Daylight saving has arrived. A happy benefit is the fact that it is still light when I get home from work. When I was coming along the coast I saw cloud formations of the kind that colour up at sunset. Knowing how much I would benefit from a good dose of nature's beauty, I returned to inhale the fresh air and watch the evening light intensify. At first it was bright and golden, glowing on the lower hills of the Orongorongos which face the direction of the sunset. Taputeranga was lit up, then quickly fell into the shade of a headland, and around it there were crowds of seagulls swirling together - probably riding the thermals, the warm air rising from the mass of the island...
This is, I think, the evening roosting flight, before they settle in the relative safety of the island's shore. I could get into flights of fancy too, about the social function of this swirling swooping get together, as I haven't found much information about it. They seem to be playing and I enjoy believing that!
A closer view:
And from the other direction, the reason the light was such a golden colour - a pretty fiery sunset, and a great energiser for my rather tired self...
Sunset over the South Island - seen in silhouette, from the rocky coast road between Island Bay and Owhiro Bay