I have spent the past week at home for my father's 60th birthday celebrations and have been greeted back to the reserve with the strongest south-westerly wind imaginable! Last night, I walked down to the beach at the bottom of the reserve and was held back against the railings of the gate whilst the air filled my lungs in an exhilarating way! I stayed there a while, in awe of mother nature.
I decided that to stay indoors while all this was going on would be a travesty and decided to get up early to go sea-watching with Ken Croft (the local expert and RSPB volunteer I mention frequently). Setting off earlier than I care to mention we parked up at the Breakwater Country Park (which is lovely and sheltered in a south-westerly) and made our way over to North Stack, needless to say we had all the gear on to keep us warm! We found ourselves a sheltered spot and stayed there for about an hour and a half gazing out to the violent sea. I have to admit, I half hoped that we see a pod of Orca (Ken saw six of them last week from the range!), but they never materialised. Instead I was lucky enough to add two birds to my year list; a red-throated diver and a Great Skua, often referred to as a Bonxie. The Bonxie was also a life first for me!
As well as these gems we saw; dozens of Gannets in various stages of development, (speckled youngsters and clearly defined adults), plenty of Manx Shearwaters, a few dozen Fulmar, a handful of Razorbills, a singular Oystercatcher and a fly by from a group of Shags.
A lovely way to spend the early hours I hope you'll agree :)
Kathy x
P.S- I feel I aught to mention the poor Manx Shearwaters that lost their way around Pembrokeshire. Please read this article for more info: http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/9235598.RSPCA_flies_in_to_rescue_hundreds_of_Manx_Shearwaters_blown_off_course/ .