By Jessie Dermody
I began my morning with a speedy walk up to the northeast of the Island, taking advantage of the cooler morning air. I got a lovely veiw of a Clouded Yellow butterfly flying past on my way. I was heading to gannets bay, to take photos of the Fulmar colony there. We monitor specific sections of the rock, so that we can caculate a standardised productivity level for the colony. This is based on how many nests are present and succsesful throughout the breeding season. Today there were only four birds on the rock, but there were also four quite large chicks! Gannets rock is also a home to several peregrines - there is often one nearby, and today was no exception! An adult watched me complete the survey from ita perch on the rock. Once I had finished, I made my way back as quickly as I could - we had big plans for the rest of the day. 
A Fulmar Chick on a ledge - Photo by Jessie Dermody
I was - of course - running a little late, so I grabbed some fish from the freezer and sped down to the landing bay. I was meeting Tara, Kirsty, Eleanor and Thomas to deploy the BRUV from the rib! We had one small issue though - we needed a new camera for the BRUV. Tara had a clever idea, putting an old go-pro in a waterproof casing, which we attached to the setup with zip-ties. Once that was sorted, I crushed up the bait, and we carried the BRUV to the jetty. It was a very low tide, and a litle choppy on the water, so boarding the rib turned out to be quite difficult. But, with a lot of teamwork, we managed! Once we were all on board, we headed for the south of the island, where the water was a little calmer. Whilst we were scouting possible deployment sites, Thomas spotted a Grey Heron feeding beneath Benjamins chair. We deployed the BRUV, and I jumped in to make sure that the setup was facing the right way and pointed towards the seabed.
Grey Heron beneath Benjamin's Chair - Photo by Thomas Weston
We continued round the west of the island in the boat, towards Jenny's cove. Thomas counted 9 Fulmar, 6 Raven, 8 Gannets, 91 shag and 90+ Kittiwake on our journey. A highlight was two passing Turnstone near Devils slide. There was too much swell to head around the north end of the island, so we returned to Benjamins chair. In the bay, we were surrounded by five seals, with a possible pup calling from a nearby cave! Kirsty, Tara and I jumped in for a quick swim. The water was very clear, so we had a lovely veiw of the Kelp park below us on the seabed. There were lots of bryozonans (Sea mat) on the kelp, and a wealth of beautiful seaweeds. Once we emerged from the water, we retreived the BRUV and returned to shore. The tide was still very low, so it was another ordeal getting everyone out of the boat and up onto the slipway.
Shags on a rock - Photo by Thomas Weston
After our excursion, I headed back up the hill to grab some lunch and have a quick rest before my kitchen porter shift that evening. Whilst I was in the kitchen, the rest of the conservation team had a great evening of sightings. Emma spotted a Curlew on the airstrip, while Greg saw another Grey Heron, a British Yellow Wagtail and 2 Water Rail at pondsbury. Meanwhile, Kirsty saw a pod of 8 Common Dolphins from the Battery. Down on the southwest of the island Thomas saw one of our Juvinile Channel Wagtails, as well as 12 Wheatear and a Sedge Warbler in the bracken.