As I walked down towards the harbour the weather was cloudy with mist hanging over the hills. I collected my tickets and was soon boarding the Oldenburg, where I was warmly greeted by Captain Mike and other members of the crew. I headed out onto the deck to join my fellow passengers.

On the crossing Guillemot and Manx Shearwater were the predominant birds, along with just a few Razorbill and Herring Gull. On the approach to Lundy two Harbour Porpoise were briefly seen wheeling around off Rat Island. By the jetty six Grey Seal watched our arrival from the rocks.

Having just seen the Harbour Porpoise I decided to walk quickly up to the Castle, do a sea watch and have lunch. Unfortunately, there were no further sightings, however, in recompense there was a pair of Wheatear feeding on the grassy slope below me. During my watch the tide had turned, and so the current had become much stronger, which may have changed where the Harbour Porpoise were. I walked along the cliff path, lined with flowering clumps of Thrift and White Campion, while overhead two Raven were briefly bothered by a Peregrine Falcon, which gave me some very good views of the Peregrine. Having reached the Old Lighthouse, I walked across to the village and back down to the Landing Bay.

On the return voyage we soon passed two large groups of rafting Manx Shearwater.  Later, a mixed group of Manx Shearwater and gulls were seen feeding along with a pod of at least eight Common Dolphin. Guillemot were the most numerous seabird. The number of Swallow that passed us heading towards the island was also noted by several of the passengers. On arrival back in Ilfracombe I returned my jacket and thanked the crew for another good trip.

MARINElife/Lundy WLA Judith Tatem

Weather: Grey overcast on the way out and full sun on the return, sea state 1