Skomer in September - Seabird Spectacular!

Ted and I are once again truly honoured to be asked to write a blog about our most recent visit to the most beautiful place on the planet.

For weeks we had been talking about the weather, hoping for a week of easterlies before we went, then switching to a west or northwest when we arrived as we really wanted to spend lots of time sea-watching. Little did we realise just how much of the latter we would do!

But the weather did exactly what we wanted.

Pretty early in the morning on Sat 7^th September we received a message from the very wonderful Ceris to say that there were no boats for at least five days, except for this afternoon at 3.30. Ted and I had to move so fast, nothing was ready, we hadn’t packed and we hadn’t shopped. We flew around the house (and loft) and an hour and a half later, we were off. We dived into the local supermarket where I’m sure the shoppers thought we were doing ‘Supermarket sweep’. No-one got hurt (we don’t think) as we flew around the aisles filling the trolley, we threw it in the car and drove.

With half an hour to spare we were on the beach at Martins Haven at 3pm having hastily packed the rucksacks at Marloes.

We met one of the young birders and then Beth came over the steps to meet us – amazing ! Soon we were on the Dale Queen with Carl + Co and our stunning destination came into view – emotional? Oh yes!

Onto the island, meeting the rest of the team – Ceris, Pete, Nick, Lisa, Will and more friendly and welcoming faces, it was so good to be back, in paradise with wonderful, warm, human beings 😊

Both Leighton and Rob were off island, with Rob doing the amazing thing of running a marathon for charity – well done Rob. And Leighton was off being Best Man- what a great person to be your best man!

There had apparently been a bit of a ‘fall’ of birds, so very quickly we were up to the Farm and we were birding. Indeed there were lots of birds, the bushes were positively jumping with small birds - warblers and flycatchers in particular.

It didn’t take Ted long to find the Wryneck that Ceris kept on seeing, perched in a bush in North Valley – how we love our Wrynecks.

There were lots and lots of Spotted Flycatchers and a few of the Pied variety too, one at North Valley crossing actually allowed for a pic or two to be taken. 

Pied Flycatcher at North Valley Crossing, by Ted.

 

Spotted Flycatcher at the farm, by Mike

We really didn’t have anywhere near long enough on this day to cover in depth what we wanted, but the Island already had us encapsulated once more 😊

We slept well !

Sunday 8^th was wet, very wet, for much of the day, so we camped out in the hide at North pond for a long while enjoying the 2 Dunlin and some White Wagtails, before helping out with some conservation work in the afternoon. As it dried up the birds popped out once more, with Whinchats being really evident, in fact they were throughout our stay. 

Dunlin at North Pond, by Ted

We headed to South Plateau in the afternoon and spent some time casually looking out to sea, well it was casual until Ted picked up a BIG white bird flying south, Spoonbill and Egret went through his head until the reality set in, it was far rarer!! A Swan! Panic to try and get the scope on it, it was going south and going fast, luckily we got it. Nope, not an early Whooper but a Mute Swan. I’ve been visiting Skomer for many years and never seen a swan of any kind, this was mega!

We were also watching a pod of Common Dolphin around the Mew Stone, hunting and jumping out of the water – what a truly special place Skomer is 😊

Whinchat in Wick Valley, by Mike

Monday 9^th saw us casually walking past Green Pond in the day where we both glanced at a dark bird on the water, we looked a bit harder as we both realized it was a Coot, another great bird, Coots are unusual out here and neither of us had ever seen one here.

There were also 6 Teal on North Pond from dawn which were great to see up close.

Coot on Green Pond, by Ted. 

Teal on North Pond, by Mike

We did some more work and then in the evening went sea watching at the Garland Stone as the wind had really got up, blowing from the northwest.

Things really started to kick off here, and were the start of the next few days of magical sea watching, making memories and brilliant life experiences!

