Well, as Septembers go the weather has been pretty good here. It has been fairly mild, with little rain, and most importantly the wind has been quite low at times. I've managed to do more surveying this month than I did in July or August.
On Wednesday 10th, alongside some other work and data entry, I spent two and a half hours at Port St Mary, but unfortunately didn't spot any cetaceans. It was too misty for surveying on Thursday, so it was an indoor work day. The Manx Wildlife Trust put out a call for volunteers to spend a week on the Calf of Man surveying the grey seals during the pupping season. So, keen to get some new experience and visit the Calf, I put my name down to go over in late October. The visibility was still poor on Friday so we headed out to watch some of the
rallying. First, up on the heathery hillside, and later in the evening down in Castletown.
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| Heathery hill |
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| Dusty corner |
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| For Kayleigh |
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| For Stuart |
On Sunday I surveyed for 2 hours at the Calf but saw nothing, but was luckier on Monday managing to spot a few harbour porpoises during a three hour survey at Port St Mary. Over the next few days I had to look after an adorable alsation/lab puppy whilst the owners were out, but managed to fit in a survey at both the Calf and Port St Mary but with no sightings.
Knowing Saturday was going to be too windy for surveying I took the bus to Douglas in the morning to visit the
Manx Museum. After an enjoyable visit exploring the history of the Isle of Man I walked from Douglas back to Peel, an easy journey of about 10 miles along the
Heritage Trail following the old railway route. There was an abundance of blackberries along the way, so I did a little collecting as I was walking. Once home I put the blackberries to good use by adding them to a bottle of brandy, it should be ready just in time for Christmas!
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| The Heritage Trail |
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| Old rail crane |
The following day I was able to do plenty of surveying with two hours at the Calf and two and a half at Port St Mary. However, I saw no cetaceans, and had the disappointment of spotting a dead seal whilst at the Calf. It was quite distant, and hard to get a good look at whilst it was bobbing around in the water, but it appeared to be entangled in fishing gear.
The weather took a bit of a turn here, with a string of days when it just wasn't quite good enough for surveying. So I spent my time on general office work, data entry, photo ID, reading, and some analysis planning for my project.
Sunday, however, was a good survey day. The weather held out for the whole day and I managed to do a three hour watch at each of my sites. Whilst I saw nothing at the Calf, I enjoyed watching a group of Risso's dolphins for the entire survey at Port St Mary. At first there appeared to be just two or three dolphins, but as I watched I realised there was a group of six, including two calves. I returned to Port St Mary for a one hour survey on Monday and saw Risso's dolphins again, most likely the same group of four adults and two calves. It's nice to know there are still a few around!
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| Evening light at the Calf |
