Tag: Nature

Words failed me this morning when I took a wee stroll down the Whaligoe Steps. I saw what looked like a shiny, wet smooth boulder peaking through the surface of the water within the inlet of this immediate coastline. But something in the back of my mind was telling me that no such smooth item existed in that specific bit of sea.

On closer inspection this smooth object was something else and to my utter glee, my internal self reacted by leaping around with ecstatic abandonment and the endorphins were having a party! I was looking at a member of the sea world which was not an oystercatcher, herring gull or a cormorant, but was in fact a seal.

The clip shows the seal having a tired yawn and being quite at peace with the environment. I stood as still as I could on what is known as the bink (the flat base at the bottom of the Whaligoe Steps). The whole experience was special and highly cathartic.

On occasion we talk about the ‘wild’ life, and what it was like walking amongst the ‘wild’ and that sort of thing. When in reality during times like this one, it was anything but ‘wild’ – It was a calm and serene, gradual awakening to a brand new day.

Thanks as always for dropping by and sharing your time watching this seal with me. According to the experts, in this region of the United Kingdom the common seal sightings are of grey seals, but their counterpart is known as the harbour seal – They are rare. I am no expert, but I think this is a grey seal.

Take care and be safe.

Here are the six sets of steps which make up the zig-zag formation of the Whaligoe Steps, with each section of the ascendency clearly shown – 23rd of August, 2021.

This morning I stood and pondered as I looked out across the North Sea. The pebble shore I was standing on was slippery underfoot, and I thought about the sign which you can see before the descent down the Whaligoe Steps.

My thoughts were that despite such beauty here, there are aspects which still need to be considered. If you decide to visit here for the first time or repeat a prior experience, simply be careful and mindful of risks.

Who doesn’t love a shameless clip of calm and nature? That’s a rhetorical question and one that leads me in to sharing some wee clips from my early morning stroll.

This morning during the sunrise I took the opportunity as the tide was low enough, to make my way to the pebble shore which is precarious to navigate. My idea was to look through my camera lens and see what I could find.

As a result, this post is nothing more shameless than to share an angle of the Whaligoe Steps not often witnessed, and to my surprise I felt like the images could have been taken on another planet.

I was looking up the name for washed up items which are left littering the shorelines of the coast when I stumbled across what is observed to be a proper marine term. ‘Wrack line’ or a ‘wrack zone’ came to my attention.

There is a quaint pebble beach which is tricky to reach down at the base of the Whaligoe Steps. It is a challenge to negotiate due to not only the slippery ground beneath foot, but also due to debris which periodically drops down from the overhanging cliff face.

On a daily basis you can see an item left to rest until the tide rolls in again to manoeuvre it to a new location. This morning I thought I would share my findings.

I went for a stroll down the Whaligoe Steps this fine morning and captured the amazing sunrise photograph you can see on this post. I will share with you some other visual delights too if you can spare a moment to browse.

I think these might well be a couple of herring gulls. They are simply contemplating life this morning in their habitat. Footage filmed 22nd of August.

Isn’t nature a wonderful aspect of life?

With sightings of sea-life and bird-life around the Whaligoe Steps being rife, I really hope to capture some stunning photographs/footage to share with you in future posts. Keep your fingers crossed.