Nearing the end of my walk now from Hill End to Spaniard Rocks and back again. The damp sand for hours exposed to air revealed in the oblique light intricate traceries of trails where small invertebrates had travelled around unseen on the surface to hunt for food. The tide had turned and was fast washing the shore clean again. First the light particles of wood and coal dust floated away and gradually all the other organic debris and flotsam were removed in order of weight. Just a few items left to go. Incredibly, a soggy soft pink toy starfish found itself marooned with a real starfish. I photographed it exactly as I found it. The red mooring buoy seen high and dry earlier in the day was now licked by the waves, along with paired prickly cockle shells, living whelks, a dead dogfish, and a wellington boot.
The sun was bright and the sea was dark blue and scintillating. Rows of sand ripples reflected the blue sky like a natural abstract painting. Such a view of the sea and sand in Rhossili Bay is one of the most uplifting I know.
I reluctantly left the water’s edge to negotiate the makeshift bridge across Diles Lake once more. This time I photographed the unattractive brown periphyton attached to the underwater rocks as well as the beautiful sunlit surface ripple patterns of the flow. While it was time for me to leave, others were just arriving with surf boards, impatient to immerse in the iridescent sea – now that must be some high on such an afternoon. I can’t wait to go back.
Jessica's Nature Blog 
Gorgeous shots!….love the starfish….the abstract strips of sand and water beautiful too…and looks like a great day for surfing.
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Thanks, Clare. It really was a most enjoyable day at the beach …and the wonder of it all is that Rhossili changes its appearance continuously so there is always something new to see.
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Really excellent set of images Jessica. So many great ones…the starfish, the dogfish, the horizontal lines of the ripples. Brilliant.
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Wonderful photos Jessica – I love the ones with the shimmering sunlight on the water… !
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Thank you, Adrian. I have been delighted to share these images and my enjoyable beach walk.
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Thank you, Evelyn. I think maybe each scintillation of sunlight on the sea hits the retina of the eye and travels direct to the brain to create sunbursts of endorphins – the happy hormones.
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I can’t wait for you to go back, either, Jessica. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed going on this whole walk with you.
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Thank you for saying so, Linda. Other parts of Rhossili are very different from the stretch I just described. The following two days of that particular week-end I looked at the cliff area at the southern end of the shore, and then the Worms Head Causeway. I might feature those walks in posts later on.
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The dogfish – easy to see that they are part of the wider shark family. Less easy when palmed off in a chippy as rather more exotic sounding ‘rock salmon’!
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I used to like a piece of rock salmon.
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As someone who loves Gower (I have a caravan near Llangennith) your blog fills me with delight at all you notice and all you know. Many thanks!
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Thank you, Pat. Gower is certainly a delightful place and the more I visit the more I learn.
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