Fulmar at sunset
The sun is already half-way down past the horizon when this Fulmar flies past, lit up with glorious low golden light.
the natural history of Westray
The sun is already half-way down past the horizon when this Fulmar flies past, lit up with glorious low golden light.
Fortunes were built on the stuff. Entire estates and magnificent country houses like Tyntesfield near Bristol were funded by it. People are …
Have you ever wondered how Gannets manage to dive into the water at such incredible speeds and yet seem to survive without …
Swallows seem unearthly. Their flight is so elegant, so fast and so controlled they seem as if they inhabit a different world. …
A seal at Pierowall is wary of me and watches out of the corner of its eye.
The Twa Corbies is a favourite ballad of mine, so I’m delighted to see two Ravens on the cobble and pebble beach …
Washed up on the shore at the Bay of Skaill is this beautiful jellyfish.
She wishes she could find a starfish here; I go looking for one and find one. She thinks it’s because she wished for it; I think it’s because I looked for it.
Spotted a Green Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis at the Bay of Skaill.
A Hermit Crab emerges from its shell, pincers first; it’s just like me getting out of bed in the morning.
A ragged-tailed Fulmar is alive to every variation in the breeze as the sun sets at Noup Head.
The evening is idyllic. Sunshine, hail, rain and a double rainbow in just five minutes. The gusty wind means the Gannets are …
At school I chose to take Geography A Level and due to the intricacies of the timetable, which only one man was …
All Limpets start life as neuters and develop into males at about a year old. When they get to between 4 to …
There’s a Raven perched at the back of Einar. By the time I get my camera it is already in flight. I …
Bones picked clean, floats, driftwood branches and strange objects all collected in a box; I love beachcombing.
There’s a juvenile Sanderling on the rocks. It pitter-patters busily among the seaweed. Suddenly I realise there are a flock of them …
Cars are a danger to wildlife. On the road back from Pierowall there is a Hedgehog corpse. Forty years ago I spotted …
Beadlet Anemones are vicious territorial monsters. There are both male and female anemones and each of them can become pregnant on their …
It takes a lot of courage or stupidity (at least what counts as that in the so called First World) to put …
Common Seals are wonderful and wild animals. This one at Broughton is yawning and showing its teeth perfectly; three front teeth, one …
The seals at Broughton on Westray are curious.
It appears that Westray Wildlife will be continuing their two-for-one offers for the remainder of the month. :)
It’s the afternoon and the seals are out in force at Broughton on Westray. From all appearances they seem to have had dinner; at least that’s what I look like after I’ve had mine.
Forty years ago today I was happy with my head in a rock pool and beach-combing in South Wales. Today I’m happy …
Forty years ago today I was 12 years old and combing the beaches in Tenby looking for interesting finds for my nature …
Forty years ago my nature notebooks show that I wasn’t just observing the natural world but I was prodding it and poking …
Forty years ago I was a 12 year old boy and was busy writing my nature notebooks. I made detailed drawings of …