There were terns going past, including Common, Sandwich and Arctic – more unusual birds, Arctic Skua and Scoters. Then a ghostly white tern came along, close in near the Garland Stone, surely not? Surely yes - a Roseate Tern. It even did the decent thing and flew alongside Common Terns, what a beauty.

This spurred us on for the next morning, the wind was increasing and so surely was our chances of decent seabirds.

The wind was due west and seriously strong, we knew we couldn’t sea watch at Skomer Head, way too exposed, so with Pete and Nick we tried at the Garland Stone, it was pretty bad here.

It was obvious pretty quickly that birds were passing to our west and there was little in the bay, so we moved further west between Pigstone Bay and Bull Hole and tried to hide behind some rocks, it was so difficult to get out of the wind. But birds were moving south and soon Ted picked up a lovely pale phase Pomarine Skua. Pete and Nick had to go, but despite being hammered by the wind we knew we had to stick it out.

It wasn’t too long before Ted pulled another rabbit out of the hat, well a Shearwater out of the sea to be more accurate, and one of the Balearic variety at that, a fantastic bird.  

Not long after, I picked up a bird sitting on the sea, initially my brain just couldn’t work it out, then it finally clicked it was a Shearwater, but it looked massive, then a Manxie flew over it, the bird was huge, indeed it was - Boom !!!  – A Great Shearwater, and it was sitting on the sea, not too far out. Total adrenalin rush at this point. Between us we made sure that one of us was always locked on it, as the other tried to get photos. I then somehow managed to ring Ceris whilst keeping my eye in my scope eyepiece, it was a brief conversation! I didn’t hear what happened at Ceris’s end, but Ceris told us later - Ceris was briefing the volunteers when she took my call, then she said something like – CHANGE OF PLAN – Run !

It didn’t take long until the first footsteps were running up behind us and soon nearly everyone on the island was looking at the Great Shearwater. We later found out that this was the first Skomer record for 30 years.

The Great Shearwater, by Ted

The Great Shearwater twitch, by Mike  

The morning of the 11^th was going to be our extended seawatch day, and with Ceris, Will, Beth and Lisa we camped out at Skomer Head – it was exciting. Skuas, ducks, auks, waders, all going past in spectacular seas. Then Ted ………. did it again !!!!!!

Somehow Ted found and then stayed locked onto a juvenile Sabines Gull – Wow, just wow, but none of us could get on it. Then it settled on the sea, we still couldn’t get on it.  I simply can’t describe the pain and frustration as 5 good birders tried and tried and tried - it just shows how difficult sea watching is. But in the end we managed it with Ted's considerable help, and it flew around with it’s Kittiwake chums, somehow Ted even got some photos – I simply don’t know how.

The young birders arrived, they were happy, everyone was happy.

The Sabines Gull, by Ted.

It wasn’t a difficult decision where to be at dawn on the 12^th - Skomer Head of course!

We enjoyed lots more seabird passage including more Skuas, some really close, lots and lots of terns, significant numbers for Skomer. Also divers going south and a Bar-tailed Godwit going north-west.

We watched as a huge passage of Kittiwakes came past us out of Broad Sound, with an estimated 4000 in only 90 minutes.

Other exciting news - Rob returned 😊It was great to see him!

Fri 13^th dawned clear, bright and beautiful, the wind had dropped to virtually nothing, we had less than 2 hours to the boat.

Sunrise, by Mike

We bashed around as quickly as we could, watching a Water Rail run down the length of North Pond and a Grasshopper Warbler pop up in the vegetation there, this was our parting gift.

Water Rail at North Pond, by Ted.

All too soon (it’s always too soon) we were saying our goodbyes with heavy hearts, to our little bit of paradise on Planet Earth, and to the most amazing, wonderful people 😊

It’ll soon be May …………😊😊😊

Mike + Ted Wallen

Sept 2024

A Marsh Harrier, by Ted.

Island Update - Late September

 As we pass the equinox, it’s officially autumn. The nights are drawing in and the temperatures are dropping. Skomer is transitioning in to end of season jobs and warm sunny days are now a mere memory.

