Ramsey Island and Grassholm

And just like that the 2023 season on Ramsey is finished! 

Nia and I leaving the island for the season on the 26th © Padrig Rees. 

It was a slightly earlier finish to the season than usual as we closed down and departed the island on the 26th due to the anticipated high winds and swell that were forecast for the following week. We knew if we didn't take our chance to get off we might be stuck on for another few weeks…

Its been another quiet week on the island for myself & Nia with only one boat on 16th. The strong easterly winds and big swell has put a stop to any other landings.

View of the east coast of island and the set of reefs called the bitches © Alys Perry. 

We have spent the majority of our time hiding from the heavy rain inputting our records for the season and writing the end of season reports.

Flooded paths on…

The last few weeks have been exceptionally quiet in terms of visitors, with only 3 boat landings since the start of October. The weather has been fairly all over the place too meaning a lot of indoor and admin jobs being done. With only a few more weeks left we are slowly winding down for the season and making the most of the quieter periods to get on with some of the end of season jobs. 

Griff and Siani joining us to…

As this blog is dedicated to both Ramsey and Grassholm we thought it was about time to share some up-to-date information on Grassholm and a summary of the work we have been conducting on the island this year.

Whole island shot of Grassholm on the 26^{th of} August 2022 © Will Richardson.

As many of you may be aware Grassholm was hit by High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) in July of 2022, resulting in large numbers…

After a bit of a break from blogging, it is now time to get back on it and fill you in with what's been happening on the Island. 

Porth Lleuog during some high winds and big swells on the 19th © Alys Perry. 

The weather has taken a major turn over the last few days with heavy seas and strong winds giving the South West side of the Island a bit of a battering. It's starting to feel much more like Autumn here and…

Since the last blog, we welcomed our next set of volunteers Steve and Christine. Both are Island regulars and are well-versed in all things Ramsey. Christine was supposed to come for a week volunteering back in July, but because of the bad weather, she didn't make it over to the island. But luckily Christine managed to get over for 5 nights on the 19th. Thank you so much for all your help Christine, you were fantastic…

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since the last blog post and a whirlwind of a few weeks it's been. Up and down weather, Manx Shearwater tracking work, seal pup monitoring, marine surveys, and much more. I think it's about time I fill you in on all things Ramsey.

Despite the some bad weather days we have been treated to some very beautiful sunrises!! This was taken on the 31st of July © Alys Perry. 

It's been another week of unsettled weather, with many of the boat landings being canceled to the Island. It looks like we are due for another week of wild weather too.

A break in the weather for an evening shearwater watch on the 18th © Alys Perry.

As the weather has been so changeable this week, myself and Nia have spent a lot of our time doing odd jobs around the farmhouse. Like painting the office, clearing…

Over the past two weeks, we have had some fairly changeable weather which has meant many of our fieldwork plans being put on hold. Despite the changeable condition and last minute changes of plans we have still managed to keep on top of our visitor and habitat management work. 

View of the Bitches on the 8th © Nia Stephens 

From the 24th of June to the 1st July we welcomed Barbara, Agnes, and Rhiannon to the Island for…

Morgan came and joined us for a week of volunteering on the 17th. This was her first time volunteering on Ramsey and Morgan was beaming with enthusiasm all week! Morgan did a fantastic job at doing all tasks set and engaging with our day visitors. Thank you so much for all your hard work this week and amazing passion, we look forward to welcoming you back again next year for more boat trips and sea swims. 

Morgan monitoring…

This week we had none other than our regular volunteer John who again dedicated his week to monitoring our Chough. John often comes for the Chough fledging period to help us work out what's happening with our Chough pairs. John made a monumental effort this work and visited all our chough nest sites throughout the week in addition to assisting with our day visitors. We can't thank you enough for all your hard work John…

We have had some incredibly warm and calm weather this past week which has been brilliant for getting out in the field and finishing off our main monitoring work.

Gower Ranger leaving the harbour after a land © Alys Perry.

We welcomed another lovely volunteer onto the island this week and it was none other than the well-known and loved Gwyneth. Gwyneth has been coming for many years and always gets stuck in with her…

We've had another busy week on the Island filled with more visitors, new volunteers, and exciting seabird fieldwork!

Thrift looking beautiful in full bloom over Glyma © Nia Stephens. 

