As the first rays of dawn light strafed the clouds over the Pontins gulag, and a storm of sand scoured the dunes, I dropped down on to Ainsdale beach to see if anything was moving in the rabid westerly gale just after 6.30am today.
Conditions were brutal, with the wind swinging from the south west to west and north west as it got brighter and frequently gusting past Force 8.
Three Leach's Petrels pattering, knackered, over the sand, all seemed to be moving north, as if they had emerged from the Mersey mouth earlier, but they could just have been going with the gale.
One even headed into the dunes behind me.
Sea, although a good way out, was terrifying - wild as wild can be.
Manxie and several bewildered auks over it, Kittiwakes, Turnstone, Sarnie and Common Terns.
Razorbill resting on the sand, which probably stands a better chance than this Guillemot, shivering off this mortal coil behind the dunes.
Just time to clean my kit before round two this afternoon - high tide at 4.30pm campers, Formby Point could be memorable.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »
Leach's Petrel struggling north over the Hightown Bends earlier this morning!
Another Leach's through the surf at Ainsdale late morning.