Rathlin nature

We had the opportunity to explore a little bit of Rathlin island during our recent stay. Lynne became particularly enamoured of seals, the grey Atlantic kind as one in particular made a home on a rock in the harbour for an afternoon.

Perhaps mischievously I named him Sorley Boy, in part because almost everyone we meet claims some direct ancestry from this historical character!

Lynne spent a happy afternoon watching Sorley boy watching her..........

We then decided to walk to the lighthouse at Altcarry Head taking in Rathlins two churches.

the Church of Scotland one

And the catholic one

quite plain I thought but very beautiful non the less. This is the church of the immaculate conception.

the fact that we were now on top of the island ( you could tell this as we were totally out of breath )

Meant that the local flora and fauna was beginning to make an impression, the dragonflies were the size of small birds however that didn't mean I had any success in photographing them.

The day was getting quite hot and the insects buzzing and butterflies everywhere made it seem quite summery.

Eventually we arrived at the lighthouse, famous for Marconis first commercial use of radio from near Ballycastle, the remains of the antenna bases are still there if you care to look.

 The following day and another lighthouse, this one near a point nearest to Fair Head.

On the way we went to have a look at the beach along from the harbour and saw quite a few of Sorley boys relatives, however this paled into insignificance when after a good couple of miles hike we got to Ushden Port.

There were probably 40-50 seals all lying around sunning themselves.

The rather un impressive East light

We had a great time using the buildings as cover and observing the seals in their natural environment.

We very nearly gave ourselves away laughing when one of the young ' guard' seals neglected his duties and chased a seabird about the bay splashing loudly and stalking the bird wherever it went!

A happy day had to come to an end as we headed back to Dark Tarn snug in the harbour....