What can I say? Cemlyn Bay Tern colony. Hundreds of photos. Here are a few of the better ones.

Having been off work this week and the weather has been less than good, I promised myself a treat today – namely a boat trip around Puffin Island on the Cerismar II. These guys are known for giving nature lovers  great value and today was no exception, for me at least. I’d been watching the weather carefully and true to forecast there was hardly any swell. The boat is very stable with the only real rocking caused by the wake of other boats.

[As always on this blog – click on any photo for a full-size version]

Our first avine encounter was this Guillemot which strangely seems to me to be showing signs of still being in winter plumage.

This was shortly followed by this very grumpy looking Razorbill.

As we got closer to the island we encountered more rafts of Auks.

On the tip of the island a Shag was playing king of the castle.

Fly-by Cormorants were regular

But it’s the island’s namesake Puffins that most people really want to see. We got lucky with a small group of these characters posing for their floating audience.

The return journey was uneventful. Only an unmistakable Black Guillemot and an escaping Razorbill crossing our path.

Score for the trip? It’s got to be a 10/10. A great hour and a half well spent! I can see myself going back there soon.