Rathlin Island Visited Part 6

Well for those that joined me yesterday for part of my walk to the East Lighthouse and leaving comments, I thank you.  I hope you are not tired as we have still a good bit to go before we reach the lighthouse!  Off we go again.  Below is a Hooded Crow.

The Irish Hare

Although the Irish Hare can be found in places all over Ireland, historically large colonies have  declined.  Rathlin Island, remains a stronghold for Irish hares.

Irish hares breed throughout most of the year, with leverets recorded from January through to November. With a gestation period of 52 days and a lactation of around 6 weeks, this means that females (does or jills) may be in an active breeding phase at any time. Irish hares are thought to have up to four litters a year of between one and four leverets, the average being two. 75% of the leverets are unlikely to survive their first year of life. Like the brown hare, Irish hares do not breed in their first year. 

You’ll see plenty of rabbits on Rathlin but there are also plenty of unique Irish hare. With smaller ears, a white tail and reddish coat, this native Irish species is quite distinct from the Brown hare found in Britain. They can be found all over the island and there is even a rare local genetic mutation – an albino – with a much lighter coat and blue eyes, called the Rathlin Golden hare.

There were dozens of Rabbits that I saw on my walk and overall I saw about 7 Hares so it was worth while getting up early!

Rabbit

Below is a Willow Warbler.

I only had a quick chance to get this shot.

You will hear on the video at the end of this post that I saw Whitethroat, in fact quite a number  however some were camera shy and others were far away.  Now the challenge is for you to see the Whitethroat is the shot below!!

Below is a Blackbird out gathering food for her hungry chicks.

At last, I reached the East Lighthouse.  

It has been flashing a warning to mariners since 1856 . It is the oldest of the lighthouses and has since been automated  and has attracted some famous visitors, notably Guglielmo Marconi who was contracted by Lloyd's Insurers to install a wireless link which would allow swift announcements of successful trans-Atlantic crossings by Lloyd's ships. On May 1898 Marconi and his associates successfully transmitted the first commercial radio signals across water from Rathlin's East Lighthouse to Ballycastle on the Northern Irish mainland. 

 

In July, 1898, the Marconi telegraphy was employed to report the results of yacht races at the Kingston Regatta for the Dublin Express newspaper. A set of instruments were fitted up in a room at Kingstown, and another on board a steamer, the Flying Huntress. The aerial conductor on shore was a strip of wire netting attached to a mast 40 feet (12 m) high, and several hundred messages were sent and correctly received during the progress of the races.

 

I thought this information was interesting and worth sharing with you.  At this time His Majesty King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, had the misfortune to injure his knee, and was confined on board the royal yacht Osltorm in Cowes Bay.  Marconi fitted up his apparatus on board the royal yacht by request, and also at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, and kept up wireless communication for three weeks between these stations.

 On the headland at the East Lighthouse, I tried to video the hundreds of Auks passing the point and have included this clip, however I did not manage to capture most of them as they were a good distance away and going very fast.  Also on the video, at the little lake when I passed it for a second time, I said the bird was a Little Grebe, in fact it was a Tufted duck.  As you can see from these lighthouse shots I have experimented a bit so you can see which one you like best!

The video below can be access at http://youtu.be/axaJAFsgVis

I hoped you enjoyed the walk to the East Lighthouse with me and tomorrow I will show you the wonderful Orchids I found  along the way.

Thank you for visiting, so until tomorrow, have a lovely day.