Stone Country

‘Rathlin: Nature and Folklore’  is on sale now for £9.99 at bookshops, on  Amazon  or direct from the publisher at  www.stonecountry.co.uk     Open publication  - Free  publishing  -  More history IRISH AUTHOR CHARTS 50 YEAR LOVE AFFAIR WITH ISLAND A FIFTY year love affair may feature in many tales, but a well known Northern Irish ecologist and writer is putting the island of Rathlin at the heart of his affections in a newly published book charting five decades of visits to its shores. Philip Watson is a naturalist who has worked on several continents, but it is the lure of life on Rathlin island, just off the north Antrim shoreline, that has called him to explore the island’s mythical history, sealife, birds and wondrous natural terrain in ‘Rathlin: Nature and Folklore’. Since his first glimpse in 1960 of her white chalk cliffs and dark basalts glinting in the sun, the 16 year old birdwatcher studying golden eagles on the mainland, has since spent many visits to the island f

Erraid , a set on Flickr. Some fine bouldering on the island of Erraid. Idyllic pink perfection: seawashed granite, scooped walls, overhangs, roofs, cracks, slabs...you name it, Erraid is possibly the finest bouldering/cragging island in Scotland...it certainly looks the best!

Stone Country Press' photostream on Flickr. Apologies to The Smiths fans but I was surprised as anyone... I was wandering through an Iona patio garden to discover the rather intimate mating display of two adult corncrakes. The female was busy bathing in a BandQ water feature, happily ignoring me and the male corncrake below who was busy doing his 'copperwing shuffle'. His efforts became more and more insistent as he strutted manfully around his arena of white pebbles while she watched disdainfully. Finally, after a few rinses, she deigned to come down to watch him close up as he showed off his rather fetching ochre tuxedo. I was invisible in the shadows, or just deemed unimportant, and I watched for five minutes before they retired to the privacy of the long grass of a nearby field. The corncrake may be one of the rarest and most secretive birds in the UK, and I had an internal whispered monologue going round in my head from David Attenborough about how lucky we were

Granite is not the best rock to climb on in blazing heat, but at least they're not encircled in flames like Torridon at present. Checking the boulders on Arran for the new edition of Bouldering in Scotland, I'd appreciate any descriptions of problems done on the Corrie boulders or comments on problems and grades on these or the higher boulders on the island such as The Mushroom. Corrie Boulders problems  Druim Wall on Clach Mhor Druim a Charn The Fairy Dell tidal boulder