Algy followed the lighthouse keepers’ path down to the barnacled rocks at the edge of the sea, and found himself a prickly perch among the rock pools. The tide was coming in, and the water surged all around his feet with much enthusiasm. It was great fun to watch, and he wondered how long it would be before he got splashed…
Algy hopes that you have all been having fun and enjoying yourselves this weekend 🙂
The next day brought no change in the weather: the outside world, if it still existed, was lost somewhere beyond a never ending mass of dense Scotch mist. Visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards at best, and the small part of the world which seemed to remain was blurry and grey.
Algy flew down to the sea, and gazed in the direction where the islands should have been… but as there was nothing out there except a pale, wet fuzziness which drove in among his feathers with surprising force, he decided to find a sheltered spot among the rocks and focus on his more immediate surroundings instead. Even when the rest of the world had vanished, there was plenty to see in the rock pools, so Algy perched on a cold, damp rock at the edge of a pool and spent a happy if damp and chilly half hour watching the tiny creatures beneath the surface going about their daily business…
The next day brought no change in the weather: the outside world, if it still existed, was lost somewhere beyond a never ending mass of dense Scotch mist. Visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards at best, and the small part of the world which seemed to remain was blurry and grey.
Algy flew down to the sea, and gazed in the direction where the islands should have been… but as there was nothing out there except a pale, wet fuzziness which drove in among his feathers with surprising force, he decided to find a sheltered spot among the rocks and focus on his more immediate surroundings instead. Even when the rest of the world had vanished, there was plenty to see in the rock pools, so Algy perched on a cold, damp rock at the edge of a pool and spent a happy if damp and chilly half hour watching the tiny creatures beneath the surface going about their daily business…
Like many of his young friends – and some of the older ones too – Algy is fascinated by the wonderful world of rock pools. There are some fine examples around the tideline on the lighthouse rocks, and Algy loves to perch quietly on a rock and watch the sea anemones and other strange creatures going about their daily life in this precarious environment. Of course it’s rather prickly on the tail feathers, as the rocks below the tideline are thoroughly encrusted with barnacles, but it’s worth it all the same 🙂
Have a lovely weekend, everyone – and if you happen to be in the local area tomorrow, come and meet Algy’s assistant at the lighthouse!
Click through for details of the book signing event at the lighthouse
Perching on the warm rocks in the sunshine, surrounded by many
fascinating rock pools and the beautiful turquoise and deep blue sea, it
seemed to Algy that the life of a fluffy bird was sometimes a very
pleasant one, even if the barnacles did prickle his tail feathers…
[Algy apologises if you have already seen this. He had to delete the original post as a Russian spam bot chain got hold of it.]
The coastline of the headland provided a diverse range of fascinating wee environments which Algy loved. In some places the rocks plunged straight down deep ravines into the sea, in others there were tiny tidal beaches of pale sand, and in some areas there were masses of large rocks jutting out into the ocean. In one special spot on the north coast there was a unique network of large pools above the normal tideline, surrounded by miniature fortifications of rock. This was a place unlike any other, and it was often warm and sheltered too. Algy loved to perch on a rock here, and watch the small fish that darted in and out of the weed in the pools. He assumed that these rock basins must be filled mainly with rainwater, but as the ocean was only yards away and exceedingly vigorous at times, the water would surely be salty too. Algy wondered how the fish could manage in such a strange environment, and whether they sometimes ventured out into the great ocean when the tide was especially high…
As always, there was plenty going on in all the nooks and crevices of the rocks as the tide went out, so Algy spent a happy hour just watching the strange wee sea creatures that scuttle about among the sticky seaweed or dart suddenly across the rock pools.
The Adventures of Algy 