As we all know visiting Pembrokeshire just isn't possible at the moment. If you are missing your annual visit to the County or maybe feel inspired to give us a try for the first time when safe to do so then a new publication might help satisfy you in the meantime. Simply titled 'Pembrokeshire', author and naturalist Jonathan Mullard visited Ramsey during the writing of his new book and interviewed island staff and many people around the County. A copy of this splendid new addition to the New Naturalist family landed on my doorstep last week and I cannot wait to get stuck into it. The New Naturalist series is the longest running natural history series in the world with over 100 volumes published in over 60 years, the first book going to press in 1945

For more information and ways to order a copy see the Collins New Naturalist website via this link

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Unlike the blue skies and clouds of seabirds depicted on the front cover (which is Skomer by the way), the weather on Ramsey today has been decidedly dull and cold. A cool easterly wind has raged all day. The farmhouse is usually well sheltered, built as it was in the late 1700's in a natural valley on the lee side of the island protected from the prevailing winds. She doesn't like an easterly though! The wind howls around the chimneys, flaring the wood burner into a rage and rattling the sash windows. Huddled over the laptop it is wise to don an extra layer, one of those days when it is actually warmer outside than in! 

The grey scene from the farmhouse today

The strong easterly did however blow an island scarcity across from the mainland in the form of a female house sparrow, plaintively 'cheeping' in the garden this morning. Also present in the willow trees were a willow warbler and a blackcap, migrant numbers noticeably tailing off compared to the peak in mid to late April. Perhaps even scarcer than the sparrow was an hour or two of rain this morning! It barely touched the sides however but there is more in the forecast for next week.....perhaps.....

A blustery trip up to the Manx shearwater colony to change the cards in the trail cameras was a good way to stretch the legs and give Dewi, the island sheepdog, some exercise. The females will be laying their single white eggs within the next week or so. Some birds will have laid already but our nest box birds are all, generally, younger birds who tend to lay slightly later than established pairs. Stay tuned for more news on the Manxie front....

It was definitely windy today!