The colours of autumn

Autumn can have a real feel of decay and deterioration, like twilight, where you know it's only going to get darker and colder until the end of the day. But autumn has a charm and a beauty of its own and is an integral part of the year, the cycle which hopefully brings forth new life in the spring.

Skomer is a wonderful place to watch the turning of the year, with only nature as a force to shape and colour it.

Here is a feel for how Skomer is in autumn when the hustle bustle of summer, with all of it's avian and human visitors, feels a long way away, when solitary Hen Harriers drift over a desolate landscape and Starlings and varied 'northern' thrushes pass over head from places that are even colder and more desolate than Skomer by now.

One of the main shaping forces behind the changing colours of Skomer - the weather

The sunsets change colour

The Bracken turns a golden brown

The colour of Pheasants looks almost made for autumn

Thousands of birds fly over on autumn migration

Wildfowl gather on North Pond

Following the migrants, wintering birds of prey look for any opportunity for a meal

A Peregrine hunts a ball of Starlings

Autumn may feel like the sun is setting but don't worry, the sun will rise again on another Skomer spring in 2017