My walk this week is from the burrows and beach at Kenfig on the South Wales coast where, on a sunny Sunday, we heard the most beautiful sound of seaside larks rejoicing in the afternoon sunshine. Both they and the wonderful weather made for a very enjoyable walk through the dunes and down to the expansive beach and an ebb tide.
Heading first for Kenfig Pool, it seemed the water level was up from recent rain and to judge from the route we were forced to take to get to the beach, the recent storms had fulfilled their aim of dumping as much rain as possible in as short a time as possible. But on this day, along with the sky, the water was very blue.
Having eaten our sandwiches on the stony bank at the top of the beach, I started walking with difficulty over the stones, recording the sounds around me and taking some photos en route. At first the larks seemed distant but as I walked along the sand there were one or two that sounded as though they were right next to me – but I couldn’t see them!
Kenfig Beach Soundscape
Click the play button above and then the first image to listen and look through the features of my walk this week.
Great photo! love that elm.
Thank you – I certainly love the tree but I hadn’t thought about what kind it is
Amazing pictures, Alastair!
Thank you Did you find the soundscape improved them?
Yes, splendid.
A great joy to walk along the seaside of south Wales, Alastair. The sights are beautiful, with rich colors and so much freshness. I enjoyed each photo, including the many textures you captured. But what really made my heart sing were the sweet melodies of the larks. Oh my goodness, what musical rapture to hear those larks. I tried to determine what kind of lark it was, but was not able, for you have six lark species in Wales. It does not matter anyway, for it was the glory of their song that impressed me. Thanks so much, my friend.
Thank you Jet. The larks do it for me every time – send my heart soaring with them. So often they are more distant at the height they fly so we were very lucky that one or two should have been so close to give us such a wonderful performance – I still couldn’t see them against the bright light though. I thought you would enjoy them and I am very pleased you did.
I love the song of the skylark, a messenger between heaven and earth. We call them fuiseoigí over here in Ireland
Thanks Eoin. That looks like a fascinating name in Ireland but I’m afraid my Gaelic pronunciation is hopeless. How would you pronounce “fuiseoigi”? Can you spell it phonetically for me – cheers
I particularly like larks also because I live in Larkfield 🙂 In Gaelic it would be pronounced Fwish -oh – ga
Must be a good place to live! Thank you for the phonetics. I’d love to learn more of the Gaelic pronunciation – I’m not too bad with names (my daughter’s middle name is Caoimhe) but it embarrasses me that I know so little when I grew up in N. Ireland. My Welsh is not good either but at least I can pronounce the words
I love the concept of your Still walks, Alastair
Thank you They work well for those who can’t get out and for those who can.
I very much enjoyed the format and content. Distant birdsong, crunching pebbles, evocative images. Thank You, Alastair.
Thank you Michael, much appreciated