In a startling turn of events this weekend consisted predominantly of rain, followed by drizzle, followed by more rain. Indeed I may have foregone any venture in an outdoors direction if not for a rather timely tweet from Rob Jones. His 140 characters told of a Glaucous Gull tucking into Read more…
The view that greeted me this morning was one of unrelenting bleakness. Gone was the sunshine of Saturday and in its place sat a thick blanket of fog which obscured even our own street from view. The call of my duvet was a force hard to resist but having just Read more…
With 2012 rapidly ticking off its final days I’ve been getting in a spot of last minute birding around the Christmas festivities. Principally this has involved sitting in the car at Llanrhidian marsh each evening in the hope of spotting a wintering Hen Harrier. We had no luck on that Read more…
I’ve got a bit of a record going when it comes to producing decent birds whenever my parents come to visit. Glossy Ibis, Woodchat Shrike and parading Bitterns have all helped add to the mystique that in reality comes down to nothing more than damn good timing on their part. Read more…
Paviland Cave on Gower has long featured at the top of my list of places to visit with past attempts being thwarted by high tides and a degree of doubt over the caves exact location. Armed with GPS coordinates and a favourable tide on Sunday however, it finally looked like Read more…
You’d have thought that after five years of walking on Gower each weekend there wouldn’t be many places that I haven’t yet been to or explored. As it turns out that couldn’t be further from the truth. Saturday was a perfect case in point where a slight variation on a Read more…
One of the problems at this time of year is that I don’t get out of work until after dark. The upside is I can clean the house less often as energy saving light bulbs are simply too dull to show the dust, but it also means that evening walks Read more…
Our walk along the Gower coastline last weekend had the added bonus of, as I’ve said, some sun. With it came what was probably only the second decent butterfly display of the year, all concentrated in the small valley beneath Slade. The chilly breeze was completely absent from its damp Read more…
Strong winds and the highest tides of the year have combined this week to give our coast a battering. A quick scan of the local paper shows that some significant damage has been inflicted upon the defences at Blackpill and Langland, whilst huge volumes of sand have been shifted around Read more…
The coming of October heralds the return of free parking at Port Eynon, which may or may not have explained my sudden urge to visit there on the first of the month. That particular soiree ended in a very wet dash back to the car following a downpour that felt Read more…