Today the weather improved so after lunch we went for a walk between Portencross Castle and Ardneil Farm. The pavement was slightly overgrown which made passage with the wheelchair a little more difficult. We saw swallows in the usual nests in the eves of the house at the top of the path leading down to the beach, but there appeared to be few visits to the nests themselves.
When we returned to the car park near the castle, we decided to have a sit looking out over the water. 
From here we spotted gannets fishing past us, a single ringed plover which flew past into the rocks beyond and also terns diving as they fished close to shore. In the distance we could see what looked like guillemots or manx shearwaters quartering the waves; unfortunately they were too distant to be sure of an ID but shearwaters are often seen in this area in number and we have seen them from the Ardrossan-Arran ferry previously.
The sky and sea were looking blue in the breeze which 
set off the rocks and castle walls beautifully. Once Dad felt uncomfortable in his chair Mum, Dad and Magnus headed back up to the house while we continued down onto the beach. The gulls were all close due to the tide being quite close in. At the turn we could see that the fishing terns had been sandwich terns and were being kept company by curlew on the rocks offshore. A beautiful day for a walk on the beach.
Today's sightings (29) included: house sparrow, kestrel, feral/rock pigeon, blackbird, house martin, collared dove, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, jackdaw, pied wagtail, woodpigeon, willow warbler, goldfinch, magpie, herring gull, swallow, lesser black-backed gull, greater-black backed gull, gannet, oystercatcher, ringed plover, redshank, curlew, sandwich tern, common gull, black-headed gull, rook, and cormorant.
No comments:
Post a Comment