Visit Skomer

Not that I'm competing with Mel's amazing Bolivia thread, but here's somewhere you can visit a bit closer to home. Skomer is the island I've been on for the past 2 months, it's beautiful. No trees, just thousands upon thousands of seabirds, predominantly the Manx Shearwater (well over 120,000 pairs), Guillemots (about 17,000 individuals I think) and of course the popular puffins (around 13,000 ind). Manxies and Puffins live in burrows in the ground, they can dig their own or just use old rabbit burrows (there's a hell of a lot of rabbits there too). Anyway, some photos

The island:


May is the peak time for bluebells on Skomer, reminiscent of ancient woodlands. It is thought that the bracken which takes over the island later on in the season provides a false canopy for the bluebells and why they seem to thrive there.


The Old Farm, where I, some of the staff and some short term volunteers stayed. The visitor accommodation is here too, you can stay overnight for up to 3 nights should you wish.


A sunset from the Farm


Known as the Isthmus and the Neck, this bit of land is out of bounds to the public, accessed only by researchers. Apart from being littered by very fragile burrows making it difficult to walk on, it is part of an ongoing study to look into the effects on seabirds and other life without being subjected to up to 250 visitors a day.


A sunset from Payne's Ledge




A hide I spent a lot of time in counting guillemots!


Guillemots live in gregarious colonies, this one consists of roughly 5000 birds. Scattered among are around 400 Razorbills, Kittiwakes and the odd Fulmar.


Taken through a telescope. Guillemots don't have a nest as such, they claim an area no bigger than themselves where they incubate their one egg wich is shaped conically so it spins round in a circle to prevent it rolling off the cliff, raise their chick until it fledges at about 2 and a half weeks old. The young chick launches itself off the cliff into the water where its father (proven to be the dads!) meets it and will continue to look after it until it is more independent. Razorbills do the same. Sweet eh?


The island in the background here is Grassholm, not open to the public as it is an important breeding site for over 100,000 Gannets!


A gorgeous sunrise, the only one I bothered to stay up for!

[Bluepete]

You lucky sod! I haven't been there for years, let alone stayed there. I think a visit may be in order.

I did some volunteer work for the RSPB ages ago on Brampton reserve near Carlisle. Spent the summer doing species protection on peregrines and clearing woodland ponds. Hard work, but rewarding.

Pete

A sea of Red Campion.


Some birds then I suppose!
Puffins! Pretty little birds and very social. They live in burrows where they raise their one chick which won't get it's bright colours in its bill until about 2 years old. Skomer is probably the best place to see these birds up close. The puffins at the Wick are the tamest on the island, they have learned to associate humans with the lack of predation that occurs while we are around, Great Black Backed gulls and Peregrines will happily take a pop at a Puffin!









Moi with a puffin chick


And an even younger one!


Razorbills, stunning birds with very sharp bills as the name would suggest!






Me ringing a chick, good chance to get lots of ringing done which was great


Except...I went Shag ringing (yes I got an injury shagging, an old joke ) and these beggars are worse than Razorbills I'm sure...


And a Guillemot with a chick


Then we have the Manx Shearwater. These birds are mainly seen in their thousands at night and it is an experience that I cannot describe. They have such eerie calls that sailors used to dive overboard thinking there were banshees and such out to sea! They come in at night to avoid being predated on by the Great Black backed gulls. Having legs which are set quite far back on their bodies makes them ungainly on land which they only come on to breed. Skomer homes a third of the world's population at least.


And their chicks are the fluffiest things in the world!

Of course there are not just birds on the island, lots of other fantastic wildlife too, including the island's very own species, the Skomer Vole! I was lucky enough to go out trapping as part of a 40 year old study of these charming critters. They are surprisingly docile in the hand and will sit on your hand or clipboard.


And there are a lot of Wood Mice too, which strangely outcompete the House Mice so there are none of those on the island.


A glowworm! Seen to the left of the photo. It is the female who sits in the vegetation with her lit up bum to attract the smaller males. Skomer is great for glowworms, they light up the track like little LEDs!


A Common Lizard


Seals


Have to include this pic, gulls are so overlooked! They are so impressive up close. This is a Lesser Black backed Gull, not as fiercely predatory as the GBBs and smaller.


So as you can imagine, I took a lot of photos and that's me done for now pretty much! It was an incredible experience. Hope you enjoyed looking

Lovely photo of the sunrise and the puffins are so cute.

Skomer looks like my sort of place for time away from the hustle and bustle of life.

How time flies. It feels like only a few days ago when you and I were in that little coffee shop in Grassington talking about this.

You'll have to come round for tea, cake and a chinwag.

Originally Posted by melody

You'll have to come round for tea, cake and a chinwag.

You mentioned cake, definitely an offer I cannot refuse

You seen my thread about my SV Mel?

To quote Bluepete "You lucky sod!" ++++ ENVY

[Geodude]

Looks like you had a great time, great pics and love the bluebell carpet.

[andrewsmith]

To quote Bluepete and Icanopit "You lucky sod!" ++++ ENVY

Lovely sunrise pic, and the puffins