the evidence of master builders. Once stone is placed upon stone, then something is created which can last …
In August we went looking for the Scottish Primrose, Primula scotica. It’s one of the few plants which grows in Scotland and …
In 2020 I managed two trips to Orkney. I did it by self-isolating for two weeks before travelling and then taking all …
There was a solitary flower of what looked like Sea Mayweed on the rocks on the exposed coast of Westray this summer. …
In this time of darkness it’s pleasant to think back to the summer when, on glorious days, we would walk the coast …
One of my favourite photographs from Orkney is Sunset over Tafts. It sums up the surprising drama of a landscape, which is …
There’s a noisy young pipit on the rocks. It’s the perfect colour for these lichen covered rocks. It has a lovely delicate …
It’s a warm evening, bathed in orange light. I hear the call first. Then it’s the flypast. It’s a Curlew. There’s been …
There is a family of Wrens flitting along the field boundary in front of us. They’re working the margins for insects and …
There’s a rock pool fed with fresh water fram a tiny waterfall on the west coast of Westray. I love how green …
After seeing a couple of successful attacks by Great Skuas against juvenile Kittiwakes I feared the worst when this one strayed over …
I love walking the west coast of Westray. On a beautiful day there’s no place like it. I’ve been enjoying getting to …
If rocks could think and feel and see then life would be very different from their perspective. These rocks are so contorted, …
I look out of the window and I know something seriously weird is happening. It looks like the end of the world …
I had such a wonderful time last winter going to see Great Northern Divers in Brixham in Devon.
There’s a Swift at Noup Head on Westray. Swifts are called that for a reason. Can you see the fly it’s about …
I dream of Puffins. I dream of being out on the soft, grassy cliffs and being surrounded by quirky birds cocking their …
When you can see the horizon, on days when you can spin and see the sea and the clouds surrounding you, there’s …
Puffins are the size of pigeons. They can fly at up to 55mph. And they are always a joy to see. Puffins …
I’m walking the wild west coast of Westray again. It’s magnificent. For a few months each year it’s inhabited by Arctic Skuas, …
Of all the birds of the sea, the greatest fliers are the Fulmars: There is no bird so alive to the shifting …
We’re walking the coast of Westray when I see it perched there. “There!” I say to the Puffin Whisperer, as I crouch …
Gannets are big birds. On the cliffs they dwarf their Guillemot neighbours. They have fearsome beaks and could easily do you severe …
Noticing. It’s a newly fashionable word. I used to say observing. It’s something I do all the time. Noticing. The act by …
I spent many days with the Puffins on the coast of Westray this summer. All were a joy. Some days were too …
These Puffins have quite a lot to say to one another. They’re surprisingly social birds, with calls, displays and occasional disputes with …