Saturday 9 May 2015

Spring on the coast

As I was in Wales at this time last year it was interesting to compare my sightings and to see if Spring had begun on the coast. This time last year the Cormorants and Kittiwakes were collecting nesting material for there cliff edge nests. This year the cliffs are pretty bare especially for the numbers of Razorbills, Guillemots plus there were a few Winter birds still around such as Grebes which I only usually see on the coast over the winter.
The weather was very mixed with hot sunny days, and cold, wet and windy ones but I don't think it was the weather holding back the nesting season. Another noticeable change from last year was the lack of vegetation growing from nettles and ferns to the Bluebells that grow on the Little Orme. It seems Spring is very different this year and returning to months where Spring belongs.
A Fox sunbathes above a busy road and I could watch this from my bedroom at the cottage we rented
Lots of Lambs were bounding around the fields
There were plenty of Ants active under the pieces of corrugated Iron on the Great Orme
While on the Great Orme I tested a few new wildlife watching products including a Timelapse camera
 Lichen growing on the Hawthorn trees shows how fresh the air is there
The most interesting thing I photographed was a pair of Fulmars mating on there cliff nest above the Marine drive. They mated a couple of times before having a loving round of squawking and beak tapping. It was great seeing something I've never witnessed before as usually they have laid or there eggs have already hatched so we were very lucky to see them mating.
Thanks for reading my blog
Stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

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