The Puffins have now all but gone, there are a handful sitting on the water most days and one or two still zooming in and hurtling down their burrows with fish, but you will be lucky to see a Puffin on the island now. If you still need a regular Puffin 'fix' (they are guaranteed to make you smile!!) you can now follow Pertwee Puffin on Twitter http://twitter.com/PertweePuffin
She will tell you all about her adventures out at sea over the winter and (we hope!) will be back on the island next April to tell you all about the breeding season. You can even adopt her or one of her neighbours through our Protect-a-Puffin scheme. Follow this link to find out more...... http://shop.welshwildlife.org/adoption/
The bird highlight was a Serin seen flying over North Haven one evening. This is just the fifth time this bird has been seen on Skomer and the first record since 2003 (the one prior to that being 1993). This was spotted by Dave B and was a just reward for him as he was out working all evening, whilst the rest of the staff and researchers were having a BBQ and not working. That'll teach us!
There are big spring tides this week with nearly a seven metre vertical difference between high and low water. The Marine Nature Reserve team have been out doing their intertidal surveys around the Island and the mainland. Learn more about the Marine Nature Reserve (we are one of only 3 in the country!) and the work of the team by following the link to CCW.
Lots of the young Kittiwake are now fledging and can be seen flying around their cliff-colonies. They are beautiful birds and stand out from the adults by the striking black patterns on their wings.
Young Kittiwake. Photo courtesy of D. Boyle '07
We celebrated Dr Sam's b'day with a day out on the mainland and lots of cake. She then promptly followed the example of the Guillemots she has been studying and left the island until next spring.
This weekend we have a photography course running on the island and the weekend after next we will be running a Cetacean course - for all those fascinated by Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. Follow this link to find out more..... http://www.welshwildlife.org/SkomerCourses_en.link
Jo Milborrow
Skomer Warden
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