The Siberian airmass arrived on the very Western edge of Wales this week, bringing with it snows, ice, and thousands upon thousands of birds we rarely see in such numbers. Redwing, lapwing, fieldfare and golden plover driven to the edge of the country in search of food and shelter from the storm.
So for the first time in years not only were there thousands of unusual birds on the beach, there was snow too!
This is the same beach (Marloes Sands, photo Mike Alexander) in summer…….
Up here, on the roof of Snowdonia, we have restored the blanket bog and protected the largest and deepest area of peat in Wales. Not only is this good for increasingly rare birds such as curlew and hen harrier, but it locks up more carbon than all of the woodlands in Wales combined, and stops it from being released into the atmosphere.
This is also the place where I first thought of this tune, which bizzarely went on to be nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, two very different worlds. But that’s the power of music I guess……
The long drive home from a busy week of work away has it’s rewards with this beautiful sunset over Cardigan Bay, West Wales
Llyndy Isaf Farm, near Beddgelert, North Wales
A medieval sailor’s chapel of ease dating to the 14th Century on a lonely headland on the West Wales coast. If you look in the centre of the picture below you can just make out the white gable end above the beach. This place, Mwnt (pronounced munt), is also the site of an unsuccessful Flemish invasion in 1155 and its defeat was long afterwards celebrated on the first Sunday in January as “Sul Coch y Mwnt” (Red Sunday of Mwnt), as a consequence of the bloodshed on that day.
See more fabulous images of Wales on Mike Alexander’s website www.scapeimages.com
There must be something in the sea air…..
Mike Howe 