Home for Christmas

Apologies for the incredibly patchy coverage on my blog over the last few months. Autumn semester at uni has been a busy one, although the course continues to prove enjoyable, and I have been heavily involved with a number of initiatives outside of studies too...

One of the relatively new roles that I have undertaken is presenting on a campus-run production called 'NatureWatch', which showcases Cornish wildlife and is part inspired by Springwatch. You can take a look at our latest episode here...

Another activity which takes up a fair bit of time is being subeditor for our campus nature magazine: 'Life'. We bring out four issues every year, each focussing on a different theme. The last few weeks have seen us finalising our autumn issue, which focussed on 'Behaviour', and included a range of interesting articles and an interview with Saba Douglas-Hamilton. You can check out our Facebook page here, although we tend to limit sales to the Falmouth area. I am looking forward to getting stuck in to our next issue, with the theme of 'Island's'...it should be a relevant one to my upbringing!

Crossing back to Enlli with Mum in the foreground

So anyway, after getting the last few lectures out of the way and practicals/assignments written up, I made the 12-hour slog by train up to North Wales last Thursday (ending up sitting next to George Monbiot en route!), before finally making it across a lively Bardsey Sound to my home: Ynys Enlli. It is great to be back for christmas, considering that weather conditions can result in three week periods without boat crossings during winter! That said, the dull and breezy weather over the last few days has hardly been inspiring, but it has been good to get out and immerse myself in the island's winter wildlife...

Choughs are certainly a prominent feature at the moment, feeding amongst the rotting piles of kelp which Dad has been shifting off the beach into piles ready for cultivation fertiliser come spring. The piles serve as a superb resource for the choughs in the meantime!

There are a lot of waxcaps dotted in myriad colours all about the island's pastureland, and I am looking forward to documenting as many different shades and species as i can whilst home for chistmas!

A morning of winter sunshine was a welcome break in the dull winter tones dominating over the last few days!

A couple of recent videos...

a Chough feeding above porth Solfach captured with a GoPro

A timelapse of the sunrise from above Porth Neigwl prior to crossing to Bardsey on Saturday

As ever I'll try to post a bit more regularly, but be sure to keep an eye on my Facebook photography page/Twitter feed for more up to dat news!

Also keep an eye open on the 'A Focus On Nature' Advent Blog Series (see here) - every day a different young naturalist writes about a figure who has inspired her/him, and they are well worth a read! I have written a piece on Gerald Durrell, which should be appearing in the next few days