“FOG in the channel, Continent cut off”
That could have been the headline on early Sunday morning as I went for a walk around the Great Orme's Head.
Quite spooky really: there I was on top of the Orme enjoying the glorious sunshine while below me the town of Llandudno and the North Wales coastline were hidden from view by a thick sea mist.
By the time I'd completed a circuit of my sunny “island”, the rest of the world had been reunited with the promontory. But for a while there was a very odd feeling of isolation about the place.
So often harsh and windswept, the Orme was at its early spring best. With not a breath of wind, I had to loosen a few layers as I walked along beside the stone wall, past the “Fair Trade Loaf” rock and out onto the limestone pavement.
My reward for being out early was a spectacular close-up view of the resident pair of Chough busily feeding in a field.
These birds are uncommon in the rest of the UK, but luckily for us, this pair have lived on the cliffs of the Great Orme for a few years now, and last year successfully raised young too.
Smaller than a Rook or Carrion Crow, larger than a Jackdaw, the Chough is another glossy, all-black bird, but it has two particularly distinctive features: a pair of red legs, and a long, pointed and downward curving (decurved) red bill.
This bill clearly shows up even when the bird is flying, but when they are on the ground and probing into the earth for insects and larvae as they were on this morning, Chough are quite unmistakable.
They had a thoroughly busy look about them, and were concentrating so hard on marching about and prodding the ground vigorously they were quite unconcerned by me, watching from only a few feet away.
Equally distinctive is their call: a sort of “chiach” cry - almost as if they're calling their own name into the wind, and it carries for some distance, so you will often hear them before you can see them.
Their wings are long and broad, and end in a series of splayed “fingers”. This seems to give them great buoyancy and manoeuvrability in the air and they really are the original aerobatic display team, the avian Red Arrows.
They can fold their wings and dive headlong towards the ground, only to pull out at the last minute and soar skyward again.
Haven't Chough ever heard about G-forces?
They can roll over and flip themselves onto their backs in mid-air, and then right themselves again with the greatest of ease.
Does this have a practical purpose? Surely they must be doing this just for fun.
With the inner girl fortified by a hot chocolate at the busy Rest and Be Thankful Café, I walked back towards the mainland along the west side of the Orme.
By now the mist was beginning to burn off, and I could see the outline of the Conwy estuary and castle breaking through.
Anglesey and Puffin Island were looming out of the mist and fishing boats were heading out to sea, accompanied by a halo of opportunistic gulls.
And I enjoyed one last fly-past by the Chough Display Team as it soared over the cliff edge.
What a way to raise the spirits!
