Things to remember:
- Hellish winds and rain began overnight and woke me up several times. The weather had turned!
- It was still windy and raining sideways as I made my way to the venue of the parkrun in Douglas first thing but on arrival at the venue the rain, at least, petered out some.
- The parkrun itself was very well organised and very welcoming. It was tough, though. The wind and wet made the uppy-downy, twisty-windy, multi-terrain course a real slog. Of course, it didn't help that this was also my first big effort in exactly a month. Thanks, virus.
- Post run I had a really steady bumble down many-a twisty and narrow lane and knocked off a few birding sites I'd identified before setting off.
- The bit of the island I did today was very twee and pretty, and the frequently encountered Manx Electric Railway that runs between Douglas and Ramsay I found particularly charming.
- I took in a well-known church at Maughhold that sported a really impressive collection of medieval Manx Crosses, as well as Commonwealth war graves.
- Late afternoon I visited the really impressive, well-prepared and managed national nature reserve that spreads across the Point of Ayre (the northernmost tip of Man). As well as impressive birdlife, the reserve is also geared towards supporting insects and bats. The dragonfly fauna I saw there today was particularly impressive. Some of the viewing screens were very nicely executed, made in wood in the form of birds' wings. Also, in the main hide there were decent binoculars and a scope left assembled for unsupervised public use. Try that in England! I spent two hours or so there and saw no one.
- I've seen a lot of bird species today and though there's been nothing rare I have seen all of the black corvids in one single day. I've seen: jackdaw, chough, rook, common and hooded variants of crow, and raven. I've also seen magpies. Had I bagged jay, that would have been one even more unique experience.
- At the spot shown, now. I moved here after some evening sea-watching on the Point of Ayre itself. I would have stayed there but for the fact the shingle track beyond the lighthouse now features on the Turn2Shite app and - sure enough - half a dozen van dwellers were in attendance blighting the sight-lines.
Post composed at 21:00 on Saturday 12th September from my intended overnighting spot N 54.40971°, W 04.36622° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:54.40971%2C-04.36622
