I say 'May' but it has felt more like October at times. The dry April has been replaced by a wet and often unsettled May. The island was in desperate need of rain but the deluges we experienced on the bank holiday and the following weekend, accompanied by gales was not ideal. We lost two south west facing chough sites after the bank holiday storm. Relentless driving spray being forced into their breeding caves proved too much for the incubating females and they were forced to give up and preserve themselves. The good news is the other 7 pairs appear to have come through ok and are busy feeding chicks now. We will keep fingers crossed for the end of this week when a very unseasonable deep low pressure is forecast to hit us with more rain and 50mph winds. It's not only the chough that could suffer, incubating cliff nesting seabirds will be in the firing line too.
After 20 years of our trusty old wooden trailer serving us so well it finally gave up the ghost. If you've ever volunteered on Ramsey there is a good chance your luggage has been transported to and from the bungalow in it! Thanks to a grant from Welsh Government and NRW we were able to replace it with a shiny new one that should serve the island well for many years to come
As ever, getting kit to the island is always a mission but thanks to Derek's logistical skills (and his boat!) coupled with the island crane, we managed it
Loaded in at Porth Clais with a JCB the new trailer had an exhilarating trip across Ramsey Sound
May sees us turn our attention to sheep jobs. After getting the ewes in and worming them we then had to pick our day to spray them (with a fly repellent to prevent fly strike). This can only be applied in dry weather and with no rain forecast for, ideally, up to 12 hours. This was easier said than done and we were poring over forecasts and rain radars for several days. It worked, but only just! We had just got them in the yard when a black cloud came from nowhere and produced a 45 minute downpour! Luckily we hadn't started so herded them all into the shed to keep them dry. The rest of the day, and the day after, was dry and sunny so that should keep them protected through to shearing.
Nia worming ewes in the race
Sheltering from the rain
Face off.....
In between the unsettled bouts of weather we have continued to welcome visitors to the island. As previously described its all a bit different this year but so far so good and everything seems to be working well and people are able to enjoy the island safely. 500+ days with no visitors, and hence no boats in the harbour, meant that the kelp off the low tide landing had built up somewhat. This would have been a hazard for boat propellers and jet systems so Nia did the honourable thing, donned her wetsuit, grabbed an old pair of garden shears and set about giving the kelp a much needed 'lockdown haircut'! I'm sure she still thinks this was some of 'initiation prank' for new staff!
Nia going above and beyond to ensure our visitors can still land safely!
It looks like tomorrow (19th) will be the last boat we see for quite a few days with that low pressure I spoke about due to hit us and then remain unsettled right through into early next week. The longer term forecast is more encouraging however with talk of a high pressure building in by the end of the month and staying settled into early June. Early days yet and a lot can change but fingers crossed.
If you would like to book ahead to visit us simply give our boat company, Thousand Islands Expedition a call on 01437 721721