Uplift

A day of unsurpassed sunshine from sunrise to sunset.

Off to shop in Deal 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 waiting cat. On the way we fell to chatting about his past and he told me he had worked with horses - Percherons and Cydesdales - on his parents' fenland farm. He said he always went for the short-haired varieties because it took to 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.

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 edge on more than one occasion. 

I like this shot with the light from the chalk cliffs (300 feet high here) and milky green sea reflected from below. It was almost as if the bird had come up above the cliff edge to have a look at us.

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.

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.

Plenty other photos from this over-blipped newbie at the blog here.