The view from the top (of Britain)
Posted: Thursday, 02 March 2006 |
Not feeling very literary at the moment. Too busy editing BS3 (the third 'Birds of Scotland') or being chief cook and bottlewasher as Mrs Billy recovers.
So here are pictures of Unst. Without snow ...
... and with snow.
So here are pictures of Unst. Without snow ...
... and with snow.
Comments
Aah! So that's what a crow looks like. My twitching education continues. Is BS3 going to be even more of a doorstop than BIrds of Shetland? I hope it sites Ailsa Craig in the correct place. After all it is that famous gannet colony on the WEST coast. Nice pictures. Hope Mrs Pbu is well soon.
Herman from Orkney
ExcellentPics Billy got more of Puffins? Can give you some recipes?
Sunny from Arran
there's no place like Unst, with or without snow...
sentimental from not on unst
Your wonderful pictures gave me an idea. Might you, or/and others from Unst, consider petitioning VisitScotland.com (a very efficient organization with wide reach) to have a picture of/from Unst in their page ads and other publications next year? You could offer them a choice of your excellent photographs. Page 27 of Shetland Guide 2006 (and doubtless other similar local Scotland guides) have a picture of Elgoy on Skye (no name on the page). When I called Visit Scotland a few weeks ago when I got the Shetland brochure (my wife had enthused over it), I was told that nearly a dozen persons from the States had called that day with the same question, having seen the VisitScotland ad in various places, but unfortunately the cottage shown as part of the scenery was not for rental. Unst might have a special claim to preferential treatment because of the RAF departure. By the way, would it be impolite/invasive to ask the full title of the Birds of Scotland book you are editing. I assume a second edition is in print, but nothing obvious came up either on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk So, you are a real twitcher. Did you happen to have read "The Big Year" by Obmascik, about US birders frantically competing to have the biggest list (of US birds) for the year? Every year, a new group of competitive freaks are at it. A good read.
mjc from NM,USA
All the best to Mrs. Billy as she recovers. Have a good weekend.
mjc from NM,USA
Great photos. What sort o crows are they? I don't think we get them this far sooth - or at least not that I remember ever having seen.
Rachondarox from Lancs
Mrs Billy's fine, just getting impatient. She actually wants to go back to school. The crows are Hooded Crows, only found in the north and west of Scotland, Isle of Man and Ireland, unlike the more widespread and all-black Carrion Crow you'd see in Lancashire or Fife. BS3 will be a two-volume work (you can hold two doors open, Herman) so even more monumental than my previous tome (The Birds of Shetland). It's known as BS3 as it follows previous works by Rintoul and Baxter (published 1955) and Thom (1986). Yes, 'The Big Year; is an excellent read although even <i>I</i> wonder about the sanity of the participants.
puffinbillyunst from Unst
Are they hooded crows? If so I must be improving. I thought I recognised Corvus corone cornix. Well chuffed with myself! You don't see them in t' red rose county, but you do in th'isle o' man.
Herman from Orkney
I feel quite home sick!
Hairy tauttie from just wast
Herman, keep up to date, Hooded Crow is now split as Corvus cornix!
puffinbillyunst from Unst
40 pounds for a PAPERBACK copy of Birds of Shetland!! I know, I know, limited production and all that. Still, what about the proletariat like yours truly? Expensive door stopper, Herman. I'll buy yours a pound sterling per pound in weight: how about it? And you won't have to pay the e-bay commission! (Kidding). I wish publishers could have two prices: one for institutions and the other for simple folks like myself who might want to buy a reliable guide while in Shetland.
mjc from NM, USA
My!my! Herman from Orkney. Corvus corone cornix, eh? We are getting far,are we not, from northern isles dialect(s)? Are you sure it's not Turdus fuffopalliatus (perhaps in disguise? "hooded," after all!! a la balaclava?). I am still in the market for that doorstopper of yours (one pound sterling - Bank of Scotland or Bank of England as you wish - for one pound in weight).
mjc from NM,USA
Wasn't the Hooded Crow in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop? Its good to see Puffinbilly is up to date with the latest ornothological thinking. My bird book obviously isn't! Send me a complimentary copy of Birds of Shetland to improve my education.
Herman from Orkney
And then, Herman, pass it on to me at a discount. Por favor.
mjc from NM,USA
Unst in Shetland, Britain's Most Northerly Island
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