Tuesday 6 April 2010

Scuba diving at Porthkerris



It's been a busy few weeks - two weeks ago I was away for four days with the University of Bristol Underwater Club. We went down to Porthkerris on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall to get our scuba diving skills ticked off and to enjoy some underwater diving. It was an amazing four days both with regards diving and socially with everyone from the club. I managed to get to down to 14.4 metres and saw everything from a conger eel to crabs, starfish and small corals. On one boat dive we went down to a sandy bottom and saw lots of hermit crabs, edible crabs, two thornback rays and collected a number of scallops to eat later. The weather changed by the hour and birds varied from gannets close to shore to fulmars whipping past the cliff edges. Stonechats sang in the bushes above and while getting one of the boats on to the sea a black redstart flew across the shingle.

Since then it's been busy at work, although this Easter weekend was a great opportunity for a well earned break. Did a little bird ringing on Good Friday seeing my first swallows of the year down by the Severn Estuary and ringed a chiffchaff, a willow warbler, a male reed bunting and a wren. This was followed by a really lovely friend's wedding on Saturday and a break at home on the Sunday and Monday!

Just watching some chiffchaffs or willow warblers, possibly the latter, in the sycamore tree outside my flat window before I get ready for work. They are busily gleaning insects from the trees which is just beginning to burst its buds.

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