Meet new LTV Rowie!

Hi everyone!

My name is Rowie and I'm lucky enough to be one of the new Long-Term Volunteers on Skomer Island for the rest of this season.

My first day giving the introductory talks to visitors

Originally from Coventry, my family had a small caravan in North Pembrokeshire where we would spend the majority of our summer holidays, half-terms and a fair few weekends dotted in between. Looking back, these frequent breaks from urban life helped me fall easily in love with nature and coastal living. This heavily influenced my decision in not only what I studied at university, but also where. During my first meeting with my careers counsellor at college, she asked if I had any idea of where I would like to study and my immediate response was: "By the sea!"

University

Now, I have a BSc (Hons) Zoology with Conservation from Bangor University and can confirm that being able to stop and gaze at the sea on a regular basis is certainly a natural and beautiful form of stress relief (which is especially needed after those long hours working in the library).

For my undergraduate dissertation I studied human-wildlife conflict, specifically how roads and vehicle presence affected the distribution of the Black-backed jackal population in the Dinokeng Game Reserve (South Africa). For this, I was given the opportunity to stay in my study location for six weeks to not only collect the data for my research, but help others with their data collection aswell. Here, I gained hands on experience in the various techniques used to gather the information needed (e.g. camera traps, vegetation quadrants and transects), which has been extremely useful in future field work I have been involved in.

Collecting data in the Dinokeng Game Reserve (South Africa)

Internship in Ireland

As part of my degree I underwent a six month 'Animal Care and Education' internship at Seal Rescue Ireland (the only seal rescue centre in the whole of the Republic of Ireland). A bit different to the setting and tasks I had to do in South Africa, I worked directly with the wild seals in our care and developed an understanding of how both rehabilitation centres and the charity sector operate.

Myself (right) and a colleague (left) moving a seal at its release for Seal Rescue Ireland

During my time there, I participated in and helped organise as many fundraisers as I could, including:

• Running the crafts stall at a 'Family Fun Day' event.
• Creating my own sea glass jewellery for sale in the gift shop.
• Collecting donations for raffle prizes from local businesses.

Earrings I made out of sea glass that were for sale at the Seal Rescue Ireland Centre

Taking part in the annual 'Seal Dip' (along with other members of staff, we ran into the cold sea on the 1st of February and raised approximately £2,000 between us).

This internship really high lighted to me the importance of wildlife charities and since my placement finished I have volunteered at my local RSPCA charity shop and at a small rabbit sanctuary as a 'Medicine Volunteer'.

Skomer Island

My interest in the charity sector, love of nature and passion for Pembrokeshire all lead me to apply for the position of 'Long-Term Volunteer' on Skomer Island and I was successful!

Now, I am almost a fortnight into my stay and have quickly settled in to island life, however, I will probably never get used to being constantly surrounded by so much incredible wildlife.

Already, I have found my favourite spot on the island (although this could change later as I'm discovering new places on the island everyday): Skomer Head, where you can relax and it almost feels like you're at the end of the world. This is also a wonderful place to observe seals in their natural environment.

The view from Skomer Head after a lovely sunset

My accommodation for the next two and a half months is known as 'The Hut', a cute and cosy little den where I instantly felt at home. Each morning, when I open the curtains I am repeatedly struck by the picturesque view (even in the not so idyllic conditions) of the sea and mainland. I have lovely downstairs neighbours in the form of Manx Shearwaters (I refer to them as 'The Manxies'), who I haven't seen but often hear pottering about at night.

The Hut

Yesterday, I was asked about my favourite wildlife moments so far, which at first seemed impossible. However, after much deliberation I have managed to narrow down my top three:

1. Spotting my first Skomer Island seals at the Garland Stone - being stuck in the city due to lockdown regulations for over a year made this sighting especially uplifting.
2. Correctly identifying my first butterfly - before helping out on the butterfly transect I knew very little in regards to butterfly species and how to recognise them. However, I now have a much better eye for telling apart different species and am thinking of studying them for my personal project.
3. Seeing a pod of approximately forty dolphins pass by North Haven - this happened on my first day working with the public (giving the introductory talks) and the group was so close that you could easily see them without binoculars.

A Small Copper butterfly that I spotted and identified

Myself after I had correctly identified a Red Admiral on my first butterfly transect

A seal haul-out at Garland Stone

After already learning so much about the wildlife here and now the island is run, I am extremely excited to see what new opportunities I encounter over the next few months and face them head on!