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 chough sites, and painting plastic puffins ready to go out on the Western cliffs. Thank you so much for all your help so far Mick!
Mick counting rabbits © Alys Perry.
As promised here are the finished photos of the Bungalow kitchen and bathroom! We are so pleased with how it's looking and so happy that we can finally have volunteers back. Diolch yn Fawr Derek and the team, fantastic job!
Volunteer kitchen © Alys Perry.
Volunteer bathroom © Alys Perry.
The biggest news of the week is that Griff the Island sheepdog had his first swim into the harbour. It took a bit of encouragement from Nia and Chris but bits of seaweed floating were just too tempting for him. He has since been much more confident and is happily swimming with us most days.
Nia & Siani swimming in the harbour © Alys Perry.
Griff taking his first swim in the harbour © Alys Perry.
Weekly Wildlife Round-up
It's been a quiet week in terms of migrants. Although, we have had more Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, and Sedge Warblers dropping in but nothing new to add to the species list sadly. We have had a couple of flyover Siskins, 7 Whimbrel hanging around on the Northen end, and the Grey Heron is now a regular visitor to the Central Ponds. 4 Puffins were spotted in the Sound today, which were likely slightly confused with the influx of sea mist we have been having.
We did see our first Wheatear carrying food this week which means it won't be long till fledgling Wheatears start appearing!
Wheatear with food © Nia Stephens.
And our first sighting of Guillemots with eggs on the Western cliffs! It seems that breeding season is in full swing.
I stumbled upon this gorgeous Oystercatcher nest with an incredible view of the sounds whilst doing breeding bird surveys (* Any nests photographed are monitored as part of the island breeding census and all the necessary precautions were taken in order to minimise disturbance).
Oystercatcher nest © Alys Perry.
We had an influx of By-the-Wind-Sailors this week with many getting blown into the Harbour. These weird creatures are Colonal Hyrdroids which are made up of many individual tiny organisms all linked together. The sail allows the organism to catch the wind and travel on ocean currents, using its stinging tentacles to prey on young fish and other small animals while it travels. An interesting fact about these species is that the position of the sail on the top of them determines which way it will travel across the oceans.
By-the-wind-sailor © Alys Perry.
The bluebells are now covering the hillsides on the Island plus a few field mushrooms are starting to appear in the fields.
Bluebells behind the Bungalow © Alys Perry.
Squill is also out in abundance all over the Island.
Squil on the North © Nia Stephens.
Until Next Week!
Alys Perry
Assistant Warden
Assistant Warden Ramsey & Grassholm Island