Hurrah! It's June! The blazing sunshine continues here at South Stack Cliffs, and we are all out, Man and Beast, enjoying the glorious weather :-) The only brilliant difference this month is that basking and nature-watching in the sun can now be happily accompanied by a cool drink, tasty snack, or perhaps an ice cream from our new Cafe! What better!
If you haven't popped over yet to sample the fare, do pay us a visit - a warm welcome, freshly-prepared food and drinks, and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating are guaranteed... and of course, whether from indoors or out, the view is always dazzling... The Cafe is open for drinks and snacks every day from 10am until 5pm, with Ian and the catering team serving up an additional range of lovely hot food between 11.30 and 3pm every day.
It's truly been all-hands-to-the-pump getting the Cafe ready for the summer months in an unbelievably short turnaround time since we acquired it in April, and so we are now equal parts proud and relieved (!) to have this facility up and running for our visitors... so do come and pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and tell us what you think - we're always keen to have your suggestions! If you want to check out the 'before and after' pics, have a look in the gallery - Hayley posted some photos of the renovation a little while ago, and I'll be putting some new photos of the finished Cafe up asap...
Meanwhile, back on the cliffs, its all going on! Our Gull chicks are hatching and so little fluffy balls with tiny legs are currently stumbling about, excitedly exploring the grassy slopes around their nests.... meanwhile the Razorbills and Guillemots are busy carefully keeping their eggs warm and safe through the final run-up to hatching. We're all so excited to have been able to witness the first stages of life of the Razorbill chick who has been the star of our live web-cam... he/she's still in his/her egg at the moment, but we just can't wait for the special day... by our calculations it should be at the end of this month or at the beginning of July... Watch this space, or even better, click on the webcam link and check up on the family yourself! Its great to watch the parents sharing the duty of incubating the egg, giving each other time off to feed - be warned that watching their comings and goings can become addictive!
Elsewhere, on the cliff tops, the delights of dancing butterflies and flitting stonechats and linnets among the beautiful coloured flowers are putting a smile on everyone's face, and I saw my first Emperor Moth at the weekend whilst walking on the Range - the females fly only at night but the males also fly during the day - they are on the wing until July, so look out on your walks... We've also got our usual groups of Chough swooping around, and a few rarer visitors too, like the beautiful Peregrine spotted soaring past Ellin's Tower earlier today, giving everyone a surprise!
So what's coming up? Well, the team here are gearing up for what's shaping up to be a fantastic Springwatch Open Weekend this coming weekend, the 5th/6th June. We'll have a fab marquee full of games and activities to celebrate the wonders of Springtime here at South Stack Cliffs. We won't have the BBC unfortunately as they will be elsewhere in the UK, but we will have our own wonderful team of energetic and enthusiastic staff and volunteers to provide a wealth of knowledge together with bundles of fun and energy for a brill weekend! Come and enjoy this special place with us and share our love for the nature around us here - its on from 11-4pm Saturday and Sunday, and its all free!
Well, that's all our news for now - we'd love to see you up here sometime .... there's always something amazing to see, and now there's a cup of tea and slice of cake waiting for you too!
Enjoy the sunshine!
Vicky :-)
Part-Time People Engagement Team Administrator and full-time Good Egg!