Sunrise from South Plateau looking over the neck (my favourite sunrise spot) 

September jobs

Autumn on Skomer is the time to do repairs and construction. Benches, fences, signs, dams, and more which have survived the previous year are in need of some touching up before the winter.

With there only being one boat per day, if there are any at all with the weather, the weekly volunteers are giving helping hands around the island fixing up paths, clearing vegetation, and other general DIY. Wooden doors, signs, walls, fences, and benches have all been treated with preserver, along with the sales point and landing. Paths at the Wick have been widened as the grass had grown over, rotting benches have been replaced, and brambles around the farm have been cleared, to name just a few tasks.

 The newly widened path at the wick

The volunteers aren’t the only people learning new skills this month; our assistant warden Ceris has been hard at work getting street savvy with some gen-z lingo. She described the application of wood preserver at the sales point as “That fence is giving, you guys ate and left no crumbs. Slay” (translating to “That fence looks amazing, you guys did an amazing job, well done”).

Ceris and some weekly volunteers inspecting Nick and Pete’s painting work. It’s definitely slay.

Sunrise barge day

In preparation for all the construction and repair work going on in the last few weeks, we had our second barge day of the season. With the early high tide, this meant being ready at 6am for a long day of hauling and organising the components of a new kitchen, two new bathrooms, a dam repair, and so much more. The rest of the barge load comprised of several tonnes of sand, aggregate, concrete, large stacks of wood, and over a dozen full gas bottles. There was also plenty of old construction waste, empty gas bottles and more to leave the island.

The laden barge at sunrise

The barge moving full gas canisters onto the island

 A dumper shed full of materials

Work party and building work

All this material was brought on for several construction and repair jobs, with the refitting of the hostel kitchen and bathrooms being the main project. Six volunteers have come to the week as a work party to prepare the hostel for builders to come, amongst other jobs across the island. For the last week, the farm has been a bustling construction site.

Concrete being chiseled out of the research block hall

The work party removing the hostel kitchen

Gone in a matter of hours!

The progress with the new dam at Moorey Mere

North Valley Willows Improvements

On the topic of construction projects, our LTVs Nick and Pete have recently finished a project putting in two new sections of boardwalk at North Valley Willows near Green Pond. Along with the boardwalks, paths were cleared and a falling branch was propped back up.

Nick and Pete working on the boardwalk

Pete cutting one of the supports for the boardwalk

The ground was so clay-like whilst digging the supports in, we were able to make “Clayton” the warden in mud form.

The finished boardwalk

The propped-up Willow branch

Sunrise Spoonbills

Autumn migrants are still passing through, with conspiracies of Ravens and charms of Goldfinch gracing Skomer with their presence. We were delighted to have Dave Astins of West Coast Birdwatching lead a bird watching group for three days. Plenty of birding highlights were enjoyed with the regular array of Spotted Flycatchers, Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers, Greenland Wheatear, Snipe, Dunlin, Whinchat, Blackcaps, and plenty more. Some of the special sightings were Hobby, Common Rosefinch, and an amazing display of seven Spoonbill which flew over the island and circled back four times.

Spoonbills photographed by Dave Astins

The Spoonbills over the farm - photo by Dave Astins

More Skomer yoga!

As our events season comes to a close, we finished the programme with our final yoga retreat, lead by Ady. With moonrise sessions at the garland stone, and sunrise at the trig point, the group enjoyed a wide range of breathing and mindfulness exercises across the island. Booking for events next year will soon be advertised on our website.

The yogis having a morning session in the courtyard

Colossal cumulonimbi and Stunning sun dogs

Clouds have been something I have always loved, and here on Skomer, we’ve had some beautiful skies. My brother has a good quote “clouds are the most under appreciated form of natural beauty in my opinion” which I completely agree with. You can always look up at the sky and know something about what’s going on up there. Even a grey featureless blanket, or an empty blue sky, tells you so much about the weather and how the atmosphere is acting, which is fascinating.

