Everything is Permuted

The recent break in blogging coincided with a short trip to Wales, to the City of St Davids (there seem to be endless debates about the use of an apostrophe in St David's/Davids, but most of the local literature lacks the apostrophe so I'll echo the preferred local style in these entries). I'll talk about the trip over several entries and in more or less chronological order, though some of the illustrative photos will be out of true date sequence.

St Davids, the smallest city in Britain, is an interesting location in its own right, even if the formal designation as a 'city' is somewhat misleading. It is in fact a small, picturesque village which happens to be the birthplace of St David, patron Saint of Wales. It's also home to a major cathedral, founded in the 12th century on the site of the 6th century St David's monastery. It's a busy and popular destination.


The city itself is situated on the far west of Wales, on the Pembrokeshire coastline. The area is rugged, with high cliffs and precipitous drops everywhere you look. Not the ideal location if you don't have a head for heights, but spectacular and a wonderful haven for wildlife. The primary reason for our visit was to get out to Ramsey Island, just off the coast, and home to one of the largest colonies of Atlantic grey seals. September is 'pupping' time. We stayed at the excellent and perfectly located Old Cross hotel. Fabulous food in the bar, and some of the friendliest people anywhere in the country, all of whom were more than happy to pass on local and expert knowledge about the area and its wildlife.

We arrived in St Davids on the Wednesday, having spent the previous night in Caerphilly, just ahead of a major storm that was sweeping across Britain from the west. It blew itself out quickly enough, but the torrential rains and high winds didn't offer much hope of an early trip out to Ramsey. Sure enough, our early enquiries brought the depressing response that there had been no sailings since the previous Sunday, and the prospects over the next few days were at best borderline. So I immediately booked a place for the following day and watched the skies.

Thursday the inevitable news came that there were no sailings. The seas were still high, and the swell in the bay too treacherous. The coastline is undoubtedly rugged, and much of the local history concerns shipwrecks so little is left to chance.
Ramsey Island

With the trip to the island (or at least around the island) on hold, we set out to find what else St Davids and the surrounding area had to offer. There are numerous cliff top walks in the area, but being 'cautious' about heights we wanted to find some lower lying ground. We'd passed a number of beaches when driving into the area, and went to explore. First stop was New Gale, a vast open beach. The wind was up. Ideal for the surfers who flock here, but not quite what we wanted on a somewhat overcast day. I did, however, see this fly overhead. My first assumption was 'cormorant' but I'm now fairly certain it is one of the numerous shags that frequent the coastline in these parts. They aren't easy to tell apart, but the shag is slightly smaller and has more of a domed head. I'll post some better shots for comparison later on in these entries, but for now this will do. Plus it's a 'first sighting' for me.
Shag at New Gale

Leaving New Gale we headed to Solva, a small inlet and village along the coast. And we immediately fell in love with the place. It's a small coastal inlet, with a harbour and high wooded cliffs around. It's a wonderful spot for bird watching. My next posts will feature the birds in more detail, but for now here's a couple of the highlights of our first afternoon there.
The Bay at Solva

Oystercatcher and Black-headed Gull

I'd expected sea birds, but I wasn't quite so prepared for the abundance of one of my favourite birds. Solva has a healthy and significant population of buzzards. These huge raptors circle overhead and sweep down into the bay. Without a doubt these were the best sightings I've had of them. I'll tell more in the next post about a very close encounter (and how I learned whether or not I've a head for heights), but this was just one of many shots I got sitting on the rocks along the edge of the bay.
Common Buzzard

Later in the week, I heard rumour that a honey buzzard had been seen in the area. That would have been exceptional, but I was more than pleased with my common variety.

Part 2 to follow...

Camera note: all photos taken with the Canon 40D. The Cathedral and The Bay at Solva were photographed with the EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. All other shots were taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens and UV filter.

But it's not a butterfly

Nor is it a buzzard...

Yes...

it's a...

Badger!!!

I was already outside when it showed up. I could hear a lot of noise by the fence and thought either a cat or fox had jumped down. I shone the torch to the back of the garden to see, and this beauty appeared. It paused for a second or so, and then ambled on its way. Chuffed? You bet I am

Camera note: Butterfly and buzzard taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. Brock photographed with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM.