The Grey Wagtail and making twitchers twitch
My old colleague Ken was very keen on birds. He seemed reluctant to divulge that he was a twitcher, perhaps out of …
Moles – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Forty years ago I was interested in molehills. They are tantalising glimpses of a hidden mystery. What animal might live underground and …
Mute Swan – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
It’s forty years since I drew this Mute Swan after seeing them, probably at the local park. Now here I am at …
Leftovers
There’s very little left of this carcass at Noup Head.
The Orkney Museum
I love the Orkney Museum in the centre of Kirkwall, opposite St Magnus Cathedral. One of the mind-blowing exhibits is a carved …
Blue Tit
Walking along an aerial boardwalk I see wonderful drawings of birds routered into the handrail. I love this one of a Blue …
Lapwing – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Today I’m in Exminster in Devon looking at a Lapwing across the sodden fields.
The lost sock
There’s a lost sock impaled on the barbed wire at Noup Head. The other one is probably still inside your duvet cover …
The ruins remain
On Westray the ruins of old buildings litter the farming landscape. Memories of the lives lived in joy and hardship linger around …
Rock pool gardens
The rock pools of Westray are magnificent underwater gardens. Here, red Coral Weed makes a frondy jungle.
Razorbill
I didn’t even see this Razorbill on the cliffs last summer at Noup Head until The Puffin Whisperer pointed it out to …
Russian Corks
There are corks jammed tight into the cracks in the rock in this Westray cave.
Cormorants – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Forty years ago on 17 August 1976, when I was a 12 year old boy, I saw Cormorants while on holiday in …
Fulmars
Fulmars look like gulls but aren’t. Look closer and they have strange adapted bills with tubes on their noses. Their countershading colouration …
Mute Swans – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
I was 13 years old when I saw a Mute Swan from the train. How do I remember that I was on …
Collapsing roof
With the weight of flagstones on the roof timbers, a Westray roof needs love and attention to keep it keeping the rain …
Drips
Drips of water run down the cliffs on Westray.
Green pool
Walking along Westray’s rocky shores through a rock arch and into and out of caves we come across this dripping waterfall with …
Westray sea cave
Wandering along the coast of Westray it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s in the cliffs below. Only when there’s a promontory can …
Evening Puffin
A Puffin at the Castle o’ Burrian as the low evening sunlight streams through the grey clouds.
Reading the runes
I love the Orkney Museum. Every time I go there I see something else that I’d bypassed on all previous visits. Here’s …
Dunnock – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
Dunnocks are beautiful birds but it’s hard to tell they’re so beautiful because they keep in the shadows, in hedges and under …
Earthballs – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
The Common Earthball is also known by the charming common name of the Pigskin Poison Puffball.
Family picnic on the grass
Editing a photograph from last summer makes me want to be on those cliffs again with these picnickers.