On 14 Mar 21, an immature male Walrus was seen on Valentia Island, County Kerry, Ireland, but it wasn't present the next day. Six days later it reappeared near Pembroke in South Wales and for the next few days, it was pinned down around Saundersfoot. Then it moved a few miles & settled down on the lifeboat slipway at Tenby. As a local celebrity, he had been christened Wally by the media.
Although England had relaxed its recent Covid restrictions, there was a tighter restriction stopping entry into, and travel within, Wales that was still in place. As a result, I clearly wasn't going to head off to Wales. I had been taking a very cautious approach to Covid and had turned down a number of popular twitches in 2020 that other UK Birders had attended due to my caution over Covid. My only twitch in 2020 was for the Yelkouan Shearwaters at Portland Bill which had turned up outside of lockdown & where I took the social distancing seriously & stayed well away from the Birding throng.
I was interested in seeing my first Walrus, but I clearly wasn't going to break any lockdown rules. Finally, the Welsh lockdown was lifted on Monday 12 Apr. Given Wally had been there for a few weeks, there didn't seem any point in taking a day off work to go to see it. Secondly, I thought there would be more people going to look for it from England and that was another potential crowd that was worth avoiding. As luck would have it, I had to support some evening work that week & by the Friday lunchtime, I had completed my hours from the week. I could head off from my home office at lunchtime.
Rock Pipit: This Rock Pipit looked far greyer than my local breeding Rock Pipits do at St Aldhelms, but on paper it should still be the nominate petrosus subspecies: regional variation I guess
It was a slow journey through parts of South Wales as I hit the late afternoon rush hour, but I arrived on a warm, sunny & still evening at Tenby. The locals were clearly out enjoying the end of the lockdown with a number wandering around Tenby with pints in the hand, from the pubs that were serving onto the street, with other locals just meeting up with friends in the open air. Fortunately, there weren't that many locals looking for Wally that evening, as most locals had had plenty of other opportunities in the last few weeks to see him.
The Tenby Lifeboat Station with Wally at the bottom of the slipway
I quickly found the coastal path that overlooked the lifeboat station & there was Wally, resting at the bottom of the slipway: a successful twitch. I found a viewpoint away from the small group of locals who were watching Wally & settled down to enjoy the evening. I could have got a bit closer, but I was keen to avoid people. I had the benefit of a scope & my Canon camera with a 100 - 400mm lens, whereas, most of the locals weren't Birders & only had their eyes, small bridge cameras or mobiles.
There was a small twitch of locals, who were easy to avoid
Wally spent the evening resting on the slipway, but he rarely stayed still & was constantly fidgeting to find a more comfortable position, before moving again after a few minutes.
Wally the Walrus warning this Herring Gull to follow the best practice social distancing rules
The old lifeboat station: This is now a private residence & its conversion was covered by a Grand Designs program
After I while, I started scanning the bay for Dolphins. I didn't find any, but I did find three Harbour Porpoises: which will be covered in my next Blog Post.
The Harbour Porpoise came closer than this lone rock just off the fort
I have long wanted to return to Tenby. I remember visiting it for a day when I was a kid on a family holiday, but I couldn't remember much about the town. It was only about fifteen years ago, that my mother mentioned she had lived for a few years in her early school days in one of the small houses right next to the harbour quayside.
Tenby Harbour: This view would have been very familiar to my mother
Maybe it was this local Polar Bear that attracted Wally to Tenby: A reminder that I still need to head off North to see some real Polar Bears
