All at Sea

 This week I had the privilege of traveling to Skomer Island which lies just off the Pembrokeshire coast and which is home at this time of year to over 42,000 Atlantic Puffins, over 710,000 Manx Shearwater and a host of other sea birds including Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Gannets all of which come to the island as it provides a safe nesting site and abundant food in the local waters on which to raise their chicks. I will say more about the birds and share some of my favourite photos from the trip in future posts.

However before I get onto that I have some shots from the night before that are worth sharing over the next couple of days. I took the opportunity to make this my first solo camping trip of the year and stayed on a site overlooking St Brides Bay and after I had pitched up and got myself organised I took a short walk along a section of the Pembrokeshire coastal path to enjoy the scenery and the sunset.

The first of todays shots was taken from Wooltack Point looking out to sea past Skomer. It was taken at a similar time to the third image which is why the colours in the sky are similar. The second image was taken a little earlier and at the time the sun was still just above a bank of cloud so the colours are not so warm as when it dipped below the cloud and and set over the horizon.

The sea during the evening was pretty calm considering there was a strong westerly breeze, it was much more lively then next day on the crossing to the island.

The ships in St Brides Bay (there were about 10 in all) are oil and gas tankers which have unloaded their cargo at Milford Haven. They remain at anchor until they are dispatched to their next location, apparently they can wait for anything between one week and six months before moving on, all the time with a full complement of crew aboard.

I Give You the World

 In my last post I said that the next one (this one) would be something of a landmark and that I would have to find something big to celebrate.

This is my 2000th blog post since I started in 2014. I had initially intended to do a daily post and for some time I succeeded in that however I felt the pressure to produce something every day impacted on the quality and so there have been periodic gaps as I have tried to find something new and something worth posting.

I actually have no shortage of images in various files and folders backed up on my PC and different hard drives so I can always find something to post but I always like to find something new and I love to try different things as I enhance my skills in both photography and photo editing.

For my 2000th post I had considered going back through old files and digging something out of the archives and I have taken a few days thinking about what to post. Then I decided that I would go out and get something completely new and I headed off to Liverpool, to the waterfront and Albert Dock and spent a few hours walking round and photographing different things.

At the moment the city is in the midst of Eurovision fever as preparations are under way to host the popular music festival in lieu of Ukraine. There are inflatable birds dotted around the place, flags and signs etc and notably in the waters of the Albert Dock there is this wonderful floating globe, an artwork by Luke Jerram. It is a touring artwork which can be seen in Liverpool until 18th May. It is 10m in diameter and features imagery from NASA. It is quite spectacular, even on a dull day like today. I plan to go down after dark some time to get some pictures of the illuminated earth but for now here is a selection of images from today.

View from the Lake

 So today's images were taken on Lac d'Annecy. We took a boat cruise along the length of the lake from a jetty on the edge of the town.

As you can see it was dull and overcast and it was very windy but that made for  quite a dramatic image, especially with the Chateau de Duingt in the foreground. This is a private residence but I believe there are tea rooms there and the venue is used for concerts and weddings.

The peninsula which houses the Chateau was once an island and has been occupied for 1000 years and was the site of a medieval fortress known as Chateauvieux. If you visit https://chateaudeduingt.fr you will discovery more of the history of the place as well as find some beautiful photos captured when the weather conditions were more favourable.

The third image was one of just a handful of wildlife pictures I took on the road trip and is of a Red Crested Pochard. It is probably quite easy to tell how it got its descriptive name.

Messing About in Boats

I mentioned in a recent post how I would have loved to go to sea and how I would imagine being shipwrecked or living on a remote island, ideas that were inspired by many of the books I read when I was very young.

I think sailing vessels have a unique romantic quality and the thought of being transported, powered by the wind is very tempting for me. Aside from the fact that I do not know how to sail a boat, have never sailed a boat I am absolutely sure I would love the experience.

I have driven/sailed/piloted/skippered (I don't know the correct nautical term) a small cabin cruiser and a friends motor boat and I thoroughly enjoyed that and if I had the money a cabin cruiser would be quite high on my wish list and I would spend time sailing, exploring hidden coves and beaches, maybe fishing for my tea (ha ha) and just getting away from the hustle and bustle of daily  life. I might find myself alone though as my better half does not have sea legs and would prefer to stay on land. Oh well, a little alone time would be fun...
 

Fero da prora

This is such an iconic image from Venice.

The fero da prora is the ornament on the prow of the gondolas and as well as looking nice it is truly functional and the shape itself is symbolic.

The Fero is there to act as a counter balance to the gondolier who stands at the back of the gondola. That surprised me because it doesn't look that weighty but as it curves around the whole front of the boat it is more substantial than it appears at first glance.

A little research revealed that the S shape represents the Grand Canal that flows through the heart of the city, the six prongs facing forward represent the six districts of Venice while the prong pointing backwards apparently symbolises the island of Giudecca and the curved top represents the Doge's cap, while the inner curve at the top is said to symbolise the famous Rialto Bridge

In between the six prongs there are three additional items which represent the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello.

So what I thought was just a nice ornament actually is so much more, I am glad I took a few moments to find out and hopefully you will appreciate that effort.  More importantly I hope you like this picture as much as I do

Sleepy Duck

Tamron 150mm-600mm F/5-6.3

ISO 400  600mm  f/6.3  1/250 sec 

ISO 400  600mm  f/6.3  1/640 sec

These are male tufted ducks spotted at Burton Mere Wetlands. They have lovely plumage and even though they are just black and white the markings are really quite striking. This is set off by the bold orange eyes, which stand out all the way across the mere.

You can see that the bird in the first shot sleeps with his eye open, not a bad idea I guess although I am not sure what predators might pose a risk in this spot.

In the second image you can clearly see how the duck gets its name.

It's A Teal

Today I have a couple more pictures from my New Years photo shoot at Mere Sands. This is a teal which is the smallest common duck and generally can be found in marshy ponds.

This one was part of a small flock that were feeding in the shallow waters around a reed bed. Although it looks quite relaxed it was very alert and they are able to take off almost vertically if alarmed. Luckily there was nothing to spook this chap and the still water provides nice reflections and gentle ripples.Te