Thursday 27 March 2014

Shoresearch, Snowdrops and Sunsets

Back in February I persuaded my lovely Mum to come along with me to a Shoresearch event. These are monthly happenings run by the Marine team at Kent Wildlife Trust and aim to record the marine species that are found on the shoreline. Different species are likely to be found depending on the geology of the beach. We went along to the Shoresearch at Copt Point in Folkstone. The weather was gorgeous! Sunshine for the entire time! There was also a record number of people who turned up, with some Wildlife Guides from France joining us. It really was a fascinating few hours - seeing creatures I had never seen before. Find more info at Kent Wildlife Trust - Shoresearch

Fabulous blue skies at Copt Point

Masses of egg wrack (Ascophyllum) - this is one of the only sites where this species of seaweed grows on natural objects

Sugar Kelp - Laminaria saccharina

Dog Whelks - Nucella lapillus

Sea slug - Acanthodoris pilosa

Shore Crab/Common Littoral Crab - Carcinus maenas

Small Spotted Catshark eggcase - Scyliorhinus canicula

Me searching the shore!

Beadlet anemone - Actinia equina

In comparison to the creatures featured above, these more common garden birds may seem dull to many people. However if you watch these little birds I can almost guarantee that you will be surprised at how interesting and endearing they can be. They are the perfect species to observe behaviour of, simply because you can get relatively close to them without them worrying about your presence. I saw an opportunity and took it. The neighbours may have thought I was odd hiding behind the sheets hanging in the garden to dry. Little did they know I was stalking our regular house sparrows and blue tits and watching them devour the fat balls we put out.

Mr and Mrs spuggy having a bite to eat

Gorgeous little blue tit

March 1st is a special day for my family so my Mum, my Auntie and I visited a sweet little church in Challock (Website Here) where there were hundreds of snowdrops. The sun shone occasionally through fast moving clouds and in the sunlight the early daffodils were gleaming and the snowdrops were shimmering.







I'll finish off with some pretty sunset photos from a few weeks ago. I love the wavy patterns the clouds have made.



Licking the ground - odd dog with a right mucky face!



Another post in quick succession from the last one. Just had the odd 20 minutes over the last few days to add to it. Tomorrow afternoon I will set aside some time to read everyone else's blogs and see what you have all been up to! I hope all my readers are well :)

18 comments:

  1. HI Lou MAry I wonderfed where you were.I missed you last post as I was o holidays on I.O.W. but I seen it now. Great shots of the dog and birds as well as the great shots on this post also. I love the sunset with the wonderful sky. Lots of things to find on that beach. Have a great weekend.

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    1. Hi Margaret, so sorry I am only just replying. Thank you for your kind comment! I hope all is well with you :)

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  2. What an amazing rockpooling session!!! Sea slugs are beautiful animals - and to find an eggcase in situ as well! Was it on its own? Lovely Bracken photos - he is getting good at posing for you!
    All the best, Tom x

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    1. Thanks Tom - it was an amazing few hours. There is another session in a couple of weeks which I am looking forward to! The eggcase was empty - just tangled up in seaweed all by itself. x

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  3. The seashore walk looked very interesting and you had a gorgeous day for it. I agree about Garden birds- fantastic creatures, and a great opportunity to study them up close and get to know them :-)

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    1. I just LOVE the seashore - you never know what you'll find! I had never seen a sea slug before - fascinating little creatures.

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  4. I really like the idea of an organised seashore walk/search that such a great idea, well done KWT. Bracken is very odd, licking the ground! Still he makes an excellent choice for a picture. I love the setting sun image

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    1. It is indeed a great initiative because any critters you can't ID yourself - there are experts on hand to help and also useful identification books. I will certainly be attending the next one. You have got bracken in one - odd! Sometimes I do wonder if he has a brain! He shows traits of being a collie on some occasions then a completely dumb dog other times!

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  5. Loved hearing about your seashore adventures - you can't beat rockpooling :) Beautiful photos of the snowdrops and sunsets :)

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    1. Thanks RR :) I hope to bring you some Cornish adventures soon!

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  6. Love the rock pool ones Lou - really beautiful.

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  7. Lovely close ups of the snowdrops, and love the seashore images, what a great time you all seemed to have had. We have a family of sparrows too and they are fun to watch.

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    1. Thank you Suzie! Snowdrops are such pure and perfect flowers if you catch them at the right time - I hope I did them justice!

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  8. I somehow missed this post Lou, so apologies for the delay in responding, but what a fantastic and varied post with some gorgeous photos. I haven't been rockpooling for years and really must give it a go again some time in the not so distant future.

    Hope you are well and kindest regards :-)

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    1. I have just realised that i didn't reply to your comment! I have been super busy and blogging has unfortunately been put aside. Thank you for your kind words. I may have a post ready soon. I hope you too, are well!

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  9. Thanks for all the "adventure" photos of the shore. Living on Lake Michigan I love anything with water and I often walk the shore here. Nice. Jack

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    1. Thank you for your comment! I love being near water - sea, lakes, rivers - I'm there! Nice to hear from you Jack :)

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