Even on the open slopes above the cliff, the air was hot and humid, making the steeper sections of the coast path seem more of a trudge than usual. South of Aberaeron, in west Wales, the route was almost deserted – so the sensation of being watched was unexpected.
As I struggled past a tangled mass of gorse, I realised that I was being observed by a stonechat perched on a bracken frond. My plodding approach hadn’t alarmed him enough to make him retreat and as I returned his gaze I realised that at least three others, perhaps a family, were nearby. They began to exchange the sharply characteristic calls that sound uncannily like two pebbles being tapped together, and which give the species its name.
The spot I was heading for was further away than I remembered, so it was a relief to clamber down into the narrow valley and rest for a moment on a rock by the stream. The steeply dipping beds of blocky mudstone give an interesting asymmetry to this miniature canyon, with the smooth erosion surface on the southern side countered by jagged exposed strata to the north.
Clumps of thrift have established themselves in cracks between the bands of harder rock, while a diverse selection of lichen has colonised the exposed stone. At the seaward end, the brook feeds a small waterfall, sluicing over the rock step into a sheltered pool perhaps a metre deep, from which a solitary bather – or two if they were good friends – might watch the setting sun.
Barely a dozen metres across, the valley gives the impression of a carefully crafted rock garden and water feature prepared for exhibition at a show.
Thunder clouds began to bubble up inland, eventually blocking the direct sunshine. With regret, I headed north again across slopes swathed in bracken and gorse. From out across Cardigan Bay, a Hercules military transport plane swung idly towards the coast, spooking a group of curlew, which lifted over the cliff edge from the foreshore, their familiar whistles merging with that of the turboprop engines overhead.
Follow Country diary on Twitter: @gdncountrydiary
