Saltee Islands

What a great day we had. A boat trip to one of the two Saltee Islands (named by the Vikings because of the salt spray that covers the islands during storms) in County Wexford. The islands are privately owned and largely unoccupied. They are a conservation area and the breeding ground for a large variety of birds including puffins. The sounds of the wild sea and screeching gulls followed us as we walked around the island for about 3 hours - beautiful green bracken merging with fading bluebells and white wild turnip flowers. We spotted some seagull chicks with protective moms, large colonies of gannets, razor bills ( a small cliff nesting bird that looks like a penguin) , oyster catchers with a white chest, grey seals and much more. We left the best till last - the Puffin. Not as many as we expected but a real delight. Smaller than you think but very cute and unperturbed by the spectators. A must do when in Ireland and the ice cream ( a 99) at the end highly recommended.Read more