Pwll Du Bay, Gower, Wales

A little footage from a brief visit I made to the isolated Pwll Du Bay on the Gower Peninsula a few months ago:

(The lack of posts here has been due to me losing interest in photography, plus having difficulty logging in - and thus I post mainly to YouTube now: Please subscribe to my YouTube account!)

Last Night's Sunset

Just to show I'm still alive (just about), here's a shot from Monday evening. It was taken on the hill above my house, looking west. The sliver of water in the distance is the Burry Inlet, which separates the Gower Peninsula in the South from Carmarthenshire to the North:

Whilst I was up there, I noticed a half-dozen Swifts and a couple of Swallows flying around, which reminded me that I've hardly seen any of these birds this year. Anyone else noticed a shortage of Swifts and hirundines this Summer?

Life in the Slow Lane: Rhossili

What with the dull and dreary weather we've had lately, I haven't had much inclination to get out with my camera, or post to this blog.

So, here's a little video of the countryside around the village of Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula here in Wales, filmed on December 11th last year. It's a bit long and slow, but it does (hopefully) show the peace and beauty of the place in winter when there is hardly anyone around:

Looking West from Langland Point

I decided to have another go at a sunset shot on Wednesday evening, so headed round to Langland Point at the western end of Langland Bay near Swansea. At this time of the year, it's a cold and invariably windy spot, with great views along the rugged Gower coastline towards the setting sun.

However, just as yesterday, the hoped-for sunset failed to materialise, and I was once more presented with the slightly-depressing cold blue light of dusk:

Dusk at Worm's Head

Yesterday evening, I headed out to Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula, hoping for a beautiful sunset. This view over the coastguard hut was as near as there was to a colourful sky:

A stubborn bank of cloud then positioned itself behind 'The Worm', resulting in this cool blue light:

I turned to the right to photograph this view along Rhossili beach towards the small tidal island of Burry Holms:

I zoomed in on the outer part of Worm's Head:

Finally, a long exposure of 124 seconds:



I also had a try at a star-trails shot over the headland, but that was a failure as well!

Evening at Three Cliffs Bay

A few shots from a walk along Pennard Cliffs to Three Cliffs Bay on Saturday evening. Whilst heading towards the bay, I heard my second Chiffchaff of the year calling from a hedgerow (the first was at Rumney Great Wharf near Cardiff on Thursday). The sky was colouring up quite nicely; but, by the time I got in place for a picture, the colours were fading, and I had to make do with this shot:

Unlike on my previous visit, it was high tide, enabling a couple of long-exposures of the tide as it rushed in to the bay:

It was a clear and starry night, so I decided to stay around for a star-trail shot. It was a slightly unnerving experience sitting on the cliff-edge in almost total darkness for one hour waiting for the exposure to complete. As it turned out, the final image was a bit dark, so I've had to increase the exposure in post-processing, which has increased the noise somewhat:

I'll definitely be heading back there for more star-trails, as it's a fairly remote location, and so not so bedevilled by light pollution as the city.

To Three Cliffs Bay and Back

I headed out to Pennard Cliffs on the Gower Peninsula late this afternoon. I was hoping I might chance upon a Dartford Warbler, as I had on my last visit there. No such luck this time, the only birds of note seen being a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk flying over; a single male Stonechat; and a pair of Choughs, of which this was one:

Walking along the clifftop, I came to Three Cliffs Bay, where a hazy sunset was developing:

 On the left here are the three pinnacles which give the bay its name:

I put my 500mm lens back on for this shot of the sun going down over the rocky outcrop known as Great Tor:

Once I saw a starry night was developing, I thought about staying around to try for a star-trail shot over Three Cliffs Bay, but wimped out as I didn't fancy hanging around after dark in the wilderness.

Instead, on my way home, I stopped off by my favourite tree on Swansea Beach to try another long-exposure effort. There was no moon tonight, so I was able to set a one-hour exposure (for some reason, the long-exposure noise reduction didn't work properly on this, so it looks a little grainy):

As I crossed the adjacent golf course, I came upon the strange sight of about 35 Redshanks scurrying about on the grass only about ten metres from the nearby road.
Rather odd thing to see at 9.30 p.m., I thought.

