When language is lacking
I’m on the deck of the Northlink ferry from mainland Scotland to Mainland Orkney when I see a black fin in the …
Fungus upon fungus
As soon as you begin to look at the natural world there are never-ending chains of relationships between living organisms. The classic …
Wheatears – nothing to do with wheat, ears or even ears of wheat
The name Wheatear sounds so romantic, so descriptive and so elegant. Wheatear. In fact the name is a polite form of its …
Mr Punch
It’s Mr Punch on the rocks on Westray.
Barquentine Thalassa
The Northlink Ferry from Scrabster on the Scotland mainland to Stromness on the Orkney Mainland is always entertaining, thankfully in a good …
Taking a selfie with the Old Man
There’s a crowd on the deck of the Northlink Ferry from Scrabster to Stromness. We’re passing the Old Man of Hoy, scene …
The magic of a Merlin
At the very north of Westray the coast is exposed. In the far distance I can see a falcon. It’s so far …
Twite
There are small brown birds on the lichen-covered rocks on the coast of Westray. It takes me a while to identify them. …
Redshanks
Redshanks must be one of the most annoying birds for British birdwatchers. They are beautiful, active, entertaining to watch and have great …
Puffins on the rocks
It’s good to enjoy the Puffins while we can. They are critically endangered. They are ‘red listed’ which means they are at …
A load of Bronze Age bollards
The Links of Notland is such an amazing place for archaeology. It has a huge neolithic settlement, site of the discovery of …
Compass Jellyfish
I’ve been very lucky with jellyfish this summer on Westray. The jellyfish haven’t been quite so lucky. This looks like a Compass …
The Fulmar Triathlon
Fulmars are one of my favourite birds. All animals have some sort of compromise in their bodies because of the range of …
Sea Rocket
Sea Rocket covers the top of many beaches on Westray. Cakile maritima has either white or a pinky-lilac shade of flowers. It …
Bright-line Brown-eye Moth caterpillar
There’s a green caterpillar on the sand of The Ouse. It’s got a bright yellow line along its side and tiny black …
Orkney door handle
In Orkney wood rots and metal rusts. Door handles fall off. A piece of twine through a hole though? A piece of …
Sand Martins
The Sand Martins are teetering on the edge of leaving Westray now. Their chicks must be fully grown and there are only …
They say ‘Take only pictures, leave only footsteps’
They say ‘Take only pictures, leave only footsteps,’ but we decided to take a footstep home. I just need to draw a …
Gertrude Tanglewing
It’s been a very blustery day, it’s nearly dark and I’m just settling down for the evening when there’s an urgent message …
Vanellus vanellus – so good they named it twice
The scientific name for the Lapwing is Vanellus vanellus. It means fan. Well, it means Fan fan if you’re being strictly accurate. …
A pot boiler
Imagine you have no technology other than fire, stone, wood and bone. How would you cook food, other than directly by roasting …
Tangled roots
Grass looks so unremarkable and is so ever-present in Orkney that it takes something special to shock me into considering it from …
Greylag Geese
Greylag Geese are all over Westray at the moment because the farmers have created the perfect habitat for them: acres and acres of fresh green grass. It must be like waking up and seeing delicious breakfast as far as your eyes can see.
Rainbow waves
At the north end of Westray the Atlantic is unrestrained and waves crash into the coast making blowholes, sea caves and spectacular …
I’m Shy!
The critically endangered Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica. Climate change leading to lack of Sand Eels and marine pollution are the likely causes …
Westray Connections 2017 – The Parade
The Pierowall Village Parade is one of my favourite parts of Westray Connections. There’s something incredibly stirring about the pipes at full …
One day all airports should be like this
Baggage check-in on Westray is not an arduous affair. Having said that, the flight to Papa Westray takes just two minutes, so ten minutes before your flight is still completely out of proportion.
Sanderling in the mud
Sanderling. It sounds like it could be a verb as well as a noun. If it’s a verb, then these Sanderlings are …
As rare as Witches’ Hats
On the endless A9 as I travel north from Devon to Orkney the lay-by numbers help denote the passing of a day …
Puffin love
Puffins mate for life and meet up again every year to have their one egg and baby puffling. Can you tell?