Thursday 29 October 2009

Southward Beach on Bryher

After joining up with my friends again, I think we had about an hour before our boat back to St Mary's was due to pick us up. So rather than rush and try to do more of the island, we decided instead to wander slowly along Southward beach in the sunshine. Also we would be wandering in the right direction! I should say at this point, that on any island, if you miss the boat back to St Mary's, unless you can find someone with a small boat and pay them probably alot of money to get you back to St Mary's, you are stuck on that island until about 10.30 the next day! I'm sure it must happen many times.

Just before we got to the beach, I saw and fell in love with this old boat that has probably seen it's last wave. Shame!Southward beach is a long stretch of sandy beach on the sheltered east side of Bryher. In the distance, you can just about see our destination back at the quay. It was lovely just to wander slowly along here. The weather was perfect, the air was as fresh as can be and we had no need to rush. How rare is it nowadays to have absolutely no pressure on one's time!?I love this shot. I'm not even sure why really. I do know that when I saw it on my comp screen that it reminded me of an Eve Sweatman photo, hers come naturally, mine come by accident! Really!Oystercatchers are fairly common on the islands. They're really characterful birds with a lovely distinctive whistling call. This bunch were loafing around on the sand minding their own business.............until muggins here got a bit too close for their comfort. They didn't go too far though and I made sure I walked further up the beach once they'd settled again. They're striking birds in flight. Unfortunately in this photo that patch of seaweed in the water makes it look like it has long legs and I don't know enough about photoshop to get rid of it. Help Evie! (-:When you have more time than usual to soak up a place, you start to look at details as well as the overall scenery. Well that's what happened on this day anyway! (-: I loved this slimey bright green plant? covering the rounded pinkish granite stones on the beach.Again, the seaweed caught my eye. I love the colours and textures of this stuff and the way the sunlight lifted it from being just a dull bubbly mess.I guess all these different seaweeds have their own names. It's not something I'm likely to try and find out, I just enjoyed them while I had the chance.Then all these different shells caught my eye, so I did a spot of shell watching. Here are some of my favourites...I thought this one looked like a heart. I wished Chris could be there with me sharing this day (slushy I know, but what the heck) (-:Shushhhhh! Don't tell anyone, but I gathered up some favourite shells to take home as a memento. Here they are. Hopefully the beach wont miss them too much!
I thought this one looked quite snug on it's own surrounded with seaweed and it seemed to glow in the sunlight.I like this one enlarged and have got it as my desktop background at the moment. The colours are fabulous.I couldn't work out what this was at first, but I think it must be some sort of sea anemone? Any one out there know different?I'll finish with a photo of the sunlight throwing an amazing pattern on the sand through the shallow sea water. This was taken as we were waiting for the boat back at the quay.This was without doubt my best day of my time spent on Scilly. Bryher is a beautiful little island. The weather could not have been better and even though we didn't see very many birds at all that day, the scenery on the west side and the beach on the east made it one of those perfects days that doesn't fade from the memory.

13 comments:

Sharon said...

Great photos yet again Jenny. I love to walk down our local beach & collect shells - ours is a shingle beach so we have lots to choose from! Love the Oystercatchers.

Mary said...

I love all the little shells and don't blame you for taking a few. That shot with all the colors is very pretty. How come you didn't put any of those nice green ones in your collection?? Or the heart? Those oystercatchers are beautiful birds with all that black. It looks like a long walk on that beach, but with so much to see.... you probably didn't even notice.

Rural Rambler said...

Jenny all I am getting is the dreaded red X, I will try again later. Dang.

Eve said...

First of all...PIX! Not the dreaded red X!!! Hope you got that worked out!

Jenny, I love the green shells! Never saw any like that before. The Oystercatchers are fabulous...just get out the "clone stamp" and have a go at it. I'll give you some pointers next time we chat.
Thank you for thinking of my (and linking of me!) that is a beautiful photo...I remember I loved it when I saw it as your header.
Still enjoying the trip and I love that last picture of the sunny water.
Good job!

Chris said...

HI Jenny,
Great documentary on this area. i love your shots, they are quite exotic and feel the salty atmosphere of the sea. I, or we, also collect shells very often. We have a small collection where we are naming all the species and keep them. Our daughter also enjoys collecting them to use them for handwork... This is fun!

Rural Rambler said...

No red Xs today and the photos are awesome! Jenny slushy is ok, that is sweet about missing Chris and the heart shaped shell. We collect shells from Florida when we go in the winter, we never get tired of it. Sharks teeth too. I think the green shells you pictured are cool and I like the old boat. The last picture makes me want to get in!

Jenny said...

Hi Sharon, it must be great to be close to the beach, although summertimes must be more difficult if you're at a popular spot.

Hi Mary, to be honest, I didn't think to put the heart one or those green ones in my pocket. I guess I was feeling guilty enough already! (-: No, the beach walk wasn't too long, not long enough in fact! -:

Hi Evie, I'll look forward to getting a lesson in cloning. I had a look, but didn't get too far! DUDE! me that is! (-:

Hi Chris, I'm glad I'm not alone in a spot of clandestine shell collecting! (-:

Hi Pix, thanks for persevering! I'm not sure what made those shells green, they might have had some mini slime on them maybe, I should have checked that out! I love that water photo too, but am not a water babe really! Can't swim!

FAB said...

Hi Jenny. Now that's an island I would be happy to be left on...well for a while anyway. By the way there is a shell collector in this household as well & she will probably be poking around when we are on the beaches in Norfolk next month. FAB

Jenny said...

Hi Frank, me too, for a while! I'm sure islands life has its downs as well as ups. Have fun in Norfolk birding and shell collecting! (-:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful place. Thanks for taking us along. I can smell the sea!

Kelly said...

Ohhh....what a fabulous day! Love that old boat and all the shells. I think I too would like to be left on the island for a day to wander and explore. I've never seen an Oystercatcher, but I certainly want to see one. I love their little carrot noses!

Quiet Paths said...

That beach really sets my ocean longing into gear. Beautiful photos of an amazing, special place.

Anonymous said...

Yes that's definitely an "Eve Sweatman" Jen.

Oystercatchers are lovely birds, I can never get a decent shot of them though. They always seem to be jut too far away.