Don't blame it on the moonlight

Back to having day visitors today.  

Boats this morning and island wandering this afternoon. It's been a glorious day and everyone I spoke to was thoroughly enjoying themselves. 

I showed a few people some seals (17, in fact) on the Garland stone so they were really pleased. It's lovely to be able to show things to people, as not everyone knows what they're looking for or where to start looking. 

Some of my fellow volunteers went for a swim after the last boat today. The water looked gorgeous, but I've been in there before and it's bloody cold! So I was the designated lifeguard. 

Spots today include the seals, chough, buzzard, painted lady and meadow brown butterflies, cinnabar moth, and.....a Skomer vole! It was from a distance, a few metres away, but it was definitely a vole. It's the only mammal which runs along the ground as there are no mice, rats, shrews or anything else here. 

There are lots of chicks of all kinds showing up on the island now. The Pembrokeshire islands are hugely important in terms of breeding sea bird populations - Skomer and her sister island, Skokholm, have over half of the world's breeding population of Manx shearwaters alone. For that reason the island staff are closely monitoring the avian flu situation. There's nothing to suggest that it's on the island, and we're all hoping it stays that way.  Something like avian flu would be utterly devastating here, so, please keep everything crossed for a few weeks! 

On a happier note, I keep forgetting to tell you about meJulie, the racing pigeon which is currently wandering around the farm courtyard. She's been here for a couple of weeks and doesn't seem that keen to leave. You daren't leave a door open or she's in like a shot. We had to chase her around the visitor accommodation twice this morning! She's ringed, so the island staff will have rung her owners, if they've managed to catch her. I'll post a photo of her later in the week. She's very sweet, but they're not really suited to island life, so we're all hoping she decides to head home soon. 

We're off to watch the moon rise over the mainland. The light reflecting on the sea is utterly stunning. I can't do it justice with my camera, though, do you'll have to take my word for it.