The small, rugged, wind swept island of Bardsey lies off the Llyn Peninsula in north west Wales. To the north east the island rises steeply from the waves that crash onto the blackened rocks to a scraggy peak 167 m high. The mountain is covered in browns, dark greens and grey of rock, bracken and … More Bardsey Island
Once again the sea in the Bay of Biscay was tumultuous and restless, although not as fearsome as April when 8 meter swells and a Force 8 bounced the ferry like a child’s bath tub toy. Nevertheless the wind whipped across the waves, topping them with white horses that rolled over each other, sending spray up into … More Back in the Bay
Organisation Cetacea (ORCA) is a UK based marine charity dedicated to surveying and protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) in north east European waters. Started in 2000, the charity has two aims, the first to collect sightings data on cetaceans and the second to raise awareness of these incredible animals, the threats they face and … More A Quest for Adventure
Large, dark grey waves rolled, white water foaming at their crests, and streaking down their backs. The angry wind howled whipping up spray and low, stormy clouds hung low, adding their deluge that stung like knives in the face. The ferry bobbed and rolled in the storm, pitching as a six to eight meter swell … More Bobbin’ and a Rollin’
A weekend on the coast of Wales would be nothing without spending a little time in search of those enigmatic marine mammals, dolphins, in this case bottlenose dolphins to be specific. Cardigan Bay holds one of two resident, coastal populations of bottlenose dolphins in the UK. Recent work by Feingold et al., 2011 indicates the … More Dolphins of the Bay
The wind howled, whipping the greenish grey sea into a frenzy of white water,spraying from the tops and streaking down the backs of large waves. It was blowing an absolute hoolie as the MV Finlaggen steamed from Kennacraig to Islay. Five seabird surveyors stood wrapped up against the wind and spray on the back deck, … More A Hoolie in the Highlands
December saw Lee and I heading off with 9 other British and Irish ringers to the Kartong Bird Observatory in The Gambia for an 11 day ringing expedition. The objectives being to learn more about migrant Western Palearctic birds on their wintering grounds and to increase the limited knowledge of West African birds. Located on … More The Gambia December 2011
After a wonderful week in Sri Lanka we flew on to the tropical archipelago of The Maldives, a double chain of 26 atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean. On arrival in the capital Malé we joined our guide Chas Anderson and boarded the live aboard boat Ari Queen, our home for the next … More The Maldives October 2011
I know it has been almost 4 months (blimey where has the time gone!!) but I thought I would start the Wild Barley blog with a tale of our honeymoon… starting with Sri Lanka with the Maldives hot on its heels (although you will have to wait for the next post for that…) Well, after … More Sri Lanka September – October 2011
Wild Barley 