We are back on Skomer again! Let the 2019 season begin!
Our arrival to the island went very smoothly and we were even very fortunate with the lovely weather - the hottest day in winter in Britain ever recorded apparently!
So very lucky! Oh but that night, equally glorious, sky sooo full of stars, it was absolutely stunning! Just wanted to dive in and be one of those stars it was that beautiful!
Things have been pretty great since the arrival day (27th of Feb), we found things quite the way we left them in November last year, except from maybe mould, some rocks fallen on the track up from the boat shed and lots of soil flung onto the paths by rabbits digging new burrows.
There are plenty of fulmars on the cliffs, a few Manx shearwaters are back already, way over a hundred oystercatchers, some migrants flying through such as blue tits, chiffchaffs, woodcock, snipes, sand martins, song thrushes, blackbirds, goldcrest, lots of starlings.
We are planning to work very hard to ensure that everything is just the way it should, including providing visitors with great experience, carrying out good quality species monitoring, working well with volunteers and researchers, organising awesome events and the all rest! But we are also planning to have a lot of fun, which is extremely important! What would life be without fun?!
We are hoping to make friends here, get to know people visiting, spread the love for wildlife, to encourage others to make some lifestyle changes, which will benefit the environment and most of all to really continue the great work that is being done here.
There are some exciting projects that will be carried out here this year, of which many are a continuation of what has been done here over the years, which is great! Continuous, standardised data collection is crucial when it comes to long-term monitoring/research.
There are soooo many things happening this year that I don't even know where to start!
However, this is something that you will have to find out by reading our blog, twitter, facebook and by visiting obviously and most importantly!
We would miss out all the fun by telling you all about it now;-)
To the fantastic 2019 season on Skomer then! Cheers!
Here are some pictures from the last 3 days
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| haha no comments needed here :) |
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| Martins Haven beach |
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| Leaving the mainland |
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| Wilkie posed well :) |
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| Steve was enjoying himself too, clearly;-) |
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| Sarah and Sarah did a fantastic job carrying our stuff up to be then loaded onto a tractor! |
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| Very happy helpers, thank you Anna, Steve and Mick!! You're awesome! |
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| Steve was happy to find that the water tanks hold water, this much is currently in:) |
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| Tractor started first try! yeyyy (doesn't usually happen) driving down to load it up with our stuff |
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| Oh what a glorious day it was! |
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| Tea time in between the tractor runs! |
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| Fulmars |
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We also would like to add that Friends of Skokholm and Skomer is raising funds for the new Skomer vehicle and we are very grateful for this amazing action!
As probably most of you know Skomer island has been functioning very well (day visits, overnight guests, maintenance, boat launching and more) with a continuous usage of our island tractor. Our 17 - year old tractor has proved itself extremely useful over the years but it has also proved to be very maintenance costly and is starting to fail.
It is therefore vital that the vehicle supports our work as best as possible in order for us to be able to continue to run Skomer nature reserve and for it to remain functional.
If you want to help you can donate via the just giving page
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/friends-of-skokholm-and-skomer
Many thanks!
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| a lot of luggage and no space in the tractor |
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| overnight guests' luggage |
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| tractor chair:) |
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