Skomer through young eyes

Having spent last season working on the island, I was keen to go back and catch up with the old faces and meet the new ones. While I was mulling over the whens and hows of visiting the island I saw some great wildlife photos on facebook taken by my nephew Josh, aged 10. It’s great to see kids taking an interest in the natural world and after a quick phone call to his Mum we agreed to meet up and take him to the island. 

Andy on his visit to Skomer

Excited does not begin to describe how Josh was feeling, but my Skomer experience had some alarm bells ringing as I looked at the weather forecast for our chosen weekend. Strong north westerlies and big swells were forecast, too much for the Dale Princess to cope with. Luckily on the day before the trip the forecast changed, and we woke up on Saturday morning in Milford Haven to clear skies and sunshine.

I’ll let Josh tell you the story of the rest of our visit through his own words and photos – Andy Bramwell, former Visitor Officer.

Andy and Josh

Josh’s Blog

When we got on the boat, I could see Skomer in the distance.  It was bigger than I expected.  As we got closer you could start to see the Guillmots, Razorbills and Puffins flying around. Getting off the boat we could see the billions of burrows on Skomer Island.  On the right of me there were Guillmots only a metre away, and on the left were two Puffins preening each other.  

Razorbill (photo: Josh Craddock )

As we walked up the many steps, we could see the Swallows and House Martins flying above us.  It was a whole other world.  We were walking across the cliff face when I spotted a Willow Warbler and a Sedge Warbler amongst the ivy in North Haven.We put our bags in our room and we headed off on our tour around the island. 

Looking around the island we saw Peregrine Falcons being attacked by sea gulls.  As we continued our three and a half hour walk, we turned inland towards the farm walking through the Bluebells.  I looked in amongst the ferns and on a rock I saw my first Meadow Pipit of many and I was able to photograph a male Blackcap. 

Male Blackcap in Bluebells and Red Campion (photo: Josh Craddock)

You had to be careful not to tread off the path and into the burrows of Manx Shearwaters, Puffins or Rabbits. This is the golden rule of the island ‘Stay on the path!’  

Bunnys (photo: Josh Craddock)

Up in the skies we saw Ravens and Buzzards circling looking for food, possibly the Skomer Vole and rabbits which there are millions of. We approached the cliff faces and were able to see the Guillimots and Razorbills sitting side by side on their nests.  The birds covered every inch of the wall. Carrying on to the Wick we observed many Puffins poking their heads out of their holes and flying off.  

Bridled and "normal"Guillemot (photo Josh Craddock)

When we finished our walk we went back to North Haven and on the path there was an extremely rare Turtle Dove. There was a frenzy of excitement as all of the researchers and the wardens came out with their binoculars to see this incredible bird.

Turtle Dove (photo: Josh Craddock)

I was lucky enough to be allowed to help the researchers Ollie and Sarah get information about the Manx Shearwaters by taking them out of their burrow to see if they had any eggs and which gender they were. I had to put my hand down the hole which was daunting at first because you never knew what was down there.  My third time trying it, I felt a nice soft bird.  I then got a bit closer and was pecked sharply on the finger!  I pulled it out the hole and the Manx Shearwater pooed on me!

Sadly we didn’t see any owls but there are two types on the island, the illusive Little Owl which you usually see on the stone wall running behind the hostel, and the Short-eared Owl which you might see at dusk in North Valley.  

After a delicious curry, and Jason’s bird log, we walked back to North Haven at around 10.30 at night. It was pitch black and we had no idea where we were going!  Thankfully we had our torches but we also had to be careful of the thousands of shearwaters coming out of their burrows to swap incubation duties with their partners.  Our friend and guide Andy said it was one of the best nights to see them.  You had to be careful that you didn’t step on them on the path, and also on the toads. 

Hiding Manxie (photo: Josh Craddock)

Manx Shearwater (photo: Josh Craddock)

 

The next day we went to the hides at North Pond and Moorey Mere to see the Shelducks, Shovelers and Mallards.  We also saw a rare bird for Skomer called a Ruff. At first we thought it was a Redshank but then Eddie the warden took a look and told us what it really was.  

On the boat journey back to mainland Wales we saw Harbour Porpoise and Grey Seals swimming near the boat. It was a great trip!

Josh (10 years old)