Sunday 3rd May

We were so lucky with the weather today – it was forecast to be wet, and we didn’t get a single drop out at sea, though the hills inland looked really misty and rainy. The moral of this tale is – ignore BBC weather. There are far more accurate forecasts.

The seabirds are amazing at the moment. The spring can see a real profusion of the birds who nest round our shores, with the migrants and pelagic birds coming in later in the summer. This morning we had an amazing view of a pomarine skua sitting on the water before it lazily took off and flapped away. Some gannets in the distance turned out to be squabbling over which of them got to stand on a floating pallet – there were some cross cackling sounds heard. Lots more guillemots, razorbills, shearwaters and another puffin was spotted, as well as some incoming swifts and swallows. They seemed nearly out of energy so let’s hope they catch some flies as soon as they make landfall. We finished the trip with several seals spotted on the island. The afternoon was a very similar affair, with the seals at the start of the trip this time, then lots more seabirds. The atmosphere felt like it was going to explode with rain, but we remained completely dry and there was barely a breath of wind.

Spaces remain on tomorrow morning and afternoon’s Ocean Discovery trip. It still looks calm, but sunnier.