Hello!
We’re Ric and Hazel, the new Visitor Experience Officers at the Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre.
We’ve been on the island for a few weeks now and the time has passed more quickly than the whirring of a puffin’s wings! Coming from the flat, fertile mosses of West Lancashire, Rathlin’s rugged cliffs and heath-clad hills are a dramatic and beautiful change of scenery for us.
Setting sail for Rathlin Island
Fresh off the ferry, we followed the tiny lane winding up to the island’s west lighthouse. Alison McFaul, Visitor Experience Manager at the Seabird Centre, welcomed us to our new home - a small cottage called the Creel House, where generations of the McFaul family made their creels (crab or lobster pots).
Instead of unpacking we raced over to Rathlin’s westernmost edge for our first peep at the seabird colony. We were delighted to find great crowds of noisy common guillemots and razorbills already covering every available ledge on the stacks – a real 'auk-stravaganza'!
What a lot of guillemots
There was plenty of work to be done getting the centre ready for opening day. Luckily this season’s first three volunteers – Mel, Joanne and Matt – had arrived to assist and together we had things ship-shape in no time. Our official opening day was on 1 April and thankfully the puffins were punctual, rewarding our first visitors with nice views as they returned to inspect their burrows.
Cake to celebrate opening day
The first puffin seen back at the colony this year
Meanwhile, inside the lighthouse, volunteer Mel James entertained guests with memories of his childhood spent staying on Rathlin while his father was a principal lighthouse keeper, and shared stories of the keeper’s way of life that extends back through generations of his family.
Mel James points out his grandfather’s name on the list of principal keepers for the West Light
Watching the cliffs over the past few weeks, there’s never been a dull moment. Pairs of fulmars have been canoodling on the cliffs for as long as we’ve been here, so it can’t be too long before we see the first egg. Daily we see peregrine falcons perched high up on the hilltop, spending long periods watching the cliffs below. Nearby, an alcove shelters an enormous nest where a pair of ravens are again raising their chicks this year.
With three hungry mouths to feed, we frequently see an adult raven misbehaving among the seabirds – this week one unwisely harassed a sitting fulmar, which struck back with a spray of foul stomach oil to repel the raven. Twice now we’ve experienced the invasion of guillemots, arriving one morning to see (and smell!) that they’ve returned en masse, only to find their ledges empty again the next day. In smaller numbers razorbills and puffins have been doing the same, popping in and out of the colony and testing their nesting sites.
Volunteer Matt helps a visitor viewing seabirds on the stacks
Over the Easter weekend, the West Light Seabird Centre was bustling with visitors enjoying these early views of the seabird colony. We have welcomed four more wonderful volunteers to the team – James, Wendy, Ilia and Caroline. Massive thanks to all for their unfailing enthusiasm, energy and expertise. As we head towards May the breeding season will soon get into full swing, and we’re very excited about the summer of seabirds that stretches ahead.
The Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre is open daily from 10am until 17 September. Admission is free for RSPB members, £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. For more information call 028 2076 0062 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/rathlinisland.