Some more sea air again - Poppit Sands, Cardiganshire

It was such a lovely day on Tuesday that we drove to Poppit Sands - it must have been 20 years since we were last there.  I can remember looking for - and finding - the orchids in the Dunes then.  Too late for them now of course, but other things were flowering.  I don't know what this sport (below) is called, but involves a bloke on a board, being towed by the sail, which he controls with two strings.  He was going quite a speed.  Here you see him . . .

Here you don't!  Sometimes he was hidden by the waves as he crouched low, but in this photo I think he was simply out of shot.

It's busy here in the summer months, but on Tuesday there were just a few people strolling or walking their dogs.

The tide was going out, but I noticed there were very few shells on the beach.  Perhaps it suddenly shelves away?

The view at the South-Western side of the beach.  I'd love to do one of the coastal walks.

Cardigan Island in the distance, behind the rocky foreshore.  In Welsh it is called Ynys Aberteifi (island at the mouth of the Teifi).  It is about 38 acres in size, and uninhabited.  Once it was home to Puffins and Manx Shearwater but sadly a liner (the Herefordshire) ran aground there in 1934, and rats made it to the island and did for these birds who never returned.  However, Guillemots, Razorbills, Cormorants, Shags, Fulmars and various gulls still nest there.   Bottle Nosed Dolphins and Grey Seals are also to be seen at Poppit.

Below: one of the rock pools at the rocky end of the beach.

Right, those are the seaside photos, and there are a few more with some dune flowers on, which I'll add later.  I am meant to be PAINTING again now.  Back later!!