(Harriet and wildlife guide Will.)
It was a stunning evening from the off and with
the sun low and the Bitches and Whelps in full flow we hung around for a while
to watch one of the other boat operators drop surfers into the maelstrom! I
haven’t seen anybody try to surf the Bitches before but it certainly didn’t
look easy. After sliding off the boat and into the water they barely had a minute
of struggling to try and gain balance before being spat out the other side.
Must have been exhausting. 
After leaving Tim and his boat ‘The Shearwater’ behind we visited half of the island’s sea cliffs, caves and storm beaches. At the moment Ramsey is covered in spring squill and bluebells which is particularly visible from the boat. There were also some fantastic patches of ramsons and a few small groups of primrose hanging on. We saw buzzards, chough, shag, cormorant, razorbills and guillemot.
(If you have particularly sharp eyes you might notice that
the razorbill is incubating. The auks (razorbills and guillemots) have only
just laid their eggs on Ramsey so we’re all very excited.)
We also stopped by the cave under Ynys Cantwr to
see the nesting kittiwakes who screeched their names at us as we passed.
After seeing a few of the Ramsey sights the boat headed
further out to sea and toward the Bishops and Clerks islands. Seeing Ramsey
from a different angle is really strange and occasionally whilst moving between
the tiny offshore islands I completely lost my bearings. The Bishops and Clerks
in the evening light are pretty perfect and although I don’t have the best
camera in the world they do make a special photographic subject…especially with
the South bishop lighthouse in the background.
(Ramsey seen from the North)
At the North Bishop we clocked three puffins who
nonchalantly swum around in front of the boat and their adoring fans. There are
only around thirty pairs of Atlantic puffin on the island so I always feel
lucky to have seen them.
There were also a few whimbrel on the rocks and I think I
may have had a fleeting glimpse of a peregrine.
With the puffins seen and admired the boat steamed into
position between Ramsey and the offshore islands just in time for us to be
passed by several streams of Manx shearwaters. As their name suggests they
really shear the over the water, banking and turning with effortless grace. I
didn’t get a very good shot at all as I was just too busy enjoying them… but to
prove they were there…
The shearwaters marked the end of the boat trip and I’m
pretty sure the Gower Ranger was packed with some very happy people at that
point. Everyone (including myself) was incredibly stoked that they were able to
join the trip and I have a feeling that it may have made the volunteers stay!
So thank you Thousand Islands…
For more information on boat trips and Ramsey landings with
Thousand Islands Expedition Company please go to…
http://www.thousandislands.co.uk/boat_trip.php
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