By Kirsty Cox
It started as a very wet day. After a lot of rain overnight, it continued into the morning. Obviously the rain is very welcome as water is definitely needed here to top up the dwindling supplies on the island. It did make for a very damp run for me first thing but it was incredibly refreshing and a real change after all the sunshine!
My morning was spent on the East Coast surveying the seals for the weekly population count. I have been off island for just over a week and since I came back I have been trying to get my head around the seal pup arrivals. It feels very inconsiderate that while I was away the pups kept arriving and the ones that were already here kept getting bigger so that now I am back I am having to slowly put together the jigsaw pieces to work out who is who! It’s like a crazy 3D puzzle taking into consideration probable age, size, markings, location, and Mum IDs! The first part of my survey took in the usual Pup Check beaches so I started with some more 3D puzzling before the sun came out and I carried onto the rest of the survey further up the East Coast. There were a total of 95 seals including several pups and most of the seals were congregated around the middle to north of the island where it is quieter for them, although rougher seas today meant there were less hauled out at the far north end than usual. 
Seal and Pup by Kirsty Cox
After completing the survey it was back to the office to upload all the photos and data to the spreadsheets for ID processing later, and then I headed down to the Landing Bay to take up position as ‘Pup Police’ in time for visitors leaving on the Oldenburg. We still have pups making use of the Landing Bay Beach so we need to ensure that there is as little disturbance as possible and it is also a great chance to chat to people about seals and the work that we do to support the population here on Lundy.
Once my patrolling was complete I headed back to the office for more 3D Pup Puzzling and ID work which carried on into the evening. Another long but productive day on Lundy!
Elsewhere on the island there were some great sightings. During the morning Greg saw a Ringed Plover, a Western Bonelli’s, a Juvenile Rosefinch and another Wryneck. 
Juvenile Rosefinch by Greg Lee
While Thomas and Eleanor spotted a Lapland Bunting and a Golden Plover. 
Lapland Bunting by Greg Lee