Caswell Bay Sunset

After my bird photography efforts yesterday, I went to the nearby beach, Caswell Bay, in the hope that a nice sunset might develop. It didn't really turn out as hoped; but, just before I left for home, this beautiful pink afterglow bathed the landscape in some lovely hues, which I did my best to capture:

A vertical to finish:

As you can probably tell, I can't really decide if I'm a wannabe bird photographer or landscape photographer. If I had two lives, I might have one concentrating on birds and the other on landscapes. As it is, I'll just have to settle for being the jack of two (or more) trades, and the master of none!

Newton Farm, Scurlage

There has been a small colony of the rare and declining Tree Sparrows nesting at the ruins of Newton Farm on the Gower Peninsula since at least the 1970s. Feeders and nest boxes have been put out for them by various conservation organisations for the last few years. I went out to see them twice about three years ago, and was planning to head out again last winter, hoping to get some better shots. Sadly, I heard the sparrows seemed to have left the area, and so didn't bother. A couple of recent sightings of a single bird at the feeders prompted me to head out to the village of Scurlage this last Wednesday. I set up my camera and tripod about twenty yards from the feeders to see what turned up. Eventually, amongst the numerous House Sparrows, I spied a single Tree Sparrow. This was the best shot I managed of it, which is not quite sharp, but will have to do for now:

The sun soon appeared, making for quite a nice afternoon. The Tree Sparrow (I assume there was only one as I never saw more than one at a time) visited the feeders occasionally, but frustratingly tended to feed round the back of a feeder, making decent photos impossible. I had to content myself with photographing this male House Sparrow:

And this Great Tit:

As well as this female Chaffinch (male Chaffinches didn't seem to have the intelligence to work out how to land on the feeder!):

Another cock House Sparrow:

At one point, a Sparrowhawk dashed through, although there were no birds on the feeders at the time, so I don't think it caught anything. (I wonder if he's been eating all the Tree Sparrows?!) Besides the birds on the feeders, the only other birds of note I saw were a few flyover Ravens, and a couple of small flocks of chattering Fieldfares.

As I was packing up, the sky began to colour up, so I quickly plonked my big lens on a tripod and zeroed in on this distant tree:

I altered my positioned, so that the tree was positioned against the brightest part of the sunset sky:

I added a 1.7x converter to get in as close as I could. I think the bird perched in the treetop is a Buzzard:

I took one last shot, before trudging across the muddy fields for home:

Grey Seals at Worm's Head

The main reason for my visit to Worm's Head a few days back was to observe, and hopefully photograph, the Grey Seals there. The term 'Worm's Head' is a corruption of the Viking 'wurm', meaning dragon or serpent. The causeway to this tidal island is crossable for about two-and-a-half hours either side of low tide. The seals can be seen drifting offshore (and sometimes hauled out on rocks) near the left-hand side of the large cliff visible in the following two pictures, taken from the mainland:

I crossed the causeway, and sat down on a cliff, from where I could see around half-a-dozen seals bobbing about in the sea about thirty metres below.

I set up my camera on a tripod with a 500mm lens and 2x converter, and was able to take a few pictures:

At least one pair seemed to be exhibiting breeding behaviour, rolling around with their bodies entwined, and sometimes apparently 'kissing':

I didn't want to end up like Dylan Thomas, who once got stranded overnight on this island, so I headed for home as the sun began to set.

Caswell Bay at Dusk

I went for a walk round at Caswell Bay in late afternoon. This was the scene that greeted me:

After a stroll around in nearby Bishop's Wood, I returned to the beach as darkness fell:

I had been hoping for a nice sunset, but instead I had to make do with a few long-exposure shots of the blue dusk:

These two shots were the longest exposures of all, which allowed the nearby tungsten lights to register on the sensor, and add their own hues to the scene:

It was strangely therapeutic standing virtually alone on the sand in near darkness, with only the sounds of the waves and wind for company, and nice to have a brief respite from the constant clamour and haste of modernity!