The old oak tree towered above the meadow, its trunk and branches gnarled and aged, its green leaves whispering in the breeze. The surrounding meadow has been recently mown and was closely cropped, from there a hare dashed away heading for the long waving grass of the opposite field. The sky above was bright blue … More A new home in the old oak
Early morning mist still clings to the depressions in the gently undulating landscape of the Brecks. Trees on the slight ridges rise above a sea of opaque white, that is tinged pink and orange by the morning sun, like island mirages. Driving through this foggy landscape, one moment the scenery stretches out on either side, … More Night Songstress
Night in the forest. Blocks of densely planted pine trees crowd in close to the track. Narrow trunks, spindly branches and prickly needles are illuminated by the white beams of the car headlights, before disappearing into dark shadows once more. Immense piles of felled trunks, still caked in snow, are stacked by the side of … More Oh W’OWL!
The garden was resplendent, a vibrant palette of autumn colours. The oak tree was ablaze with reds, oranges and yellows. The leaves on the shrubs, bushes and trees varying from deep greens to bright reds. Many of the smaller trees had dropped their leaves, leaving twisted dark branches except for the silver birch whose striking … More Feathers wagging
It was July 2018 and I had just finished my first evening of catching storm-petrels on Sule Skerry. As dawn had broken, lightening the sky from dark velvet black to deep blue, rain had moved in and the dark rocks, capped white with the guano of seabirds, had become slippery and treacherous under foot. The … More One little petrel
Night has come to the island. Although the darkness is not absolute and will only last for a brief couple of hours at this time of year. The skies overhead are for once still. It is eerie not to see it filled with racing puffins, marauding gulls and pirating skuas. All are settled for the … More Little Sea Dancers
On the sheer cliffs and geos of Sule Skerry there are hundreds of guillemots. The rocks are white with their guano as the birds perch on precarious ledges overlooking sheer drops into the churning water below. Sitting near a colony is an assault on the senses. Everywhere you look there are hundreds of these dark … More Guillies and Razors
Sule Skerry is a remote island 40 miles west of Orkney. Uninhabited by humans but home to a multitude of seabirds. The island is known in the folklore of both Orkney and Shetland, captured in the tale of the Great Selkie of Sule Skerry, which tells the story of a woman whose child was taken … More The Island
From bird and insect watching to simply admiring wild flowers here is the story of my 30 Days Wild. 30 Days Wild is a campaign run by the Wildlife Trusts to encourage people to connect with nature and do something wild each day during the month of June. Now I like to think I am … More 30 Days Wild
It was a beautiful warm summers evening, although meteorically speaking it was still spring for just a few more hours. The sky overhead was a bright blue with just wisps of high clouds, while where the sun was closing in on the western horizon, the colour had been bleached out. On evenings like this the colours … More Little Wind Hoverer
Wild Barley 