Saturday 8 July 2017

St Bride's Bay and around Ramsey

We had a good trip north this afternoon, and went out from Dale up to the Bishops & Clerks, around Ramsey, and pottered in St Brides Bay, before coming back to Dale.

Going across St Bride's Bay what was most noticeable was that Puffins (and pufflings!) were by far the most numerous bird: perhaps 80%+ of all birds seen away from the coast. The Razorbills and Guillemots are clearly flying further offshore at present.

Around the Bishops and Clerks the most interesting birds were Kittiwakes, with several feeding groups of 30-50, and roosting groups of up to 100 on many of the smaller islands. Plus a flock of 6 Curlew.

 A nice female Peregrine was a treat on North Bishop, as was a feeding blitz by Gannets just north of Ramsey.

At Musselwick Sands, a group of 4 Common Sandpipers, very vocal when flushed.

Moving slowly along the coast between St Brides and Martin's Haven, the consistent distribution of Fulmars still on nests was striking: I think we see fewer than one third of these birds from the Coast Path.

Very few Manx Shearwaters seen during the day (3?!) but hundreds crossing Milford Haven Heads at 2000h prior to rafting near Skomer and Skokholm. The views from St Anne's Head must have been terrific.

Non-birds: astonishing numbers of jellyfish: over 100 huge Barrel Jellyfish, and thousands of Compass Jellyfish and Moon Jellyfish. It can only be a matter of time, surely, before the turtles follow?