Autumn is a great time for cloud and weather watching. With storms mixed in with fair weather, you can see a great variety of cloud types and have a wonderful array of sunrises and sunsets.

Cumulonimbus cloud at gorse hill. One of the tallest and most iconic storm clouds we can get, sometimes reaching 16km high. These impressive clouds can bring heavy precipitation and lightning.

Stratocumulus radiatus (Stratocumulus - low puffy clouds all connected. Radiatus - long ‘cloud streets’ forming rows of clouds) over North Haven

Cumulus (The classic fair weather cloud which is the iconic ‘cloud’ shape) at sunrise.

Cumulus fractus (fractus - a broken or fractured version of the cumulus cloud) over north pond.

Light hairy cirrus clouds (cirrus - from Latin of curl, wispy high-altitude cloud) above the farm

The sun (left) and a sun dog (right). Sun dog’s form when light refracts through ice crystals bending the light from the sun towards the viewer.

Crepuscular Rays over Grassholm. Sun’s rays shining around the edges of the cloud

Harvest time at the farm!

Rob’s veg patch at the farm has had a magnificent crop this year. Thanks to his hard work and the fertile soils of Skomer, several collections of courgettes, beetroots, and salads have been made over the last few months. Last week, Rob had his largest single harvest with 10kg of rhubarb, salad, potatoes, carrots, courgettes, beetroots and parsnips. However, the crowning glory and winner of “Largest Skomer vegetable of the season (and probably all seasons prior and to come)” was his 2kg marrow. This is a particularly impressive vegetable as it has been a bumper year for slugs, with the mild and moist season forming a perfect slug-fest with one pumpkin and several potatoes already succumbed to the hordes of gastropods. When Rob noticed a particularly large courgette one morning, he decided to see how large it could grow. Either, it would grow large and act as a decoy veggie so all the slugs and snails would target one individual instead of lightly grazing upon the entire garden, or the courgette would evolve into a giant prize-winning marrow and Rob would have a delicious dinner, win-win!

 A sneaky Rabbit that got into the veg patch but didn’t cause any damage

Rob with his huge marrow! 

The full harvest! 

Investigating the strength of Nettles

Many of Skomer’s visitors and residents have commented on the high strength of the Common Nettles (Urtica dioica) found on Skomer, with some people still in pain days after being stung. In 2022, when Sir David Attenborough visited for the filming of Wild Isles, he sat at the sales point and got stung, saying “You have very strong nettles here”. To try and answer the question of how much stronger they are, Nick carried out a short and highly simplified investigation in their free time.

The stinging needles of the Nettle

The literature doesn’t have much on the varying strengths of Nettles, but Kato et al. (2008) from Nara Women’s University in Japan published a paper on “The evolution of nettle resistance to heavy deer browsing”. In the paper, it was found that the nettles in Nara Park had a much higher needle density as they were being subjected to high intensity grazing by the Sika Deer. This could also be the reason why the nettles on Skomer might be stronger than the ‘average’ nettle due to the high grazing Rabbit population. This paper was used as a rough guide to form a small study on how needle density varies on Skomer, compared to other locations.

Three locations had samples taken; Martin’s Haven on the mainland (as a rough off-island comparison), the farm at the centre of Skomer (one of the highest grazing densities on the island), and the sales point in North Haven (more specifically, the very bush which stung Sir David to get the quote mentioned above). The results were far from significant, but had a measurable difference

Average needle density shown at the three different sites with both the upper side (a) and under side (b) counts shown. 

It showed that Skomer’s nettles had a slightly higher needle density compared to the mainland, but not by a considerable margin. A reliably sourced figure for the average needle density of U. dioica was not found, so a comparison to needle density further afield than the far West of Pembrokeshire could not be calculated. A more reliable figure and distribution of needle density on Skomer could be carried through a much more thorough investigation, but it’s interesting to see what could be found through a little looking!

