A View Through The Dunes


Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

Albert Einstein


Sunset Over The West Shore

Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
Date taken: 19th April 2011
Place: West Shore Beach, Llandudno, Wales


Our Star


The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.

Rachel Carson 1952

Sunset Over The West Shore

No photo filters or effects here … this is a genuine pink sunset.


Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
Date taken: 19th April 2011
Place: West Shore Beach, Llandudno, Wales


Cosmic Connections


Standing amidst the sand dunes watching the sun slip down the distant horizon is such a beautiful spectacle to behold. Soaking up the changing atmosphere as the colours of the sky and sea alter simultaneously, almost like they are melting into one another, a cooling breeze ruffling through your hair is purely awe-inspiring.

Distant gulls screech and sail through the pink and sepia flushed skies, voicing their last for the day as the light gradually fades, our star appearing to sink into the ocean afar, but rising out of the deep to brighten a new day somewhere on the opposite side of the world.


Sunset Over The West Shore

Sunset Over The West Shore

Sunset Over The West Shore

I wonder who maybe standing there in a strange far off land, as I am standing here now in the moment, marvelling at such a wonder of cosmic perfection and splendour slowly unveiling itself in reverse.

I can’t help but wonder what thoughts pass through their mind, and if they are thinking and feeling the same as I do. A star connecting two minds, as it connects us all.


Copyright: Peter Hillman
Camera used: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
Date taken: 19th April 2011
Place: West Shore Beach, Llandudno, Wales


Another Pebble On The Beach

Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba

This little Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba), is very difficult to see on a stoney beach and could be another pebble until it moves. I followed this one as it ran along the shoreline. It hopped on the odd, larger stone as if to get a better vantage point or just to rest.

Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba

Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba

Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba


Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba), West Shore Beach, Llandudno, Wales. April 2017.

Herring Gull

Larus argentatus

Herring Gull Larus argentatus

These are the blighters that will swoop down and steal your ice cream or fish and chips whilst on the beach or the seafront. A few years ago I was sitting on a pebble beach and was about to tuck into a nice custard tart when one dive bombed me from behind and snatched the lot from my grasp in its beak.

Herring Gull Larus argentatus

This one landed on the roof just outside my hotel window. When I was a young lad I only used to see these beside the seaside, but now they fly overhead and have even landed on my garage roof here in the West Midlands where I am completely landlocked. Many have adapted well to a life inland, living off the rubbish we leave in our wake.

Herring Gull Larus argentatus

Yes despite their adaptability they are on the RSPB Red Status list here due to a moderate decline in numbers over the last 25 years. I have to say I do have a soft spot for them, despite the reputation they get sometimes. Yes they are scavengers and will virtually eat anything, and will attack small birds and other animals, yet their piercing cries and their streamlined forms as they soar aloft in the high blue yonder is alway quite something to experience.

Herring Gull Larus argentatus


Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), West Shore, Llandudno, Wales.

Sicilian Chamomile

Anthemis punctata ssp cupaniana

Sicilian Chamomile Anthemis punctata ssp cupaniana

At the start of a 4 mile walk around the Great Orme from the West Shore, I discovered these beautiful flowers growing on the cliff faces. In the first two images you can see the rock strewn beach below. It is usually found in southern climes, and here, on the Great Orme, it is at one of its most northerly outposts. Mainly a garden plant, it usually only naturalises by the sea, which it has appeared to have done so here.

Sicilian Chamomile Anthemis punctata ssp cupaniana

Also called ‘Dog Fennel’, it is an evergreen perennial with mats of intricately shaped leaves which are mostly silvery in the growing season. Apparently they give off a pungent aromatic scent when warmed by the sun. Hasten to say, I couldn’t smell anything on the day which was overcast.

Sicilian Chamomile Anthemis punctata ssp cupaniana


Sicilian Chamomile (Anthemis punctata ssp cupaniana), West Shore of the Great Orme, Llandudno, Wales. April 2017.