24. January 2015

Operation Uplift

Today's blipper: this beautiful Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) on the uplift from the cliffs of the South Headland catching the reflected lights of the milky green sea and the stark cliffs softened by their winter growth of moulds and lichens.
Today's blipper: this beautiful Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) on the uplift from the cliffs of the South Headland catching the reflected lights of the milky green sea and the stark cliffs softened by their winter growth of moulds and lichens.

A day of unsurpassed sunshine from sunrise to sunset.


I went rushing round trying to catch the sun and shadows, out in the lane in my dressing gown.


Then off to shop in Deal, But first down to the Bay for a few shots of the cliffs, a wooden block with a red spot, and these amazing eggs washed in on the tide. 

Low morning sunlight on the fruit bowl at 08.00.
Low morning sunlight on the fruit bowl at 08.00.

On the way to get the paper I saw an old chap I often give a lift to. He had hobbled down from his house up near the lighthouse. A fiercely cold Norwesterly was blowing and his skin looked liked parchment from the cold. I hung around the paper shop and gave him a lift back to his cat patiently at the window. On the way to his cliff top house we fell to chatting about his past and he told me he had worked with horses - Percherons and Cydesdales - on his parents' fenland farm.

Sun and shadows at 08.20 on this pruned hydrangea.
Sun and shadows at 08.20 on this pruned hydrangea.

He said he always went for the short-haired varieties because it took too long to brush the mud out of the 'shires' after a day in the fields. He told me about his admiration for the plough horse that walked in the furrow of the plough's previous pass. It was always the same one, the furrow horse, that was down in the mud. And, oh yes, he said, those horse could tell the time.

Sun on the roof garden: moss and lichens at 09.18.
Sun on the roof garden: moss and lichens at 09.18.

The Principal and I later had a walk around the 'circuit' to look at the Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis). They did not disappoint although I found myself being tugged back from the cliff edge on more than one occasion.

Fulmars were hunted on St Kilda and their breeding range has expanded southwards. There are now estimated to be half a million pairs breeding in the UK. They are related to albatrosses.

Down to the Bay at 9.49 and the shopping not getting done. Spring tides with a crescent moon. The bay mercifully sheletered from the bitter Northwesterly.
Down to the Bay at 9.49 and the shopping not getting done. Spring tides with a crescent moon. The bay mercifully sheletered from the bitter Northwesterly.

I was keenly reminded of a fantastic day in March last year on the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand when we watched the amazing Northern Royal Albatross/Toroa flying from Taiaroa Head.


A splendid day topped off by Bradford knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup. The less said about a certain team's draw with Cambridge the better.

A fish egg bundle washed up on the beach.
A fish egg bundle washed up on the beach.
Rust red, block red.
Rust red, block red.
Ness Point Cliffs in the Bay.
Ness Point Cliffs in the Bay.
Shopping done. Queuing to get out of Sainsbury's car park, Deal at 11.28. Herring Gull in all its magnificent watchfulness.
Shopping done. Queuing to get out of Sainsbury's car park, Deal at 11.28. Herring Gull in all its magnificent watchfulness.
The interlocking rings of Deal Castle at ... Deal.
The interlocking rings of Deal Castle at ... Deal.
Reflections in the deep, dark blue of Deal castle moat.
Reflections in the deep, dark blue of Deal castle moat.
All those things that I've thought about taking a photo of had to be photoed today. The Windmill on the way back from Deal.
All those things that I've thought about taking a photo of had to be photoed today. The Windmill on the way back from Deal at 11.47.
Maritime Pines (?) on the 'circuit' grown since the IIWW when these fields of old Hellfire Corner were awash with heavy fixed gun positions.
Maritime Pines (?) on the 'circuit' grown since the IIWW when these fields of old Hellfire Corner were awash with heavy fixed gun positions.
Red coat and the windmill thRed coat and the windmill that Hermann Wilhelm Goering told his Luftwaffe to leave alone so that he could relocate if to his estate in Germany after the putative Nazi invasion Great Britain.
Red coat and the windmill that Hermann Wilhelm Goering told his Luftwaffe to leave alone so that he could relocate it to his estate in Germany after the putative Nazi invasion Great Britain.
Fancy a shag on cliff - it's all about the punctuation.
Fancy a shag on cliff - it's all about the punctuation.
Fulmar heaven.
Fulmar heaven.
The wings tip the body stays vertrical.
The wings tip the body stays vertical.
Con trails at 13.54. Shipping just visible.
Con trails at 13.54. Shipping just visible.
The milky green sea.
The milky green sea.
Back down to the Bay with tide near full chucking up shingle for the Council workman to shoven and sweep back after the winter.
Back down to the Bay with tide near full chucking up shingle for the Council workman to shoven and sweep back after the winter.
The Principal in the afternoon sun relieved that I have not fallen onto a Fulmar's back.
The Principal in the afternoon sun relieved that I have not fallen onto a Fulmar's back.
They call us, 'The First Light Country' because the sun supposedly arrives at the South Foreland before anywhere else in the UK. But it leaves early too but not before this lovely display of greens.
They call us, 'The First Light Country' because the sun supposedly arrives at the South Foreland before anywhere else in the UK. But it leaves early too but not before this lovely display of greens.
Tags: photography, Wildlife, Birds, uk, kent, St-Margarets-Bay

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