Lucky...this time.

Grim on Saturday

Pounding in from the north...

Shag family sticking together

Saturday 18th July comments:
We got lucky, very lucky… the past 24 hours has seen the worst weather the islands have experienced since we returned in late March. Strong northerly winds backed with continuous driving rain, non-stop for 24 hours has seen the islands go from parched, to waterlogged. The ponds, bone dry since late April, are now awash and flooding, Puffins burrows are saturated and water is streaming off the island tops.

If this weather had of struck just two weeks ago, it would have been catastrophic for our breeding seabirds. Thankfully the majority of Puffin chicks have fledged, Guillemots have long gone and the tern chicks are like ‘mini-adults’ and withstood the forces of nature. We did, as expected, have some casualties, but these were just very small in number and we’re thankful it wasn’t worse. Hopefully the wind will ease and the rain will disappear so we can get back on track and enjoy the summer weather. Role on Sunday...