Glen Maye

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!