After an early start the Dale Sailing barge arrived, delivering the materials to build the replacement. Of course such an operation would not be possible without a sizable team to assist with offloading and transportation on the Island. Happily we managed to assemble a crack team of 10 volunteers, joining the staff and resident long-term volunteers to offload over 20 tons of supplies. We would like to say a huge thank you to the Dale Sailing boatmen for a smooth and efficient operation, and to our amazing volunteers who managed to get the vast majority of the delivery up to East Bog (from where we will transport it into Crab Bay). Needless to say, we were all a little exhausted this evening.

We had to wait for the Puffin breeding season to finish before any work could begin at the site in Crab Bay. But once the coast was clear, island staff and volunteers were able to remove the old fiberglass structure and prepare the footprint for the new hide. We also welcomed the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park planning and ecology team to confirm they were happy with the arrangements we had in place to work in such a sensitive area. Natural resources Wales have also issued their consent to work on a Site of Special Scientific Interest. We hope to complete the job this September with a team of 4 builders and our resident wardens looking forward to installing the new hide.

The unique hide design will allow intimate views of Puffins for our guests. It will incorporate a dark room which include six Puffin burrows (faced with one-way glass so researchers and guests can see what is happening inside and follow the birds breeding season from e.g. laying to chick rearing). It will also allowing staff and researchers to continue long-term studies of breeding success, adult survival and chick provisioning in the puffin study population at Crab Bay.