Another week has gone by on Ramsey Island and this week the flowers have been putting on a great display. There are large swathes of both spring squill and blue bells across much of the island, particularly on the east coast and on the slopes of the highest hill, Carn Llundain.
Since I arrived, I had been having difficulty getting out of bed, or at least in comparison to my usual time when I’m at home. However, the flowers have given me an extra incentive to get out of my pit early and venture outside. For three mornings this week, I have been up and out before 5:30am visiting various parts of the island which face east and receive each day’s first rays of sun. I’ve been quite pleased with some of the outcomes, shown in previous posts, but my favourites are below…
With the sun out, the Island really does look in its prime.
My work this week has been focussed on my main daily task, the introductory talks for visitors arriving on the two boat each day, and on undertaking a survey of oystercatchers (oiks) around the full circumference of the Island’s coast. I can’t remember whether I have ever walked the entire coast of the island in such detail. Often later in the year, the bracken is so thick that it’s unwise to get so close to the edge of the island but with little bracken growth so far, I could get good views of most of the shoreline. Where I couldn’t see the water’s edge, I may need to hop on an around island boat trip to double check for oiks.
In addition to the talks, I also supported Lisa, the warden, when she did a guided tour for a large group from the Friends of Pembrokeshire National Park. We spent around four hours showing the group the southern part of the Island and talking to them about the flowers, Manx Shearwaters, rat eradication, Grassholm, and many other things, including how I managed to wangle three months off work! The programme of weekly guided walks starts soon, and it may be my turn to do the tour-leading.
This week, saw the arrival of another volunteer, Steve, so we had three in total, including myself. With Steve comes the major social event of the Ramsey Island calendar, the Warden’s Dinner. He has been cooking a special meal for the wardens for many years and I’ve been lucky to have been present at a few of them. This year, I actually contributed to the cooking and did the amuse bouche (mini-pizzas and garlic breads), sun-dried tomato bread rolls to accompany the main course, the sweet (chocolate torte) and contributed some of the cheese. As ever, it was a long evening of good food, great wine and even better company!
Daft Mumblings 