Weather wise, June was dreadful. Rain, rain and more rain. The start of July hasn’t been much better to be honest. We are wondering if Summer is ever going to arrive!
We had a visit from South Devon College students who came for a week to do volunteering. Ranger Tom lined up plenty of jobs for them to do including beach cleans, path maintenance, bridge creation and repairs. During wet weather, they made use of The Shearing Shed to play games and dry off. Many thanks to the group for all their hard work while they were here and we look forward to welcoming them back.
The Shearing Shed is a great place for visitors and residents alike to use. Every Tuesday Vicki bakes cakes for sale and there are the usual snacks and drinks available. There is WiFi available too.
The farm has been gearing up for shearing, out gathering across the hills and wishing the rain away. The fields have been full around the bay and our soundscape has increased in volume. As I sit here and write this, a steady stream of rather naked looking sheep are streaming past my window.
Bob Swann and his bird monitoring team have been to the island. They have been monitoring the corncrakes and we’ve already seen the first broods scamping about. In fact, they might be gearing up for second broods as the male corncrakes have started calling for the second time this year already. Great news for the corncrakes, not such great news for the folk whose garden’s they have taken up residence in! Those early morning wake up calls have started again.
The puffins are now back in full force with some chicks already making an appearance which is great news. Kittiwake numbers are looking good so far but other seabirds have not fared so well this year with Shags and Guillemots struggling to produce young. There could be a myriad of reasons for this including a lack of fish due to the sea still being relatively cold and that cold north wind that hasn’t relented.
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