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| The storm riders | The storm riders |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| There was a great storm that extended from the rocky shore in front of me to as far out to sea as could be seen. I had never seen such a boisterous sea off this peninsula before, despite very many visits but there was another element. The crashing waves and white topped rollers on the making tide were visually spectacular but there was a difference this time. The sea was noisy and not the sound of the waves but a deep, almost eerie, rumble that seemed to come from nowhere but at the same time from everywhere. It sounded like distant thunder with the same menacing undertones but there were no signs of such weather. | |
| To start with I could only see one species of seabird brave enough to do battle with such elements and, needless to say, it was the gannets. They were mainly in trios with two adults and one juvenile and the latter were dark enough to suggest they were birds of this year. However, even the gannets were different from usual as not one of them seemed interested in fishing. | To start with I could only see one species of seabird brave enough to do battle with such elements and, needless to say, it was the gannets. They were mainly in trios with two adults and one juvenile and the latter were dark enough to suggest they were birds of this year. However, even the gannets were different from usual as not one of them seemed interested in fishing. |
| Then came the second bird, that passed so close to me I felt I could have reached out and touched it, one of my favourite seabirds, the fulmar. Normally these birds are way out to sea but with such weather they were passing right over me. How do fulmars cope with such conditions without, seemingly, even flapping their wings? An early mentor of mine was the naturalist James Fisher, who once described fulmars to me as "grey ghost gliders of stormy seas", how apt. | Then came the second bird, that passed so close to me I felt I could have reached out and touched it, one of my favourite seabirds, the fulmar. Normally these birds are way out to sea but with such weather they were passing right over me. How do fulmars cope with such conditions without, seemingly, even flapping their wings? An early mentor of mine was the naturalist James Fisher, who once described fulmars to me as "grey ghost gliders of stormy seas", how apt. |
| In contrast, the wintering sea ducks had not arrived, apart from a few male eiders, all juveniles, that were sheltering in the harbour and all asleep – as if giving up on the weather. Even the eider had to choose their area of water as the sea was crashing over the sea wall at one end. The ducks were amongst the small multi-coloured fishing boats that rose and dipped in the swell with their ropes being rattled on their masts by the wind. | In contrast, the wintering sea ducks had not arrived, apart from a few male eiders, all juveniles, that were sheltering in the harbour and all asleep – as if giving up on the weather. Even the eider had to choose their area of water as the sea was crashing over the sea wall at one end. The ducks were amongst the small multi-coloured fishing boats that rose and dipped in the swell with their ropes being rattled on their masts by the wind. |
| • The Guardian's former northern editor Martin Wainwright will chair a discussion on Country Diary with diarists Mark Cocker and Derek Niemann and former editor Celia Locks at 11.30am on Saturday 15 November, as part of the sixth annual gathering of New Networks for Nature at Stamford Arts Centre, Lincolnshire | • The Guardian's former northern editor Martin Wainwright will chair a discussion on Country Diary with diarists Mark Cocker and Derek Niemann and former editor Celia Locks at 11.30am on Saturday 15 November, as part of the sixth annual gathering of New Networks for Nature at Stamford Arts Centre, Lincolnshire |