Point of Ayre 26 September 'Eider beyond the lighthouse, directly off the Point.' Returning, he shared what he had found. Gannet flew by, deceptively close as banks of shingle plunged into deep water. Sea-smoothed pebbles rose in tiers of shingle, a natural amphitheatre where we settled into a drama of sea-watch. Late September sun, a fine cloudscape and the sea a spectrum of aquamarines. Off the Point, white water showed where tidal races met. Closer to the shore, rafts of eider bobbed up and down on the waves, heads tucked into the plumage of their mantles.
Water and sunlight glossed females in shades of chestnut brown and males still showed a faint blush on the breast, pistachio green about the neck. Beyond the eider, impossible to see clearly, were smaller birds that might have been puffin, might have been guillemot. Gannet patrolled the coast, diving high, diving low, plunging for fish. Grey seals intertwined, perhaps mating. They swam close to the shore where waves blushed red and flung swags of seaweed onto the shingle bank that shelved into deep water where they regarded us, wide-eyed. I remembered Philip's warning. If you try to swim with them they'll grab your flippers and pull you down until you drown. It's how they hunt their prey. He told of off-shore tornados that created water-spouts that sucked up fish.
At Point of Ayre the lighthouse appeared beyond a mass of flowering gorse. A thick white web suffused some of the gorse, pierced with holes. Beneath the web appeared shiny crystals of moisture. I hope to discover what this might be. No sign of spider or caterpillar.
A couple of days later we walked the coast south of Point of Ayre and glimpsed four golden plover.
Eider are at their furthest south here and on Walney Island- they lie on the same latitude. We visited Rushen Abbey, at Castletown- a daughter abbey to the wealthy and powerful Furness Abbey in Cumbria.
From Cronk Y Bing to the Point of Ayre there are sand dunes and shingle beach and diverse habitat.
Thanks to a team at Natural England for identification of gorse spider mite, seen on flowering gorse at Point of Ayre.
A couple of days later we walked the coast south of Point of Ayre and glimpsed four golden plover.
Eider are at their furthest south here and on Walney Island- they lie on the same latitude. We visited Rushen Abbey, at Castletown- a daughter abbey to the wealthy and powerful Furness Abbey in Cumbria.
From Cronk Y Bing to the Point of Ayre there are sand dunes and shingle beach and diverse habitat.
Thanks to a team at Natural England for identification of gorse spider mite, seen on flowering gorse at Point of Ayre.
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