Autumn tides

As we passed the equinox, doubled with a full supermoon, the tides have been extra strong recently. On the 20th September, the tidal range on Skomer was an amazing 7m. On particularly low tides, when you’ve finished swimming the water will sometimes be considerably below the bottom step.

A time lapse of the full changing tide

Emma arrives on Skomer

We’re excited to welcome Emma to the island until mid October. She will be helping with the seal research that’s taking place, mainly on the Neck. She will be helping with the regular counts of hauled out pups and adults, along with looking at individual Seal’s scars and patterns to match up with database images. This information will allow us to know where these seals have been seen in previous years to look at site fidelity (the tendency for an animal to return to previously visited locations).

Emma photographing seals from the Isthmus

At around 100 or so Seal pups already, the pupping season is well underway. The Seals haunting sounds of “AwooOOooOoooo” and “WfuuuguaaaahhHHH” amongst a wide variety of others can be heard from across the entire island. On still mornings you can often hear them from the farm drifting across the fields. Extra atmospheric if it’s a heavy mist or low cloud! The Seal pups make a much more toddler-like sounds which can be very disconcerting when you hear it echoing amongst the sea caves. Haul outs across the island are continuing to rise in numbers with Castle Bay regularly having over 30 Seals.

Departing LTVs

As we come to end of September, this sadly means the departure of our two long-term volunteers Nick and Pete, who have been with us since the start of July. As a thank you, Rob our Visitor Officer, and Ceris our Assistant Warden, took both of them, along with Emma our Seal Researcher, out for a boat trip around the island. It was amazing to see the island from a completely different perspective and gave a whole new appreciation for the island. Wildlife highlights included great views of Razorbills and a Guillemot in winter plumage, and plenty of Gannets passing right past us, with some going overhead.

A Gannet flying right over the boat

A Guillemot in winter plumage

Skomer Head and the Amos as seen from the boat

Our departing LTVs Nick (right) and Pete (left) sitting on the boat

As we say goodbye to our long-term volunteers, weekly volunteers, and day visitors until next spring, Skomer is wrapping up the season and preparing for the winter.

- Nick (and Pete, Skomer LTVs)

Sunset seen from North Valley

Island Update – First Half of September

Robins calling in the crisp morning light and the Ragwort maturing with pom-poms full of seeds tell us that Autumn is truly upon us on Skomer. We’re nearing peak seal pup season, and Autumn migration is ramping up in glorious fashion.

A Skomer Vole enjoying some Ground Ivy for breakfast just after dawn

Stormy weather at The Garland Stone

Migration Season

Autumn is a little different and a rather special time on the island compared to the mainland. Instead of pumpkin spice lattes and Christmas music being played in the shops, Skomer’s bracken turns a beautiful rusty shade of gold, the trees become packed with unusual migrating birds, and the night skies harbour lovely seasonal moths! 

Bracken fronds turning golden brown

Skomer is an important pit-stop on the southward migration of many species as there are plenty of invertebrates and seeds for visiting birds to feed on, as well as shelter from rough weather out at sea. At the beginning of this month, hundreds of Swallows lined the farm rooftops, and the first Wryneck of the season was spotted by Assistant Warden, Ceris, on 1st September. In fact, the first three sightings of this gorgeous bird were enjoyed by only Ceris, she is now Skomer’s very own Wryneck Whisperer!

A Linnet feasting on seeds atop a Ragwort stem that has gone to seed (photo by weekly volunteer)

A Spotted Flycatcher uses a branch of North Valley's Willows as its hunting perch (photo by LTV Nick)

A rather warm and still evening early this month proved to be the most fruitful moth trap record so far this season! LTV, Nick, identified and recorded 111 individual moths comprising an amazing 36 species. This included the first migratory-giant Convolvulus Hawk Moths of the year as well as an astounding 73 Common Sexton Beetles. There must have been plenty of delicious carcases dotted around the island that night!

