Monday, March 7, 2011

October evening oil 18 x 24

My favorite beach. The light was lovely.
The distant headland is actually one of a series of granite Islands transported over to England from Norway. They were brought in enormous barges and unloaded at high tide. At low tide diggers would pick up the rocks and move them slowly into place. they created these long Islands about 100 yards long and 30ft high. The whole process took years. As you can Imagine, the Islands, (about 8 I think) changed the coastal landscape. instead of shifting shingle and terrible erosion, we now have a permanent grassy, shingle beach which has become a haven for wildlife and plants. There are large rock pools around the base of the Islands. and shallow sheltered bays between the Islands. The birdlife is Incredible. A large population of Turnstones, oystercatchers, plovers, lots of smaller waders, and of course, my favourite, the recent addition to our birdscape.... Little Egrets. You could almost forgive the awful smell of the rotting seaweed that also piles up after storms.