A magnificent sight as the young swans hone their flying skills in Eyemouth bay. The embryonic wings have now grown to a size which will support the weight of their large bodies. The parents have taught them well. In a few weeks time they will leave the nest and look for territory of their own.
Category Archives: Nature
Autumn sees the welcome return of a true sea duck, the Eider, to Eyemouth harbour. According to the RSPB it is the UK’s heaviest duck and the fastest flying. It’s portliness is rather endearing. Like the puffin, it’s a real entertainer, decked in harlequin with a peachy blush to the chest and rakish black cap with a swathe of green. On […]
Green, from middle English and Anglo Saxon grene, a word associated with youth and hope, important to Islam and environmentalists alike, the colour of frogs, plants and marine environments. Algae on the surface of the harbour walls gives a green look to the water. Chlorophyll gives colour to the green. It gives Chlorophilia, the love of green as some suggest, […]
Sunday morning and a beautiful flat calm in Eyemouth bay. In salt water the swans forage for weed and algae. The edge of Fort Point can be seen in the distance. The profile resembles a dog with its paws stretched out to sea. A real dog appears. It is ready for action and has the same dog face as […]
Not many miles from Eyemouth is the man made lake of Mire Loch in St Abb’s Head Nature Reserve. Each year a pair of swans nest here and raise their young. In the golden light of sunset it becomes the stuff of Arthurian legend.
A seal pup, washed up on the beach, finds itself the centre of attention at the height of the tourist season. Local people, sensitive to the dangers of dogs and the curiosity of strangers, form a protective cordon until the animal welfare service arrives.
Swans are fiercely territorial. The young herring gull, caught between the river and the harbour mouth, is shown little mercy by the parent swans. The cygnets, mimicking parental behaviour, join in the one-sided skirmish. The gull finds sanctuary on the river bank, but with a damaged wing, its chances of survival are poor.
Young swans wings grow disproportionately. Long necks and strong bodies are needed now…. flying lessons come later.
It is high summer and the mackerel are coming in abundance. Fishermen become generous with their catch, but this seal must work hard for his supper. To catch a glimpse of an animal in the wild can send a shiver down the spine, but in Eyemouth harbour there are seals a-plenty. Pragmatic creatures, they will entertain for a sliver of fish….and have […]
Fish boxes on the harbour at Eyemouth stamped with the names of ports from the various fishing nations of the North Sea. Some hours from now and they may well be teeming with the orange-pink shells of nephrops norvegicus. Predominantly male nephrops, venturing out from the silt to feed at dawn or dusk, are trapped […]
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