Hanging Out With Freya

Yes, delayed delayed delayed, you'd think I worked on the railways...
 Ahem.


Because it had been far too long since I'd been playing, because I wasn't going to be able to use the Steps any more* so I had to start trying other places and it's better to sort that before all the funky stuff appears, and well, just because.


There are various spots amongst the Mounds, but they're even more exposed to the public [and dog-savaging - that's not a joke] or a SE blast. So I resorted to making the best of a bad thing and exploiting the TCCT's policy of rendering Whitethroats extinct at the Nose [namely by destroying all their breeding habitat]; part of this being the uncovering of the Lower Tower. Yes, Tower. A very small one, but a vertical piece of scenery, so actual wind shelter! The bad part is that it's set waaaaay back, so you can't even see the slick in any wind direction.. Or about half of the 300m of the Inner Channel [inside the Lead Stone]. And you get about 45° of view full stop.

Like this;

The View from The Tower

Yeah, the sea's out there somewhere..
Tower on the right with the Wall stretching off towards the Ore Stone, the Wasteland on the left in front of the Lead Stone. This view is pretty much due east.


The weather was a bit fun, with some good hard squally chunks of rain eventually giving way to sunshine [of sorts] with wind that only got stronger! The one good thing [ok, two; it's much safer to get to!] about this spot is the shelter, as I didn't even need to put my brolly up once [hard wind has its uses].

With some magnification

With some time

Passing by were Gannets, Kittiwakes [both at about 65/hr] and auks, plus Fulmars. Two Manx Shearwaters and 4 Common Scoter provided a little variety, and a plurality of gulls helped to keep the eyes open. No skuas, divers etc., but never mind.

That Great Winged Terror

Nice to catch a Gannet shearing

First proper seawatch of the year [tut], first shears [yay], but not really an ideal spot. Especially if the SWBCM had spooled up. Hmm.

Oh well, keep at it.


Be Seeing You...


[[*Having lost the handy shelf I used to rest my scope [and indeed feets] on to the hungry sea [or rather, a well-aimed rock thrown by said sea!], I no longer have sheltered seawatching - or a version of it - there, so I'm going to have to find somewhere else to sit when the wind isn't at least a SW. Before you ask, the Traditional Spot just doesn't really cut it, as you get gusts from up to three directions at once, have a drop right behind you, get anglers trying to walk through you, and I at least just can't watch for more than about 10 minutes without getting a cramp.. :(
Poor me.]]