An afternoon walk down Rhossili, Gower

Date:  28 September 2018

Location:  Rhossili, Gower
Weather:  Sunny with a slight breeze

A long over-due walk down the outstanding beautiful Gower and it's jewel in the crown, Rhossili 

It's been awhile since we ventured down Gower, so seeing as we had the afternoon free we decided to head to Rhossili, one of the most glorious parts of the Gower Peninsula. It is only a 40 minute drive and the weather was beautiful.

Rhossili is owned by the National Trust, so not being members we had to pay for parking (£2.50 for 2 hours, £5.00 for all day). There's plenty of parking and a few eateries around, but we just wanted some fresh air and to see what wildlife we could discover.

We headed straight towards the Worm and it wasn't long before we heard that familiar squawking of Choughs. We could see two, but unfortunately couldn't get a pic, but it didn't matter as it was just great to see them again.

Arty photo with Worms Head in the background

We were debating whether to walk over to the Worm, but we thought we may have left it too late and we didn't want to be marooned there. So we sat on the cliffs and scanned the ocean and cliff faces to see what wildlife we could spot. We saw a Kestrel a number of times and a few Rock Pipits. We also saw a number of butterflies, especially Red Admirals and Peacocks. 

Red Admiral

We continued exploring and I saw a large bird sitting on a nearby wall. I could see it was a Kestrel, perhaps the one we had seen earlier? But it was beautiful, I think it's a female and she sat there for quite awhile and for the first time I managed to get some good pics of the bird.

Beautiful Kestrel

Kestrel striking a pose

Another pic of the awesome Kestrel

Other bird life we spotted was Ravens, Stonechat, Dunnocks, Wheatears and lots of gulls, including Lesser and Black Backed Gulls.

Raven

Stonechat

Pied Wagtail

Apart from birds, there were quite a few fungi on the ground, here are just three photos of some of the different ones we found.

A rather large fungi

Tiny little puffballs?

A lovely looking mushroom

As we started walking back to the car we decided to pop into the sunflower field. This year the Gower National Trust planted 400,000 sunflowers. This is amazing for bees and birds will absolutely love the seeds when they are finished flowering. Next year they plan to plant lavender fields too...this will be awesome! Unfortunately, we left it too late to fully appreciate the sunflowers in all their glory, but we did find a few that were still flowering. Next year I will have to come and see them earlier :) - If you want to see what they looked like just type 'sunflowers Rhossili' into Google to see all the amazing pics.

Most of the sunflowers were dead (but with lots and lots of sunflower seeds for birds)

I found one sunflower though that was still shining bright :)

We had a fantastic time with our spare few hours and we don't understand why we don't explore the Gower more often (its literally on our doorstep!) - The sun was setting and created that lovely warm Autumn glow over the bay. I took one last pic as I looked back on the bay and it's no surprise that this is an Area of Outstanding Beauty.

Beautiful warm glow from the setting sun over the coast

The sun sets behind the worm and we say goodbye to Rhossili 

Stack Rocks & Green Bridge, Pembrokeshire – 25 March 2016

After our little break at Bluestone National Park Resort, the sun was still shining so we decided to visit Stack Rocks & The Green Bridge on the South West coast of Pembrokeshire.

To get to the rocks you need to pass through a military range in Castlemartin, which is closed at certain times. It was Good Friday, so we assumed it would be open, but you do need to ring a number to see if it’s accessible on weekdays. (Check out www.visitpembrokeshire.com for more information).

There is a car park fairly near the viewpoints with direction signs/information boards to help you on your way. Our first stop was Stack Rocks, two isolated pillars of limestone which rise steeply from the sea. They are important nesting sites for guillemots and kittiwakes, but neither have returned from their migration yet. They should return in a few weeks time and we intend to go back to enjoy the spectacle.

Information signs

Stack rocks

On the cliffs we could see Fulmars nesting and a single shag. This is the first time I have seen a shag up close and couldn't get over how beautiful it's shiny black coat and stunning green eyes were.

Fulmar nesting in the cliffs

Shag sitting on the cliffs

Our next stop was the Green Bridge - it is renowned as one of Wales' most iconic images from the coast – a huge, 80ft limestone arch with the sea underneath. Sadly, sometime in the future the top of the arch will eventually collapse into the sea and the Bridge will become a stack (like the stack rocks nearby).

There is a viewing platform here, so you can get good pics. From here we walked back along the cliff's path and saw a number of smaller birds including skylarks and rock pipits.

The Green Bridge

Rock pipit

From here we walked back to stack rocks and admired the beauty of the area. There was a cormorant and black backed gulls sitting on rocks out at sea,whilst a raven was flying above being chased by several jackdaws.

Such a beautiful coastline

Cormorant & a pair of black backed gulls

Raven & Jackdaws (you can see the size difference of the crows)

We continued walking along the path and saw a big nest on the opposite cliff, we got talking to a local man and he told us that it was a raven's nest. We sat there for awhile waiting to see if the raven returned, but the bird was far too clever - I think it sensed us sitting there, waiting for it. So we carried on and walked down to a spot the gentleman had recommended. It was beautiful, see the below photo...

A wonderful view of the cliffs

On the way back we saw a pair of stonechat and we decided to pass the raven's nest again to see if it had returned. The raven still wasn't there, but two nosy jackdaws were snooping around. It wasn't long before they were shoo'd off by the beautiful raven and we finally could get a photo.

The path is part of the Wales Coastal Path and you can walk from here to St Govans Chapel, a small thirteenth century stone chapel that was built within the cliffs of St Govan's Head. I definitely want to do a blog on that in the future, so watch this space for that one...

Male & female stonechat on some brambles

A pair of nosy jackdaws check out the raven's nest...

...not for long though, the raven returns to protect the nest.

A sign to show where to go for the Coastal Path

It is a great part of Pembrokeshire to explore and it would be interesting to see the Green Bridge at different times of day (Sunrise, etc). I can't wait to return and will do before this year is out :)

You can find out more about it here.