Two-Barred Crossbills from Russia
The three male Two-Barred Crossbills we saw on Westray created quite a stir. Rare Crossbills on the Links The next day we …
Declining Kittiwakes
The weather is dramatic and so are the Kittiwakes calling below: They are such refined and elegant birds. Their families are growing …
Rescuing a thirsty Hedgehog
Rescuing a thirsty Hedgehog from the road and having a heartmelting few minutes as we give it a much needed drink.Filmed on …
Razorbills
Our first trip out to see the Razorbills, Alca torda, is a success: we can see them: There’s even a brief chance …
Good Gannets above!
Noup Head is an exciting place to be when the Gannets are flying: They are massive: When the weather conditions are just …
Razorbill and Puffin meet
I’m sitting on the cliffs of Westray on a beautiful day. I’m wearing full camouflage. I’ve been taking photographs of birds as …
An afternoon with the Black Guillemots
Black Guillemots are stunning birds in their summer breeding plumage. Here on Westray they nest on the cliffs and crags, with eggs …
Rock Pipit speaking with its mouth full
There’s a Rock Pipit on the cliffs on Westray: It’s incredibly well camouflaged visually: I say visually, because it just won’t be …
Posing for Puffin Portraits
I’ve opened a photographic studio here on Westray. No, not for people, but for Puffins. I have a range of natural backdrops, …
Kittiwakes are calling
Kittiwakes are the most beautiful and delicate of the gulls. Their yellow beaks, black legs, dark eyes and plaintive call are so …
Great Black Backed Gull
Great Black Backed Gulls are gulls, yet on an epic scale. Seeing one coming towards you is quite a sight: That’s some …
Spotted by a Skua
Seeing an Arctic Skua is like witnessing a mythical bird come to life. If they didn’t exist they would have to have …
Linnets on the wind-burnt Sycamore
There are Linnets on the tops of the wind-burnt Sycamore trees in my garden: They love being up high on bare, exposed …
When I see a Mallimack walk
“I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band I seen a needle that winked its eye But I be done seen …
Wren on the coast
The wild North Sea coast of Westray in Orkney is not for the feint hearted on a blustery day. There are Fulmars …
Rare Crossbills on the Links
I get the word that there’s a rare bird on the Island. In fact there are three of them; they are Two-Barred …
Groatie Buckies
On the table in the Groatie Buckies cafe on Westray, run by Stewart and Marian Groat, is a jar of Groatie Buckies. …
Seal haul
In Pierowall on Westray in Orkney, the seals haul themselves up onto the rocks in the Bay. They lie scattered like the …
Oystercatcher – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
It’s over forty years since I first saw Oystercatchers and noted it down in my nature notebooks: I was probably on a …
A Caution to Everybody – The tragedy of the Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis. This magnificent bird was made extinct by humans in the 1850s. Were all those feather pillows worth their death?
Green-haired Limpet
I suspect this Limpet has been experimenting with a new hairstyle. That green hair must be quite high maintenance, because the waves …
Razorbills
Looking back at my photographs from 2017 I come across some which I haven’t posted. They are Razorbills. They nest along the …
Bridled Guillemot
Looking back at my photographs from Westray in 2017 I’m struck by this beautiful Bridled Guillemot. It’s a Guillemot, Uria aalge, but …
Identifying Goose Barnacles on a floating wheel
Walking the coast of Westray I can see a yellow plastic wheel floating in the sea among the seaweed and flotsam and …
2017 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
2017 was a wonderful year for wildlife experiences in Orkney. In July the seabird city at Noup Head was a whirling, wheeling …
Hoverflies on the Biting Stonecrop
Biting Stonecrop is a wonderful plant. It grows on the stone walls at Einar, creeping along the stone with small succulent leaves …
Too much for dinner
The seals on Westray always look in such good condition when I see them: I’m hoping that’s because the seas are clean …
Trouble With Lichen
There’s lichen everywhere on Westray. It shows how clean the air is here, how salt-tolerant lichen is and also how difficult it …
Green Shore Crab
Have you ever noticed that crabs have their head inside their body? That can feel a little weird if you think about …
The linguistic displacement of Ravens
There’s a Raven’s nest in this ruinous building on Westray:
Ravens are special because, just like humans, they display linguistic displacement; they can communicate using language about objects far away in space or time.
That’s what I’m doing now, with you.