Rathlin Island

~backblip~

I've been feeling a bit over-weddinged lately, so last week I decided to take a short break to relax and get some motivation back! After a few years in the wilds of Scotland, my best friend Luce is stationed on Rathlin Island this summer, doing some seabird research for the RSPB, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit her.

After a lovely family shoot on the beach this morning, I hopped on the ferry and made the short trip to Rathlin. I wasn't really sure what I'd be doing there (there isn't very much to do!) so I was pleased when Luce told me that I'd just be following them as they worked.

Today we did some productivity studies, which involve looking at nesting sites through a field scope and marking down the status of each nest. I spotted two kittiwake eggs so it's nice to know that I've made a tiny contribution to the study! After that we hiked down a steep gulley to the sea, and scrambled around a sea stack to a nesting location where Luce and Nick caught and tagged two razorbills. It was amazing to see such a beautiful bird so close! Unfortunately the RSPB doesn't allow any photos of the tagging process, and the shutter on my camera would have been too loud so close to the nests anyway, so I basically had to sit in silence for most of the afternoon - something I'm pretty good at! :)

It's probably best to press L to view this in large, so you can see Luce and Nick and the thousands of birds on the sea stack!