10th July, Tarnflatt Farm and St Bees Lighthouse

Difficult to decide what to do today, Wasdale Head was not even visible from the usual viewpoint as cloud and rain shrouded everything. We had a few cups of tea, looked at maps and guidebooks and then went with our instincts. Clouds need to climb to get over the hills, in doing so they shed weight in the form of rain, so go coastwards where the rain may at least be lighter!

So we had a plan and we drove to Sandwith and the track up to Tarnflatt Farm, £2.00 for parking is cheap and perhaps a lesson for the National Trust and the Lake District National Park authority, whoah sorry I'm nearly on a rant:-)

The last coal fired lighthouse in the country was here until 1822, this is the modern version powered probably by electricity provided by another European country:-/

The weather faired up and we enjoyed a lovely walk on the cliff top, occasional rain drops meant a regular lens clean for the camera though. These razorbills seemed oblivious to the weather as they surveyed their decorating task:-

Once you start emulsioning a wall you really cannot stop!

The guillemots meanwhile had found that life is sustainable at different levels-

Herring gulls are much ignored by many, plentiful though they are they sometimes offer a wildlife photographer opportunities that cannot be wasted:-

Here an adult then a fledgling.

Next up, a real treat...guillemots in rather large numbers!

A lower shelf contained a smaller group who looked as if they were trying to work out which bit to decorate next!

Nesting kittiwakes are quite evident around here, but only in flight, try as I could this was my only shot.

The nesting cliffs are a spectacular example of eroding sandstone-

Crumbly rock and very susceptible to erosion these cliffs are gradually falling apart, Britain is becoming a smaller country, landwise anyway.



More brilliant sights to behold now, as we first saw cormorants fly past quite close and then guillemots take their first hesitant and almost reluctant flights.

A final shot of the coast, we headed back inland...cows are not Josie's favourite and when a very large bull lumbered towards us she fled quickly back towards the coastal path, no bother we found a route through some soggy but worthwhile fields.

A yellowhammer and linnet appeared in the fieldside scrubland, the next field was another good one too!

Ears of wheat on one side, and a birdfest in the gorse and scrub on the other..close to perfection for us, the lovely wheat swaying in the breeze, a ringlet butterfly and a spotted flycatcher, just not an ordinary day!!!

A challenging day turned into a great one, lovely sights warm weather helps. A hedge full of sparrows completed the day's photographs.

1. A good exploration of a coast and farmland, always something to see for the wildlife watcher!