A WALK ALONG SEATON CLIFFS

SEATON CLIFFS, MONDAY 5^TH MAY 2008-05-05

It has been an absolutely beautiful sunny day today. I decided to take myself on one of my favourite walks, the walk along the top of the cliffs looking out toward the  sea. These cliffs are great red sandstone stacks and gullies jutting out into the North Sea. The only thorn in my side  was discovering my camera doesn’t work, even that didn’t dampen my spirits because I have already stored a complete album of pictures taken  a couple of years ago while wandering along the cliff path. (They are all in my photos just take a look) Today was one of those days when the sea, sun and sky merge into haze at the horizon. The sea that is usually grey and foreboding in this area was transformed into a shimmering body of water cascading onto the rocks below. In places the cliffs rise 50 foot above the sea, looking down is awe inspiring but not for the faint hearted.

I hadn’t gone very far when I saw a cormorant sitting, wings outstretched, on a ledge some 30 foot beneath me. Then I noticed he wasn’t alone, the ledge he was on was directly above a series of small rocks jutting out of the sea and on the rocks sat another four of these magnificent birds. I left the path and sat on the grass verge as near to the cliff edge as I dare, I sat there for ages just watching the birds. I was surrounded by primroses, primroses are not that common anymore and these sprawled hap-hazzardly down the cliff edge until the undergrowth stopped and bare rock started. Suddenly the biggest bird, the one I noticed first, seemed to stand on tip toes, point its yellow beak seaward and take off. No aeroplane could possible match the grace and precision of that flight. The bird soared skyward and then swooped down toward the sea.

It never actually touched the sea; it just skimmed the surface and flew in a huge semi circle, its great black wings outstretched, jet black against the sparkling blue sea. When it was strategically placed it floated up, effortlessly, on an air current, and landed exactly where it had taken off from. This seemed almost like a reconnaissance mission, his safe landing triggered the other birds, who had all sat motionless on the rocks in the sea, to take off in all directions. They soared, and flapped and glided and swooped, sometimes they seemed to narrowly miss each other, and one by one they skimmed the surface of the sea before landing on the sea, turning in the water and swimming toward the land.  Once in the sea the depth of the swell became apparent. I hadn’t noticed this before, I had been too engrossed in the primroses, the birds and the crashing waves on rocks, to notice how full and deep the swell had become. These little birds were swept up and down, up and down, up and down, as they swam valiantly inwards. When they reached the cliff face they seemed to stand up in the water and stretch skyward before taking off and gliding down to take their place next to the big bird on the ledge. He had sat motionless watching them. When they landed, one by one to take their places in a row next to him, he shifted his position so slightly it was almost unnoticeable. And then they all sat, like a row of little statues, looking out to sea and watching the advancing tide sweep over the exposed rocks.  Sitting on my grassy verge enveloped in a swaying carpet of primroses I felt as if this whole incident had been played out for my benefit. It was a bit like having a very expensive seat at an exclusive performance, all played out to a live soundtrack of crashing waves, a chorus of songbirds and gulls squawking. The backdrop was the clear blue sky melting into a hazy horizon above the sea. The sea was strewn with shafts of sunlight and foamy white waves that left a thousand little rainbows as they hurled themselves onto the cliff face.  Oh what a very pleasant afternoon, who needs anything else when we have all this for free. This, I hope is the first of many such days now that the summer weather has finally made an appearance. 

As I already said, unfortunately my camera chose today of all days to die, I’ve just managed to get myself a working computer and now it looks as if I’ll have to get a new camera as well. But please do take a look at the album of pictures called Seaton Cliffs, they were taken a couple of years ago but the cliffs haven’t changed that much in a couple of years. The pictures of cormorants I found on the internet and the pictures of the sea I took last week, on the beach below the cliffs.

http://www.swt.org.uk/wildlife/popup_reserves/east/seaton.htm

http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/perthangusfife/seaton-cliffs