May 16th to the 21st

21/05/12

Another sunny day on the island, and close to one of my survey sites at the Wick Scarlet Pimpernel is in flower. Under blue skies the Red Campion and Bluebells in South Stream valley were stunning; hard to capture the full effect, but hopefully the attached pictures give a flavour of the sweeping colour of the island at the moment...I have also had time to add photos to yesterday's post below.

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Scarlet Pimpernel

Bluebells and Red Campion close-up, and the view of the flowers looking North East into South Valley...

20/05/12: As I write I am sitting in the library at North Haven, with the early evening sunshine streaming in through the windows and the sound of the sea lapping at the shore below. I have just returned from the first swim of the year, with Annette and Aaron; very cold, but refreshing, and good to be amongst the puffins, close enough on the waves for even my short-sighted eyes to make out! Today it really feels as if summer has begun - it is much warmer, the Puffins flying in from the sea have beaks loaded with shining silver sand eels for their chicks, and at the Amos (left) I saw three Fulmar eggs. In contrast to the mottled eggs of Guillemots and Razorbills, those of the Fulmar are pure white, and seldom seen, as the adults sit tight on them while incubating. Dave spotted the first Kittiwake egg of the year, also at the Amos; all over the island these delicate gulls are working on their nests - there will be many more eggs in the coming days.


On Friday I enjoyed a trip ashore with Chris and Sarah. After the usual food shopping I joined the others for a pub lunch at The Swan in Little Haven. There you can eat while taking in views of the sandy cove around which the village lies, and with a pint of ale and a good lunch of fish, chips and mushy peas there a few better ways to spend a Friday afternoon! Later we strolled up through the woods on the other side of Broad Haven, enjoying the smell of wet earth, the luxuriant mainland vegetation, and the novelty of standing in the dappled shade of fully grown trees (on Skomer a few low Willow and Elder bushes are the closest things to trees). Even a fine misty rain did not dampen our spirits, or prevent a spot of paddling on Broad Haven beach, with Sandwich Terns wheeling and diving into the sea only a few hundred yards from the shore.
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Sarah, Chris and I brave the elements at Broadhaven

Then it was back to the Youth Hostel at Marloes, and with a couple of pints in the Lobster Pot in the evening, a really enjoyable day; even driving to Milford in the fog for takeaway seemed more of an adventure than a chore! We returned to the island on the morning boat, in time for me to get in a day of surveying, although after all the relaxation I was pretty tired!

18/05/12

After a late night at the BBQ (really good home-made burgers, loads of pasta and salad, and a few beers) I made my way out to High Cliff to begin the day's surveying at about nine; it was cooler, with light cloud, and a cold breeze blowing in from the South East. I managed to see a couple more Razorbill eggs on the plot, before moving round to the Wick.
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High Cliff, with Skokholm behind

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Puffins rest near me on the cliffs

The Puffins were out around their burrows - often in the afternoon they gather on the slopes of Sea Campion, pattering around, in and out of their burrows, curiously examining anything of interest near them, perhaps taking new nesting material underground, or clearing out bits and pieces of which they disapprove. It is a pleasure to be working surrounded by these charismatic birds, the whirring sound of their flight close over my head, and their low calls punctuating the higher cries of the Kittiwakes and the hoarse growls of Razorbills and Guillemots.

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Puffins amid the Bluebells and Sea Campion on the Wick

With my surveying finished I headed back to the farm. On the way I caught a glimse of a Goldcrest in the willow scrub at Moorey Mere, and the Moorhens there have at least two black, fluffy chicks, hiding in the deep undergrowth away from the attentions of the gulls.


16/05/12


Today summer sunshine made surveying at the Wick a pleasure; for the first time I was not chilled by the biting winds that have played across the island for the past few weeks. It was a good day for viewing both the Guillemots and the Razorbills. The former in particular now have many eggs, their colours ranging from turquoise to white, each mottled black. The Razorbills are a little more elusive, often hiding in crevices between rocks, and under streams of trailing grass on the cliff face - their eggs are always white, and when they have become muddy they can be hard to distinguish from the surrounding rocks. As I surveyed three ravens soared above the Wick - there is a nest with four fledglings over at the Mew Stone, and I presume they were part of that family group.


I made my way home in the warm afternoon sun; the island vegetation is still low in comparison to last year, but the bluebells and the first of the red campion are adding swathes of colour. I have seen Spring Squill on South Plateau, and apparently there is more around The Basin. Heading back towards the farm I stopped off at Moorey Mere Hide, where a couple of Sand Martins and several swallows cut the air above the pond in elegant sweeping flight, gathering insects and occasionally taking on water. Eleven Canada Goose chicks dotted the far bank, bright yellow-green, guarded by their heavy-set parents. On the other bank a Curlew washed, and a Pied Wagtail skipped across the logs in front of the hide. Sedge Warblers are everywhere, in the willow scrub and adorning bramble bushes all over the island, their rough, scratchy song rising all around you to the south of the island. Whitethroats are also in abundance, and there is still the odd Willow Warbler around, although not in the numbers of a couple of weeks ago.


Now I am back at the farm, and looking forward to a communal BBQ, for once timed to coincide with good weather - a rare thing! Below I have added a map of the island, so you can match up the names I mention as I go along...