Following on from our first Manx shearwater egg in our study plot nest boxes a week ago, we now have 4 eggs at the weekly check carried out yesterday (the same number we had by this date last year when we ended up with 11 eggs in total). Competition for prime nest locations and mates would seem to be heating up judging by the video footage captured in the past week. There are plenty of empty nest boxes and even more vacant…

As our 10 pairs of chough plough on through the breeding season I've been busy the past couple of days carrying out jobs on the livestock that help provide these special birds with perfectly cropped swards on which to feed, namely our flock of Welsh mountain ewes. With just under 100 ewes grazing the northern half of the island, animal husbandry and shepherding work is part and parcel of my life on Ramsey. I couldn't…

It was a warm and sunny bank holiday on Ramsey. Normally a time when we share this spectacular island with our lovely visitors and supporters. Hopefully this blog goes a small way to compensating for that in these present times. The birds don't stop for bank holiday though and they were making the most of the lovely weather before a cold Arctic snap arrives on Sunday. Whitethroats, one of the last migrants back from Africa…

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…

There seems to be a 'day' for just about everything now but International Dawn Chorus Day is of particular importance as it helps bring people together to focus on the nature that is literally on their doorstep and hopefully make them appreciate it all the more. Over the past 50 years the UK has lost over 40 million birds and the focus for environmental charities has never been greater.  

One of the few positives…

The 16mm of rain the other day now feels like a distant memory with the ground seemingly as cracked and dried as it was after 6 weeks of no rain. More rain is forecast for this week but we need something a bit more substantial and prolonged please (I know I'll regret saying that!).

Keeping the buildings and visitor infrastructure in good working order is an important annual task. And just because we can't share the…

Somewhere in an earlier I blog I wrote about how wet the winter had been and commented that it had been surprisingly dry for the time of year since my permanent return for the season. I said I hoped we weren't going from 'feast to famine'....but that's how it has proved. Overnight we had 6mm of rain, nothing spectacular until you consider in those 6 hours we had as much rain as the whole of the previous 6 weeks combined…

For the past few nights we've been out around sunset checking out the chough roost on the west coast of the island. Communal roosting is a big part of chough society and serves several purposes. The obvious ones are keeping warm and safety in numbers after dark, but they also serve as a channel for information exchange and a good way to meet potential future partners. Chough don't breed until they are 2 or 3 years old…

I usually write this blog in the evening but for the last few nights we've been out trying to assess how many chough are coming in to roost on Ramsey in the evenings. The answer seems to be a lot! We're heading out again this evening so I'll post something a bit more comprehensive tomorrow, hopefully with some half decent photos and video (don't hold me to that though!)

The title of this blog however refers…

Today marks World Earth Day and in the current situation we find ourselves in a lot of people are turning to nature on a global scale to find solace and provide inspiration on their daily walks. To me no species on Ramsey says 'global' quite like the Manx shearwater. We always talk about 'our' Manxies and to some extent they are as over 90% of the world's population breed on islands around the UK coast. Wales is home…

After the rain of Friday and Saturday it was a return to dry and sunny weather yesterday and again today with the now familiar easterly airflow dominating. While yesterday was warm, today saw the wind in the NE which had a distinct chill to it. We continued with our chough watches and now have 7 of the 10 nest sites confirmed as incubating. I wish I could show you photos of some of the spectacular caves the birds nest…

Finally some rain! A decent 11mm in the gauge this morning and it rained on and off all day too. After over 3 weeks of nothing it was long overdue. Not sure there is too much more to come though for the foreseeable though

The day was fairly typical with sheep feeding, Manx shearwater box checks (no new arrivals last night), chough nest site checks (most incubating now but a few still to go) and computer work in front of…

After feeding the sheep first thing I left the quad bike parked up in the field and decided to head over to check out our secluded east coast bays. The wind has been in the east for some time now and the garden was full of common migrants so all the main 'migrant hotspots' needed checking. I arrived at Ogof Capel, the site where St Justinians chapel was said to once stand, now a deep cut cove thick with vegetation. I…

