The Isle of May is a National Nature Reserve and in July is all about seabirds, which is why I went. I went on the May Princess, and the sea conditions were making a number of people feel somewhat unwell. I, however, was fine both out and back. The trip takes just over an hour each way, plenty of time for unruly stomachs to rebel. I took care to be outside, where I could see the horizon.

Prominent among the birds there are puffins. I took in the around 400 photos and have edited them down to 20! As well as puffins there is a colony of arctic terns right next to the landing quay which attack people, especially the taller ones! As we approached the island the noise and smell of the birds reached us.

Despite a fine morning the predicted rain and cloud was turning up as we boarded. We got lucky and it stopped for about an hour when we landed, but there was then an hour of rain. Luckily the camera & lens are both ‘WR’ – weather resistant – and neither suffered in any way.