Close-up photo of a beautiful Convolvulus Hawk Moth taken by a weekly volunteer

Golden Hair Lichen Survey

One of Skomer’s rarest inhabitants, Golden Hair Lichen, is a striking lichenised-fungus that only colonises north-facing, sheltered crags that have exceptional air quality. LTVs Nick & Pete have been tasked with remapping its distribution based on pointers from the last survey over a decade ago in 2013. After a handful of still afternoons scrambling on the clifftops, we are thrilled to have found a new colony on the rocks inland from Pigstone Bay, and at Bull Hole where the lichen was thought to have disappeared! It is refreshing to survey and shed light on such a beautiful species in an under recorded and underappreciated taxonomic group.

Golden Hair Lichen (Teloschistes flavicans) thriving in a crag looking towards The Garland Stone

Skomer Yoga!

Led by ex-Skomer Visitor Officer, Catrin Norris, two groups of ‘Yogis’ ventured to Skomer to enjoy a retreat filled with meditation and focused exercise. The wild and earthy qualities of the island proved the perfect setting to align the chakras and get a (mental and physical) breath of fresh air – this was especially true during the dawn yoga session overlooking the Garland Stone!

Yoga and meditation session at the Garland Stone

Biosecurity Checks

Skomer is extremely fortunate and proud to be the breeding site for 41,605 Puffins and over 750,000 Manx Shearwaters (according to 2024 seabird counts!), but none of these birds would be able to breed here if ground predators made it ashore. For context, if a single pregnant rat managed to get onto the island, there would be over 800 rats in just 6 months! This is why the whole island team is dedicated to monitoring the island for rodent activity with frequent biosecurity checks.

LTV Pete setting up a biosecurity box at The Wick

A chocolate & wax block with small mammal toothmarks from either Skomer Vole or Wood Mouse

Although the chocolate wax blocks may look and smell delicious when you’re marching around the island to check the biosecurity boxes, the bait is key to identifying small mammal activity by picking up tooth marks left by furry visitors. Ink pads also give another piece of the puzzle by leaving footprints, providing resident slugs and snails haven’t eaten their fair share of course!

Young Birders Week

It’s the time of year when two groups of enthusiastic young birders also migrate to the island ! To kick the trip off, a walk around the island gave way to a bird race, this being a race between groups to spot as many bird species as possible within the allotted time. The competition was fierce, but in the first week the “Swagtails” came out on top, and the “Chough’ed to be here” group won bonus points for best team name in the latter half of the week!

Young Birders and island staff eagerly awaiting the results of the bird race in the library

Visiting birdwatchers also took part in Skomer Vole handling, moth trapping, Manx Shearwater chick weighing, and even a bird knowledge quiz! We’re very lucky to share the island and its wildlife with such knowledgeable and keen youngsters.

Young Birders helping weigh the fast-growing Manx Shearwater chicks

A mass seawatch on the lookout for the Great Shearwater

Even More Fungi?!

LTV Nick inspecting some Spectacular Rustgills (Gymnopilus junonius) in North Valley Crossing

Manx Shearwater Fledging

On dark and blustery evenings as of late, we’re giving many sad but exciting farewells to the Manx Shearwater chicks that are fledging! At night, they come out in their thousands to stretch their wings and show off their elaborate hair-dos as they shed their down and prepare to fly to the rich waters off the coast of Argentina and Brazil. 

A Manx Shearwater chick beginning to lose its down in style

Unfortunately, we have also said goodbye to OxNav’s Masters students, Layla and Bridget. These two have been working tirelessly to weigh the Shearwater chicks in the study burrows every day since the end of June, as well as carrying out their own research projects investigating Manxie foraging habits at different life stages and parental dual foraging strategies. Layla and Bridget have been a great part of the island team and community - they will be sorely missed!

OxNav Masters students Layla (left) and Bridget (right) hold a Manx Shearwater chick that is ready to fledge!

The nights are getting colder, the flocks of Raven are closing in, and migration season is nearing its peak…

Pete (LTV) 

Crepuscular rays seen shining on Grassholm Island from the Garland Stone