Before The Storm

 

A slightly different visit to the Nose on Tuesday - and not just being there on a Tuesday* - as with the shift in restrictions, we can now nicpic locally. Still locked down vis-a-vis travel, but it's a positive step. 

 

So, I was determined to do so and after taking care of Important Stuff, I toddled over with a small flask and sarnies [and a flapjack :D ]. 

It was bright and fairly warm and I had hopes that with the shift in the wind, maybe a Wheatear would appear, sat on a rock amongst the South Side scree, maybe?

But getting on site, I was most vexed to find that again the weatherbods had lied. It was blowing a frickin' hoolie, SSE and frigid with it.

Tut.

The South Side was pretty much blown out, and there were hoooooordes of mundanes wandering around the quarry.

Things then went even further downhill with the high pitched whine of a drone taking flight... Oh FFS.

Things then improved as not only did the bloke flying it not treat my polite objection with a hail of abuse, he even put the thing away!

So, yes, there are decent people who just don't realise there are rules. :) [To be fair, it's not exactly advertised that you can't really fly them anywhere these days]

Things then got even better as, while my seawatch from The Steps gave only 3 Fulmar, a Kittiwake, a Razorbill, and 6 Guillemots [not a Gannet in sight, let alone a Sarnie...], wandering down towards The Toe saw the lurking Purple Sands still present, and feeling photogenic [they are the coolest of waders]

Sandpiper Purple

[plus rations!]

And another

Rockit

Also of the good while hunting diligently along The Sole, I did not find Wheatears, but I did see several more Rockits and was treated to a flypast by the female Blackstart :D  Mobile, elusive, and indeed very sneaky. While no Sand Martins flew by [I was keeping ears and eyes open] there was still some movement going on, with a trickle of Mipits coming through northward.

And now for something completely different;

While I was down the bottom, I couldn't help but turn my camera to the rocks [yes, abandon wakefulness all ye who pass this point...]

Quartz veining

This is limestone [which is the last kind of rock you'd expect to find quartz in, btw]. You can see the z pattern [sort of] formed where the rigid rock has been crinkled like a rug** and broken [more in weaker areas], allowing hot water to penetrate; and deposit the silica dissolved in it [it's very hot water] as quartz. Veining can occur repeatedly over the 'lifetime' of a rock - so you can get intricate patterns as force applied in different directions opens different fissures - which can be filled by different compositions of hot fluids.

Wandering back to the deposition of said rocks..

The Quarry

[with civilians for scale]

Some nice carbonate-clastic strata with interbedded volcanics. It may be grey with a side of grey now, but hundreds of millions of years ago, this was a tropical sea, studded with volcanic islands and coral reefs. The reference I like is to imagine Caribbean islands in the Red Sea [nearby continent - north Devon, Mendips, south Wales area; not far off - was rather deserty, you see]. Isn't that better?

Close up 1

 

If you care to look closely, you'll see there are multiple erosive surfaces in this unit...

Close up 2

...Some more energetic than others!

If I work out how to do the red arrow thing on this computer, and have an hour or two's time with the brain working, I'll try to add annotated versions of these at some point so that those who haven't done geology can work out what the frilly knickers I'm going on about... :)

And finally... There was a bird, briefly, in evidence on the South Side. Here it is;

But what is it???

Yup, that's right. ID Challenge!!

Answers on a Comment, if you dare.

:)

Be Seeing You...

 

 

 [[* There is another post coming which will talk about this. I just haven't decided to what extent, yet. ]]

 [[** When continents collide, there's an awful lot of force, if applied verrrrry slowly. ]]