The last island inhabitants have now moved back to the mainland so the island and it's wildlife get a break and we look forward to seeing it again next year. As most of us will be taking a well earned break over the next three months blog posts will be less frequent. We will, however, still use the blog to advertise Long Term Volunteer positions and other things will turn up from time to time so do keep an eye out.
When we left the island, only a few days ago, the Fulmars were returning from their 'honeymoons' and Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes could be seen around the island once more. The seals were approaching the end of the pupping season and many were starting to moult. By the time the island opens again next Easter the Puffins will be back and a few spring flowers should be just showing there heads.
It has been a wonderful season on Skomer again and we would like to thank everyone who help make it so.
So thanks again and ta-ra till next season. Nadoli Llawen
The winter is finally here, not in temperature but definitely in terms of
wind and storms. Ed and I are keeping an hourly eye on windguru these days. The end of
our time on Skomer is approaching fast (or is it?) and we were hoping to
get off on the weekend or early next week. So far it doesn’t look good.
We are still monitoring the seals every day, the haul-out counts are increasing
but the births are going down, however today we had another one born
on Driftwood Bay. Its mum has chosen the best beach on Skomer: Driftwood Bay is
basically a cove in South Haven facing North-West and it is completely
sheltered from all wind directions. Northerlies get held off by the Isthmus,
Southerlies by the Neck. If I were a seal I would definitely choose Driftwood
Bay to give birth.
Newest pup with mum and a Great Black-backed Gull feasting on the afterbirth
Ed heroically finished the first stage of our new Sales Point project. Not even
hurricane Barney could stop Ed drilling, sawing, measuring and swinging his
level about. The new Sales Point will be able to resist even the strongest storms
and we believe it will still be standing in 100 years’ time (whether the new
wardens like it or not :-). In order to get the posts in we were hammering and
chiselling like dwarfs for days; we had to kneel in the muck, lean headlong into
a foot deep hole and pick away at the bed-rock.
Sales Point or swimming pool - that is the question. Will the concrete set in so much water?
Building the new Sales Point with the sea roaring in the background
And finally today: the finished frame
We have finished the winter preparations and are now waiting for good
weather, the seals of course still keep us entertained and company like these two who were lying around on the slip. The bigger one has got hiccups :-)
And even though the
strong winds are a bit annoying I was rather awed when I watched the enormous
waves crashing against Skokholm in the distance – some were so large, they
reached all the way to the top of the cliff. Here is a little clip of the Mew Stone getting hammered.
October was a real treat: sunny, warm and calm but it seems that November is
trying to make up for it by being very uncomfortable. We have had gale force
winds for nearly two weeks and if we are honest it is getting a bit on our nerves.
The seal mums
also have a much harder job looking after their pups and the pup survival rate has
dropped since the start of the bad weather: one day there are five pups on the
beach and the next day it’s deserted.
One of our
pups has been swept all the way to Ramsey and to our delight and astonishment
its mum was able to follow it. Have a read of Ramsey’s exciting blog about our adventurous pup 193.
New born pup 193 with mum on North Haven beach on the 22nd October
Last Saturday we had a four hour respite of the gale force winds and
Leighton made the best of the weather window and left the island for the
winter. When we woke up in the morning the sea was lead grey, the swell threw
white frothing waves onto the beach and foam was flying past the house – we never
ever imagined that two hours later we would be going over to Martin’s Haven in
sunshine and calm seas.
Since
then Ed and myself have been alone on the island… well not really alone,
today we shared the island with 265 seals – the haul-outs are building as more
and more immature seals and moulting seals rest on the beaches at low tide.
The seals are congregating on the sheltered beaches
And still new pups are getting born, this pup was born today on North Haven beach, it's mum was keen to get it to suckle but I think it didn't quite know what to do...
In September we were very happy to have Dave Astin's lead another bird watching weekend on Skomer. We thought it was a full success but judge yourself and have a read of what Dave reports:
This was the third weekend trip that we’ve run on Skomer in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, following a similar 2-day trip in September 2014 and a 3-day trip in April this year.
Alan, Lyn, Bob, Bill, Gill, Brian, Richard, & Rachael had the overnight ‘hostel’ accommodation to themselves, which was nice but goes to show the untapped potential of Skomer outside of the main ‘Puffin Season’. The accommodation was clean and suited their needs, the kitchen facilities exceeded expectations, and the communal dining / lounge area was a great place to meet up for food and a social (it wasn’t even cold enough to fire up the log burner!). We also enjoyed the nightly ‘bird log’ here, a chance to contribute our sightings to the scientific work of the island through Citizen Science.
The main aims of the trip were to improve everyone’s confidence in identifying autumn migrants, including the tricky ‘little brown (or olive) jobs’, to know where and when to look, and to hopefully see some good birds on the way – but we were at the weather’s mercy on this one! By the end of our 2-and-a-bit days (we had to come off early due to a poor weather forecast) we had seen no less than 55 species, and got to grips with tricky species pairs including Meadow & Rock Pipits, and Chiffchaff & Willow Warbler.
The birds everyone enjoyed most were probably the Manx Shearwaters, a Firecrest and one of the resident Little Owls – always a delight. Skomer scarcities included a Collard Dove & Blue Tits. Everyone enjoyed the whole experience, which included Common Dolphins off the Garland Stone, Slow Worms & Common Lizards at the farm, and Toads & Frogs everywhere at night…watch where you step!
Already looking forward to coming back to Skomer in April & September 2016.
The list of bird species (55) seen during the trip can be found here
