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.
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!
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| Rabbit |
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!
