Ohh, It's A Codfish!

Midsummer and so naturally the weather was heavy with the gunk and light on the sun yesterday morning.
Naturally I also took the opportunity to get some seawatching in.

:)


The conditions were interesting, but the frontal system - though nicely messy - was too early, too late, and too light. The main force of it went through too early, the rain was too late to start up the chummer before everything cleared, and the winds were too light to make up for it.


But June is when the fun begins, and as probably my only chance [verdamnt weather..] I wasn't going to miss it.

In five hours [before everything cleared and reallllly died] I got a mere 112 Manxies [they must have all been in Start Bay]. A cracking Arctic and [what looked suspiciously like that 4cy] Pom were the skuas - both showing very nicely, thankyou - and a few Scoter were flying around. No Puffins. No Stormies. Not even a Balearic.
There was a lovely 1s Med Gull, which hung around for a while and provided some amusement.

Gannets, Kitts, and Fulmars moved, though not in epic numbers.


Better were the 5+ adult Razorbills and a 1s which hung around the area, and best of all the one which I caught headed to the Ore Stone FF!!! 


Ok, to the title. 5 fishing vessels were working the area over the morning, and of them 4 were flying flags expressing their desires regarding this little straw poll of ours. One was the standard red Leave, but the other 3 were different. It took a while and a view of a boat going the right way before I could decipher the cartoon of exactly who was subbing for Britannia [with helmet, breastplate(!), shield and banner, naturally]; 

Colours on the masthead

I wasn't just photoing fishing boats, as some travellers caught my eye;

Royal Marines off on a jolly..

..with Assault Craft

Yeah, it was a bit slow. Ho hum.


Over the weekend, the Patch failed to deliver anything spectacular. The Big Fathers' Day Nicpic was carried out indoors due to inclement weather, but it went off well [there were japflacks.. :) ]. I did take the opportunity to sneak off to photo something interesting at Meadfoot during our afternoon perambulation, though;

Palaeoripples!

The current flowed from the east and formed ripples in the sand on a sea bed probably shallow enough for you to have walked on. Four hundred million years or so* later, here they are.  

Here you might be able to see where the tide had come in and never went out again. [Ok, it will have gone out..] The water was deeper and so the ripples were buried in silts [top centre and left - on the right is a loose block]. The harder sandstone of the ripples has resisted the sea better and so is still there. 

I should add that, on the tiny off chance you are considering taking a look for yourself, these rocks are exposed on a section of shore washed by the tide, covered in sloping and loose rocks and boulders many of which are slippy and have sharp edges, and under a section of cliff for which the term 'unstable' may be an understatement. Approach with care!

 I will be back [you may consider youselves warned..] to have a better look. Hmm, have I said that before..?

And finally, something prettier from t'Patch;

Tessier

Daisylicious!

Be Seeing You..





[[*Ok, technically more like 385 to 390Ma, but I was waxing lyrical...]]