Sounds good for Alison!

Pic' Rich crossen

Alison Ross came on one of our WOW (Wildlife Observer Wales) courses and I think it changed her life! At the time Malcolm Barradell was in the middle of his study of the porpoises in Ramsay Sound and I sugested she might utilise her new found skills by helping Malcolm.

I think it is fair to say she made a big contribution to Malcolms work and has gone on to continue this work on her own. There are a lot of people that try and mysticise and overcomplicate wildlife observation but its really all about stickability, the patience, the endurance and a little bit of obsession.

There are days when the conditions are difficult even days when the conditions are perfect but you still draw a blank. Alison had been having a lean time at Ramsay Sound recently with porpoises almost as thin on the ground as at Strumble. Today her perseverence paid off and the porpoises seemed to have returned including one sighting of a mother and small calf.

As she was preparing to leave, some big splashes on the far side of the sound caught her attention and was delighted and thrilled to see a pod of around 20 common dolphins indulging in some extreme arobatics leaping, twisting and crashing back into the sea! Alison enjoyed the spectacle for around 40 minutes when for no obvoius reason, they suddenly decided to go and left!

A just reward for a lot of effort and her third species along with Risso's and porpoises in Ramsay Sound in under six months.

Sounds good to me too!