An eventful trip to Isle of May. Glorious weather and an on time departure. Although,
after 15 mins the boat had to turn back to drop someone back at the harbour after he had collapsed.
This lost a little time and we almost ran out of sailing tide. Just made it with only
5 mins to spare! The skipper pushed the throttle for a faster trip to the Island.
After the usual safety briefing on arrival , just before midday - the team split up with some headed to Bishops Cove and others to the South Plateau.
The birdlife didn't disappoint with plenty of Puffins, Guillemots and Kittiwakes and an abundance of gulls. The only missing species were Terns. They seem to have been hit badly with the bird flu and haven't returned to nest, although some were roosting overnight. Shags were plentiful in the rocks and waters off the island. Pufflings , Gannets and Fulmars were seen in groups on the boat journey both ways.
We stopped for a quick lunch at the picnic area before heading towards the cliffs near Green Face, but the opportunities weren't so plentiful as with Bishop's Cove. There were plenty puffins returning with catches but they were coming from the south and east before heading towards the North Plateau.
Time caught up with us and we headed back for our 2:45pm departure.
The skipper took us round the island so we could check out the Grey Seals on Maiden rocks and the Shags around the island. We were lucky that there were a pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting on the rocks and the skipper spun the boat as round so some of us could get a shot.
We also saw a couple of porpoises jumping on the way back as well as the usual suspects, and pufflings.
The obligatory Anstruther Fish and chips were taken, but this time we tried the new award winning Fish and Chips at the Waterfront. Excellent day out.
The Magnificent Seven,
were;
Team leaders; Gillian Temple and Ken Goodfellow.
Bill Henderson
Ian & Elizabeth Monk
Linda Cooper
David Lockwood
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