We welcomed Ally & Vicky as our volunteers from the 27th of May to the 3rd of June. Vicky and Ally completed numerous tasks including chough nest monitoring, visitor work, painting plastic puffins, assisting with seabird counts…

In our last blog, I introduced Mick as our first to volunteer for the season. Well, Mick has now finished his first week of volunteering with us for 2023. Mick got stuck into all things Ramsey and did a fantastic job of painting the plastic puffins ready to go back out on the Western cliffs, clearing teasel, helping with visitors, and monitoring chough nest sites. Thank you so much for all your help Mick, we look forward…

We've had another good week on the Island. We have been busy with welcoming visitors and getting on with more biological monitoring. 

We welcomed our first volunteer 'Mick' back to the island on Saturday. Mick has been coming to the island for many years now and straight away got stuck in with the evening rabbit count at Carn Ysycbor on the 13th. Mick had a busy first day today helping with visitors, monitoring…

We had some changeable weather this week which stopped us from having boats on Thursday but it cleared up in time for a beautiful weekend for the Coronation. We carried on with our usual monitoring work, checking the Chough nest sites and more breeding bird surveys alongside some admin and welcoming visitors. 

The East Coast of the Island in the sunshine ©  Alys Perry.

The big news of the week is that after 3 years…

We have had some very misty weather this week with several days of the Island shrouded in low clouds. Unfortunately, it wasn't great conditions for spotting and counting birds but it was very atmospheric.

Thousand Island's Gower Ranger arriving with visitors between patches of mist. © Alys Perry

The low cloud surrounded the island on the 26th with only the top of Carn Llidi near St. Davids's head visible…

It's been a busy few weeks on the island so much so that this blog has been a tad delayed. 

So it's definitely time to fill you in on all things Ramsey!

After a bit of a delay, and some very stormy weather we welcomed our first visitors for the season onto the Island on the 14th of April. It was a beautiful day, and the visitors and ourselves thoroughly enjoyed it. We have continued to welcome visitors to the island…

Even though we are now into April we are still waiting to welcome our first visitors to the island for the season. A combination of big swells and some issues with the low tide landing stage has sadly hampered our efforts. The pillars on the gutter have now been replaced, so hopefully, we will welcome the public back very soon.

Shanni catching up on some sleep in the sunshine on the back of the Quad © Nia Stephens…

It has been a week of strong winds, big swells, and lots of rain so the majority of the jobs have been undertaken indoors. Myself and Nia have been busy redecorating the island shop and ordering new stock. The swell subsided enough for Derek, Greg, and the team to get over on the 27^th. Derek spent his day fixing the crane that had ceased up over winter. New parts for the crane have now been ordered, so fingers crossed…

It’s been a week of strong winds and big swell but the sunshine has managed to peep through the clouds on occasion.

We have had another busy week trying to fit in as many outdoor jobs as we can in between the rain. Our activities included monitoring our chough nest sites, putting in new Manx Shearwater nest boxes in our study plot, conducting marine surveys, doing the final preparations for visitors to return next…

We are now back on the Island for the 2023 season but with a few changes …..

There is a new team on the Island this year. So without further or do it's time to introduce you to the 2023 team!

Greg Morgan

Many of you will know Greg from previous blogs as the Site Manager of Ramsey Island. After 18 years on the rock, Greg has decided to take up residence full-time on the mainland. However, Greg will still be…

Below is a blog written by Greg (RSPB Ramsey Site Manager) and Lisa (now WTSWW Head of Islands and Marine Conservation) about Dewi, a member of the Ramsey team many of you will have got to know in person or through this blog over the years. Greg and Lisa managed Ramsey together for 14 years and Dewi was their dog...but he was so much more than that.

It’s just over 6 weeks since we lost Dewi and it’s taken till now for…

A ferocious gale force easterly wind raged all day and made doing anything outside tricky. In an attempt to seek out a few birds in the relative shelter of the gorse I was pleased to find our first 3 fieldfares of the autumn. It wasn't long before I saw a few more, and then a few more! It soon became apparent a large arrival of both fieldfare and redwing was underway. Wave after wave of birds were arriving from the NW…

October is always an exciting month at coastal locations with birds on the move and so it has proved on Ramsey this year. A barred warbler on the 6th October was only the 9th record for Ramsey and the first since 2018. Since then we have had a flurry of good birds by island standards. A ruff found by warden Nia on 11th was only the 5th record for Ramsey while a green woodpecker on the same day was only the 4th record and the…