Seals of Bardsey Autumn 2023

It is Autumn. The air is turning cold and the night is now longer than the day. Out off the Lleyn Peninsula in northwest Wales, seperated from the mainland by an infamously fierce channel of boiling waters sits Ynys Enlli; the island in the Tides. We anglophones call it Bardsey. 

The gales of the equinoxal period see clouds of migrant birds pass by and on the more favourable shores of the little rocky island, female seals swollen with pregnancy haul out, rest, give birth. Then for three intense weeks they transfer much of their body fat into their white-coated pups via their rich nurturing milk. 

Nearby swim the far larger bull seals. They are patrolling territories with one or more mother seal within, waiting - with varying degrees of patience - for the mothers to leave their pups and accept their advances.

Here are some of the scenes from Autumn on Bardsey.   

Bardsey island viewed from its western most tip. 

A gentle moment between male and female. 

A few smaller seals - marked out by their reddish fur - are yearlings.

The star of the Autumn seashore - a white-coated pup

And another.

Meanwhile a flock of starlings migrate by.

Sleepers on the shore - seemingly exhausted mother with her plump little pup.

A flock of turnstones resting on the hightide rocks alongside the bigger oystercatcher.

Portrait of a bull in repose.

A wheatear - common bird of the island.

Another resting bull.

An island speciality - the red-billed chough.

The recently orphaned pup - fat, moulted and ready to go to sea. 

Suckling pup.

Some views -

Another chough

A slime mould on the sward

Goldfinch feeding on the old thistle heads.

A yawning pup.

Faces in the sea.

Another fine bull

A long-tailed tit passes by with its small flock.

A moulted pup plays with a piece of seaweed.

Mother and her pup - a whiskery kiss.

A Bardsey sunset looking west towards Ireland.

Some words of advice blown over by the storm.

And finally - the way home.

For more information about Bardsey - see the website of the Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory HERE. 

Some of my blogs

 

I have sometimes been privileged to be able publish my thoughts on topical issues and here is a compilation of some of these articles published as blogs in recent years.The original articles can be assessed via the links provided.

1.     From May 2023: Icelandic Veterinary Authorities Speak Out Strongly on the Cruelty of Whaling Some thoughts on the news from Iceland that experts there find their whaling cruel. Blog HERE. 

2.     From October 2022: When the walrus comes knocking: a reflection on Wally and other out-of-habitat marine mammals Europe has recently seen several walruses coming much further south than usual – and these are not the only out of habitat marine animals that have recently been seen around the world. Blog HERE. 

3.     From November 2020: Requiem for a dolphin – reflections on the life and passing of a remarkable solitary sociable dolphin.  Concerning the life and loss of Funghi the dolphin from Dingle.Blog HERE.

4.      From September 2020: What does it mean when a whole community of scientists from across the world calls for urgent action on whale, dolphin and porpoise conservation. Blog HERE.

And here are two earlier contributions that may still be of interest from the Huffington Post 

5.       Firstly, from 2017: What the Whales Are Trying to Tell Us: Strandings - What They Mean and How to Respond  Concerning why whales strand following the mass standings of sperm whales in the North Sea Blog HERE.

6.       And, secondly,  from 2016, Why Whales Are Not Monsters - a look at the portrayal of whales as monsters, responding in part to the film just released at this time, ‘Into the Heart of Darkness’ which retells the story of the Whaleboat Essex on which the legend of Moby Dick is based. Blog HERE

Podcasts

A Podcast for the Society of Marine Mammalogy (SMM) talking about solitary sociable dolphins with Laetitia Nunny HERE

Another for the SMM concerning the vaquita and the IWC's new Extinction Alert HERE.

Exmoor images

Let me take you to Exmoor at high summer - the moors, the woodlands, the rivers and the shore.

View from Lynmouth hill at sunset.

Exmoor ponies.

A young robin with the Bristol Channel as a backdrop.

Polock Weir. 

Silver-washed fritillary.

Purple heather and yellow gorse at Countygate.

A distant sighting of red deer. 

The River Barle in the middle of the moor. 

Watersmeet woodlands

A resting dipper.

A slightly battered peacock butterfly rests in some oldman's beard.

A friendy Exmoor foal and her mum.