We walked, but . . .
Monday 4th March
2013
You have escaped the
usual walk email from me this week because I took almost no photos when we
walked on Monday. We met up at Brandywell, in the middle of the Island, and
there was a light misty smog due to the recent easterly winds and lack of rain.
Not good air quality for photography. And on top of that there was a bitterly
cold wind. It was only 2 degrees according to the car and the wind-chill factor
made it feel even colder. So we got back into the cars and drove down to start
from a more sheltered area at the Raggatt behind Peel Hill. We decided to walk
through Patrick first and then and climb the hill above Glen Maye - in an
attempt to warm up before tackling the path along the clifftops.
The most photogenic part
of the walk was along the cliff tops from Glen Maye back to Peel Hill. I tried
to take some photos of the seabirds nesting on the cliffs but there was a
strong, offshore wind so I spent most of the time worrying about my cap being
blown into the sea. It wasn't - but I had to hold onto it a couple of times.
The others weren't taking photos so I got left behind and soon gave up on my
photo attempts.
I managed to get one
shot, using the zoom, of a pair of unidentified gull-like birds, which had
booked their nest site (possibly herring gulls, fulmars or kittiwakes). It was
difficult to identify them as they were rather far away and it was hard to pick
them out with the zoom because some of the surrounding rocks had a similar white
and grey colouring.
This is what it
looked like without the zoom. The birds in the photo above are about one third
of the picture down from the top and about a quarter across from the
right.
I would like to go
back without an impatient dog or other fast walkers and just enjoy watching the
aerial displays of the birds flying below the cliff path. If I wait for a while
there should be spring or summer flowers to enjoy too.
PS An annoying male chaffinch has been tapping on our windows trying
to peck its reflection. I think it has OCD! You would think it would given up
by now but has been back every day for at least ten days. It only goes away for
any length of time if I am trying to get a good photo of it. Not an
easy task because it moves fast and the light isn't good enough to set the
shutter at a fast enough speed. This is my best effort so far:
The stupid bird flies up the window and then
dives down. It is mimicking the vertical pecking arguments that occasionally
occur between two male chaffinches in spring. My reactions aren't fast enough
so I have a number of photos of a blurred upside down chaffinch taken during the
"dive" but I won't bore you with them.
Back next week . . . with better photos, I
hope!