The warm weather of the rather strange Easter weekend (strange as in we should have been welcoming hoards of lovely visitors to the island but instead the harbour sat empty) has been replaced this week by a chill north easterly airflow, although it is still sunny. After the very wet winter the island is drying up fast with no rain to speak of for over 3 weeks. It looks like we might get a bit this weekend and it will…

With 10 pairs of chough having started nest building by end of the first week of April we began checking on these sites today for signs that clutches had been laid and incubation was underway. The female carries out all the incubation duties but only begins once a full clutch is laid (up to 6-7 eggs usually). The male bird feeds her during this time so once you start seeing single birds busily feeding in our sheep grazed…

Following on from the news last week of the first Manx shearwater back in the nest box colony, the last few nights have seen ever increasing arrivals. We paid another visit to the colony today and 2 more pairs were back in the same boxes they left last September. In that time they have flown around 14,000 miles each to and from the east coast of Argentina. In a long running project with Oxford University and our own RSPB…

The last few days have seen far from typical weather for the beginning of April - 17c has been logged for 2 days running, we sometimes don't seen those sort of temperatures out here until mid May. The calm settled weather has seen a surge in migrants passing through, the most numerous being willow warblers. Double figures have been logged for the past 4 days with a peak of 27 on 9th April. Fresh in from Africa these birds…

Every spring we look forward to a particular event on Ramsey, an event that can only be experienced in a handful of places anywhere in the world....the return of Manx shearwaters to their breeding burrows. Over 90% of the world population of this species breed in the UK with over 50% breeding right here in Pembrokeshire. Skomer island, just 6 miles south of Ramsey hosts the largest colony in the world with 350,000 pairs…

There was a warmth in the air today not felt as yet this year. Gloves and hats were discarded for a while giving a glimpse of what might lie ahead. The vegetation on Ramsey is always a long way behind that on the mainland thanks to our harsh micro climate. Daffodils are barely out in time for St Davids Day but by April Fools are still in full bloom in sheltered areas around the buildings. So while the island still bears…

Well March has flown by and it is safe to say it was unlike any other month I've ever known out here. In a bid to keep a semblance of normality in this strange world we find ourselves in here is a good old fashioned recap of the month's bird sightings:

At close of play on 31/3 our year list stands at 55 - not ground breaking but not bad! The highlights being marsh harrier, coal tit and black redstart with notable…

Thanks to our RSPB IT Crowd bods for sorting out my blog access after I somehow locked myself out of my account on Friday night (I'm sure they have got better things to be doing right now!) - #7 in this series was relegated to 'Twitter only' and included news of yet another red kite over the island (our 3rd record for March)

So over the weekend our number of confirmed chough nest sites increased to 9 pairs…

After a slow start to proceedings our chough moved up a gear today with a further 5 nest sites being confirmed bringing the running total to 7 with at least another 2 pairs firmly on territory. This was no doubt helped by a second day of spring like weather. Yesterday's max temp was 14c - very warm for here in March (although it dropped to 4c overnight and felt like to too!)

By the end of today the wind had shifted…

Another sunny day on the island, feeling spring like by this afternoon. Migration was in full swing with the arrival of at least another 10 wheatears with some sustained sing offs between rival males. Their song is one of the sounds of spring on Ramsey, explosive bursts of techno chatter!

Goldcrests and chiffchaffs moved through too and one of my favourite birds, the black redstart appeared at the bungalow, our second…

Just a quick one this evening folks as it's been a busy day of cleaning (even though we're not opening the buildings still need sprucing up after winter) and meetings (Microsoft Teams is helping keep the RSPB Cymru family together!)

Couple of new birds for the year list today - little owl and white wagtail. Little owls are pretty scarce in Pembrokeshire now and Ramsey used to be a stronghold. Not that long ago…

The nice weather continues, bright and sunny again meant a tank full of hot water by the end of the day and full batteries - I love 100% renewable energy days out here! (ok so I am burning some logs tonight but it's all compressed saw mill off cuts in the form of eco logs.....)

I was a bit late getting to sheep feeding so the ladies had come to look for me. This means getting through the gate is a bit tricky but luckily…