Winter wanderings

I arrived back into Wales early last week, enveloped by a substantial black rain shower almost immediately as we crossed into the country aboard the train, trundling from Shrewsbury towards the Dyffryn Dyfi. When I left Wales back in early November, autumn was at its peak of colour: leaves in a riot of reds, yellows, [...]

Returning from the mid-Atlantic

After leaving Ileu Praia (#IsletStormies) on Monday, Sarah and I have spent the last few days catching up with a plethora of little jobs which weren’t particularly easy to tackle with the limited power and time whilst in full-on research mode on the islet. Our flights back home to the UK were booked for Friday [...]

Praia Islet: week four

It’s now been almost exactly a month since I arrived on Praia Islet to join Hannah Hereward and her winter research team studying the lives of the islet’s petrels. I can’t believe how quickly these last few weeks have passed, and today it was time to leave our islet home for a month over Christmas [...]

The nocturnal shifts begin

It’s almost midnight, and I’ve ventured out of our bothy-style islet home into the black of night. It’s now new moon, which some hours before descended behind the now familiar hills of Graciosa to the west. The night sky is a spectacular canvas peppered with thousands of bright stars - the Milky Way stretching north-west [...]

Praia Islet diaries: week three

It’s now been three weeks since I arrived on Praia Islet, which is long enough to be surprised by the novelty of a still and quiet morning; not dominated by the incessant background thundering either of wind or an Atlantic swell. Awakening in the tent today, it was odd being able to hear one of [...]

Praia Islet update: GPS tracking begins

It’s shortly after dawn. I’m stood near the harbour of Praia Islet, looking south to the distinctive silhouette of Baixo island on the horizon, although it’s only just visible through the fine sea spray filling the air. . The wind is strong from the north. I’m sheltered behind swaying tamarisk trees but feel dwarfed even [...]

Praia Islet diaries: week two

Since arriving on Praia just over ten days ago now, time has whistled by in a blurr of activity, and I’ve slowly been settling into islet life and the day-to-day routines of the research work and various other tasks necessitated living on an island - a pretty small one at that! More or less everything [...]