Creature Feature (16): Wildlife at Mwnt, Gwbert and Cardigan Island

Mwnt from the Cardigan Farm Park
You can just make out the white bell tower of the Church of the Holy Cross, halfway up on the right.

We enjoyed a visit to Mwnt on the Cardigan coast of Wales last weekend.
The weather was glorious and we saw some interesting wildlife.
This was the first sign (below) we saw as we left the NT car-park at Mwnt...

This is the church in its glorious setting...

We were just enjoying our cliff-top picnic when we spotted our first seal...

After lunch we drove the short distance on to Gwbert,
to do the coastal walk around the Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park.

We were thrilled to see this Common Lizard,
who had ventured indoors.
It was 'rehabilitated' seconds after this photo was taken.

Out on the cliffs we spotted a few Oystercatchers...

and this female Stonechat...



We spotted a Skylark ...

having watched Pipits earlier at Mwnt...

Suddenly we spotted this 'tortoiseshell' bird.
It was my first Turnstone:
an exciting moment!
The bird is sporting its breeding plumage.

By now, we could see Cardigan Island very clearly
from our gorse-lined cliff path...

I tried out my mini-tripod for the first time,
to see if I could get a steady shot of the bluebells on the island,
and of the nesting gulls.
I'm afraid I was only moderately successful,
but it gives an idea of the beautiful blue swathes.

We spent ages with these gulls, waiting for more seals to surface,
but the tide was high
and there were a lot of motor boats about, making quite a racket,
despite the speed limit in these conservation waters.

The Herring Gull below was nesting on the rock between the mainland and the island.

I have often seen Burnet Moths on the cliffs at Mwnt.
We were too early this time, but I did spot the caterpillar below.
It unrolled itself and trundled off into the grass.
It was pretty fat!

There were scores of small blue butterflies from the Lycaenidae family,
but they were too fast for me to catch on film
and I did not like to disturb them.

However, this beautiful creature from the same family
was quite unperturbed
as I took its photograph
on the way back to the car...

Small Copper Butterfly

Postscript...

We kept our eyes on the water as much as we could in the hope that the Porpoises or Bottlenose Dolphins would appear. We did not spot any on this occasion, but I was pleased to read on the Whales in Wales blog that they were definitely around. I hope you were able to enjoy fine weather in your neck of the woods, and that you spotted some interesting flora and fauna, too.

• BBC website: Gwbert panorama
• A Coastcard Land&Lit post on the Mwnt | Bardsey Island literary associations
  

Conservation Corner (2): Lundy Island

A Maritime Conservation Creature!

Mumbles Lighthouse,
snow on Exmoor beyond,
Lundy to the right (beyond the photograph)

Here in Swansea, I often find myself gazing out to the Mumbles Lighthouse, in the direction of Devon. There is a small island out there in the Bristol Channel called Lundy. I am delighted to read that it has just been designated England's first Maritime Conservation Zone.

Lundy and its waters are the home of seals, corals and lobsters. Take a look at some of the inhabitants in this BBC footage.

• Lundy Poems from an Exeter University Field Course
  

Travel (1): Scotland

Life at Coastcard has been quiet recently as I have been 'up north', enjoying the landscape, seascape, heritage and literature of southern Scotland and the north-east of England.

I spent a couple of nights in Durham, and visited three very different islands:

• Bute (west coast of Scotland)
• Inchmahome (on the Lake of Menteith, Scotland's only lake)
• Lindisfarne, aka Holy Island (off Northumbria).

One of the highlights of the Scottish part of the holiday was seeing my first Osprey.

We were in a different part of Scotland, but you can read about the Loch Garten Ospreys here on the RSPB blog. You can read about plans for BirdFair 2009 here.

Literary Landmarks (1): The Real Robinson Crusoe

Scientists think that they have more evidence to support a theory that there once was a real Robinson Crusoe.

Literary Landmarks (Taster): Looe island

Dusk on Looe Estuary

If you are interested in the links between literature and landscape, you might like to join me as I post my electronic postcards on my Land&Lit blog.

I have not ventured out to the small island off the coast of the Cornish harbour resort of Looe; but I can vouch for the quality of the fish and chips in the town, which we ate by the ice silo as darkness descended. The island is famed for the smuggling exploits that were undertaken by the Hooper family in the late 18th and early 19th century. Island life has changed considerably since then and most of the residents today have four legs or a pair of wings.

A hoard of Roman coins has come to light on Looe Island. Members of Time Team are due to appear in a programme filmed on the island later this year (I believe 1 March is the scheduled date). If you go to my aNobii bookshelf - lower right on this blog - you will find details of a small book, We bought an Island, about two intrepid sisters who gave up their suburban jobs and lives to move to Cornwall with a view to owning the island and starting a pottery. They showed remarkable commitment to their project, encountering storms, boat troubles ... and rats!

• BBC on Looe Island
• Time Team Guide (see Hermit Harbour)
• The Wildlife Trust: press release on St George's Island off Looe, and the programme.
• The Western Morning News on the story
• The Looe Island Story by Mike Dunn