whn - Whitehaven

Inside the outer harbour, the wind and tide have combined to create a very short wavelength pattern in the incoming sea.

Early evening and the marina seems very still.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) on pontoon in Whitehaven Marina.

Very calm evening, Saturday, 16th July 2016.

Two grey mullet, gently swimming around the pontoons in the west strand, Whitehaven.

A couple of local bilge keeled yachts have been parked on the outer harbour beach, mainly to change "anodes" and maybe scrape off tubeworm etc from under their waterlines. The third yacht has already been refloated by the incoming tide.

This was an interesting sunset to watch - plenty of colour and plenty of clouds ... I am wondering how much longer that poor fence will last. The cliff edge is steadily retreating towards it, and some on the right hand side of this view has already collapsed onto the beach. {ref 138 / 27th May}

Hand-feeding a pair of cygnets. The young gull behind was also hoping for a hand out, but wisely kept out of the way.

A couple of cygnets have just had a few pieces of crust.

"Emma" berthed in a quiet West Strand, Whitehaven Marina. Several of our neighbours have moved around, and there are some more vacant berths. The Big Blue Barge that was alongside the diagonal pontoon route has left the marina, and some swans are mooching about.

Despite the wind and rain, a few hardy souls were outdoors. This was the largest bonfire, but the wind made it very difficult to photograph. After a while, the weather calmed down enough for some fireworks - so we watched a few rockets launched from various places around Whitehaven.

Three of the local yachts have been beached on the outer harbour beach. Their owners / crews have been scrapping off biological growths and re-coating with anti-fouling paints, as well as changing anodes. The one furthest to the right will shortly be fully re-floated by the incoming tide, the others will take slightly longer.

Some stormy weather, with the wind in just the right direction, has brought decent waves into the outer harbour at Whitehaven, so the water has got all frothy.

Feeding the marina swans, 11th December 2016 - actually, we gave them some old breakfast cereal, not bread. Several cobs (males) are displaying to each other and the pens (females) with half-raised wings, this is "busking" but the wing posture can be used to "wind-surf" as well. There are several established pairs, but also several non-breeding adults, juveniles and cygnets in the marina population. The boat visible is "Saltire" , she is an ex-lifeboat.

Feeding the marina swans, 11th December 2016 - actually, we gave them some old breakfast cereal, not bread. Several cobs (males) are displaying to each other and the pens (females) with half-raised wings, this is "busking" but the wing posture can be used to "wind-surf" as well. There are several established pairs, but also several non-breeding adults, juveniles and cygnets in the marina population.

Handfeeding "our" pair of swans - they shared one slice of fresh bread. We usually have more appropriate things for them. It really was almost dark and they were relaxed without the rest of the Marina herd competing.

This is quite rare, the two geese (a greylag and a domestic) normally stay well clear and are rarely seen on the water, but came for some bread (fresh, and ate less than a slice between them), some of the greedy gulls nicked the rest. They are definitely the "odd couple" of the marina. It was almost dark, so the image is a bit blurred by their movements.

This is "our" pair of swans - they spend a lot of their time around the West Strand. We have nick-named them Lord Greedy-guts and Lady Quiet. He will take food from you but still snatch, and she has a gentle chirp to say hello to you. If they see us walking along the pontoon, they often come across to see if we have anything ... they haven't got to the stage of knocking on the boat's hull, yet !