Scozmo's Photery

July 27th – My chores don’t change much in the mornings whether on holiday or not; I get up first, usually, make the coffee and toast, we then eat and chat and when that’s done, I make a pot of mint tea for Jo and I have a Radiance or Green Mint tea. I forgot my tea this time but I’m always dying to get out there and walk up the coast so, that’s what i did 🙂

Looking out the window, I spotted these two gulls, who seem to live around the harbour.

(Just my sense of humour)

It was a lovely morning, there was a good breeze but it was blowing from the SW so it would be behind me ….. on the outward leg.

The old streets and houses of Cellardyke are wonderful, lots of stories behind those walls.

There’s a small grassy area on the left as you walk towards the shore and tidal pool with trees and a wildflower bank, full of wildlife, as you reach the shore car park, kiddies play area and tidal pool it can get busier, a surprising number of peopl,e swim in the pool every day and it is used by many others.

You can just see the tidal pool on the right, the caravan park on the left and there’s now a coffee van and mobile sauna beyond this sign!

The coffee wagon isn’t always open and its page is on Facebook!!! I don’t get that but, I guess it’s free so I’ll add a Trip Advisor link. I think small businesses would be far better off with a free WordPress account, for example but that’s just me.

Grind Coffee

You can also see by these shots, there are not many people around, in fact I started meeting of the same people each day, even a few I’ve now met over several visits and it’s always nice to say hi and stop for a natter.

I had set off around 08:50, I was on the main path by 09:00, not a long walk at all, in other words I had passed all the caravans, saunas etc.

I reached my favourite spot from past walks, where I’d seen the Dunlin yesterday … what first caught my eye was a young Pied Wagtail flitting around the same area.

Dunlin and Pied Wagtail and it turned out the entire Dunlin group were there again.

There were five of them but they didn’t hang about like previous visits so I carried on my walk. I reached the wild sown patch I’ve mentioned before, that was perfectly wild already but someone decided needed to be man-made wild??!!

Several Sunflowers were opening above all the Phacelia and other wild flowers.

I stopped at the one mile mark, according to my Garmin watch.

You can see here how dry everything was, it’s absolutely pouring on the patch today, hopefully down there too, sorry if you’re on holiday there.

The tide was out every morning of the week, at different stages so the shoreline was always like the shot above to differing degrees, I walk along scanning the rocks and pools as well as keeping an eye on the sky, fields and path ahead 🙂

If I’m honest, the rocks were pretty quiet all week, the usual suspects dotted here and there.

There’s a field just before Caiplie Farmhouse, people seem to use it as a dog walking area but there are also large bins there where anyone can drop litter they’ve brought along or collected along the way, a bench near those is also a really peaceful stop point to just sit and enjoy. What I have noticed is in the field above or behind there’s an area where Grey heron gather, maybe a shelter area and there were two of them up there having a good preen, watched over by a preening Crow.

There are almost always Curlew scattered along the shore here too, I got my first Whimbrel here on my last visit so I’m always on the lookout.

Caiplie Farmhouse is 1.25 miles according to my watch and this is often where I’ll turn around and head back, depending on our plans or how quiet it has been, the area beyond this can be great for the smaller birds so i often walk on another half mile or so.

The information posts are a great idea, a lot of people walk this coastal path and from all over the world so contact guidance especially if help is needed is a great thing.

I stopped to get some shots of a Painted Lady butterfly on the Thistles by the gate, then carried on, but only as far as the next stile, not far at all.

There are so many Linnet beyond this point, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many, must be a great nesting area for them, plenty Gorse.

The usual birds seen here; Linnet, Stonechat, Sedge Warbler, House Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Goldfinch, Wren & Yellowhammer, I did see a Redstart here earlier in the year. Gulls of all sorts along with Sandwich & Common Terns, Gannet, Cormorant & Shag are constantly in the background, at the right times of year.

I started back, spotting a Heron foraging but it lifted off and disappeared ahead.

I had glimpsed a Sedge Warbler in a Bramble patch as i passed the houses and thought I spotted it as I walked back that way, House Sparrow, and there it is.

Back through the gate and passing the impromptu Heronry again …

Four up there now. There hadn’t been a lot of activity out on the fields but I did see a couple of reed Buntings and blackbirds all with food.

I tucked my camera away and finished at a faster pace, get some good out of the walk, rather than my usual amble, home, change and head back out again; today we are both walking this trail and heading to Crail.

Not a bad morning view is it? One of the reasons we come back here all the time.

Stay safe folks, see you soon for a walk to Crail.

wanderings