Langland Bay

On Wednesday, I visited Langland Bay, a cove with a sand and shingle beach on the south-east of the Gower Peninsula, not far from Swansea:

I walked round to the far side, past the famous beach huts, to Langland Point. I was hoping I might see some approachable Stonechats which I had seen here previously. Unfortunately, like many other local sites for this species this year, there were none to be seen. So, here are a couple of shots taken in the same place in the early Autumn of 2008:

I noticed a couple of Kestrels flying overhead, and climbed up a nearby hill to the edge of Langland Bay Golf Course where I had a better view of proceedings. Accompanied by a singing Whitethroat nearby, I was able to watch a family group of four Kestrels flying about and perching at various points along the ridge. A couple of times, two or more of the birds flew past quite close to me. Although my Canon 40D (I've virtually given up on the 7D) and Sigma 500mm f/4.5 struggled to lock on, I was able to get this picture:

From my clifftop vantage point, I could see a group of people gathered on the coastal path, looking at the sea below, some taking pictures. The object of their interest was clearly a Grey Seal bobbing just off shore. I decided to head down to see if I could get close enough for any pictures. As I clambered down to the shore, the seal popped up a couple of times to get a closer look at me, enabling me to get this shot:

I waited around a while to see if it would appear any closer, but it didn't. When I saw that a Seal (presumably the same one) had surfaced about a hundred yards away, I decided it was time to head for home, as the combination of lack of sleep and the hot weather was making me feel a bit faint!