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During spring and early summer Ramsey Island becomes littered in a multitude of birds and is a major breeding ground for guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes. For a full list of sightings (including Red Kites, Sea Eagles and Ospreys) visit the warden at the farmhouse or check the RSPB website.
In the main tourist season, the Ramsey is open to public and serves drinks and snacks. Access is strictly controlled and landing is only permitted in the main harbour, adjacent to The Bitches. The warden can be contacted on: 0834 733535 or 07881 846498.
The more common species are listed here with links to the excellent RSPB site that gives more detailed information.
Cormorant
Latin name: Phalacrocorax carbo
Large and conspicuous, cormorants are often seen drying their wings on the top of the Bitches rocks and has an almost primitive appearance with its long neck making it appear almost reptilian. Cormorants are supreme fishers which can bring them into conflict with anglers and they have been persecuted in the past. The UK holds internationally important wintering numbers and with its breeding concentrations at a few sites it is an Amber List species.
Click here to listen and see the cormorant at the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Gannet
Latin name: Morus bassanus
Adults are large and bright white with black wingtips. They are distinctively shaped with a long neck and long pointed beak, long pointed tail, and long pointed wings. At sea they flap and then glide low over the water, often travelling in small groups. They feed by flying high and circling before plunging into the sea. It breeds in significant numbers at only a few localities and so is an Amber List species. Locally they breed on Grassholm but a regularly seen feeding in Ramsey Sound, when you should also keep an eye out for porpoises. They can be seen offshore almost anywhere, especially in when they migrate south in August and September. They arrive at their colonies from January onwards and leave in August and September. Non-breeding birds can be seen at any time around the coasts and the main migration period offshore is during the autumn.
Click here to see and listen to the Gannet on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Great Black Backed Gull
Latin name: Larus marinus
A very large, thick-set black-backed gull, with a powerful beak. Adults are blacker than the smaller lesser black-backed gull. It has a heavy flight and can look quite hunched when perched. It will fight off other gulls and chase them to snatch food.
Click here to see and listen to the Great Black Backed Gull on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Guillemot
Latin name: Uria aalge
The UK's coasts have many stretches of sheer cliffs where seabirds breed and the guillemot is one of the most numerous birds in the great 'seabird cities'. Ramsey Isalnd is one of the most important breeding areas for these birds. It comes to land only to nest, spending the rest of its life at sea, where it is vulnerable to oil spills. Dark brown and white, not as black as the similar razorbill, it has a 'bridled' form with a white ring round the eye and stripe behind it.
Click here to listen and see the Guillemot at the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Herring Gull
Latin name: Larus argentatus
Adults have light grey backs, white under parts, and black wing tips with white 'mirrors'. Their legs are pink, with webbed feet and they have heavy, slightly hooked bills marked with a red spot. Young birds are mottled brown. They have suffered moderate declines over the past 25 years and over half of their UK breeding population is confined to fewer than ten sites.
Click here to see and listen to the Herring Gull on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Kittiwake
Latin name: Rissa tridactyla
A gentle looking, medium-sized gull with a small yellow bill and a dark eye. It has a grey back and is white underneath. Its legs are short and black. In flight the black wing-tips show no white, unlike other gulls, and look as if they have been 'dipped in ink'. The population is declining in some areas, perhaps due to a shortage of sandeels. After breeding birds move out into the Atlantic where they spend the winter. A strictly coastal gull. In the breeding season, look for it at seabird colonies around the island. In late summer and autumn it can be seen flying past offshore, or collecting at roosts. It spends the winter months out at sea.
Click here to listen to and see the Kittiwake on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Manx Shearwater
Latin name: Puffinus puffinus
A small shearwater, it has long straight slim wings, and is black above and white below. It flies with a series of rapid stiff-winged flaps followed by long glides on stiff straight wings over the surface of the sea, occasionally banking or 'shearing'. It breeds locally on Skomer Island and other offshore islands where it is safe from rats and other ground predators. Birds leave their nesting sites in July, to migrate to the coast of South America, where they spend the winter, returning in late February and March.
Click here to see and listen to the Manx Shearwater on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Puffin
Latin name: Fratercula arctica
Not common around Ramsey but an occasional Puffin may be seen on its travels from Skomer, Skokholm or North Bishop. It is an unmistakable bird with its black back and white underparts, and distinctive black head with large pale cheeks and a tall, flattened, brightly-coloured bill. Its comical appearance is heightened by its red and black eye-markings and bright orange legs. Used as a symbol for books and other items, this clown among seabirds is one of the world's favourite birds. With half of the UK population at only a few sites it is an Amber List species.
Click here to see and listen to the Puffin on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Razor Bill
Latin name: Alca torda
The razorbill is a medium-sized seabird. It is black above and white below. It has a thick black beak which is deep and blunt, unlike the thinner bill of the similar guillemot. It breeds on Ramsey Island and maybe seen in rafts on the sea; not the inflatable kind but large collections of birds together. Birds only come to shore to breed, and winter in the northern Atlantic. The future of this species is linked to the health of the marine environment. Fishing nets, pollution and declining fish stocks all threaten the razorbill.
Click here to listen and see the Guillemot at the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Rock Pippit
Latin name: Anthus petrosus
The rock pipit is a large stocky pipit, larger than a meadow pipit and smaller than a starling. It is streaky olive-brown above and dirty white underneath with dark streaking. It breeds around the coast where there are rocky beaches, and most of the birds that breed in the UK are residents, with only the young birds dispersing once they become independent. Some birds arrive here from Norway to spend the winter. You may see then hopping around in the interstitial zone foraging for food among the boulders. Birds are sometimes seen perched on prominent rocks
Click here to see and listen to the Rock Pippit on the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
Shag
Latin name: Phalacrocorax aristotelis
Shags are goose-sized dark long-necked birds similar to cormorants but smaller and generally slimmer with a characteristic steep forehead. In the breeding season adults develop a dark glossy green plumage and prominent recurved crest on the front of their head. In the UK they breed on coastal sites, mainly in the north and west, and over half their population is found at fewer than 10 sites, making them an Amber List species.
Click here to listen and see the shag at the RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk
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