The Skomer Island Blog: Island Update – First Half of September

Robins calling in the crisp morning light and the Ragwort maturing with pom-poms full of seeds tell us that Autumn is truly upon us on Skomer. We’re nearing peak seal pup season, and Autumn migration is ramping up in glorious fashion.

A small brown rodent sits eating circular green leaves centre frame, surrounded by tall green and brown plant stems

A Skomer Vole enjoying some Ground Ivy for breakfast just after dawn

White sea foam drains down black rocks as large waves hit the rocky shore

Stormy weather at The Garland Stone

Migration Season

Autumn is a little different and a rather special time on the island compared to the mainland. Instead of pumpkin spice lattes and Christmas music being played in the shops, Skomer’s bracken turns a beautiful rusty shade of gold, the trees become packed with unusual migrating birds, and the night skies harbour lovely seasonal moths!

Two fern-like fronds stand above a carpet of grass, one is dark green and the other is rusty gold in colour

Bracken fronds turning golden brown

Skomer is an important pit-stop on the southward migration of many species as there are plenty of invertebrates and seeds for visiting birds to feed on, as well as shelter from rough weather out at sea. At the beginning of this month, hundreds of Swallows lined the farm rooftops, and the first Wryneck of the season was spotted by Assistant Warden, Ceris, on 1st September. In fact, the first three sightings of this gorgeous bird were enjoyed by only Ceris, she is now Skomer’s very own Wryneck Whisperer!

A brown bird sits on top of a plant stem in centre frame, it has seeds in its beak and the plant stem has pale spherical seed heads on top

A Linnet feasting on seeds atop a Ragwort stem that has gone to seed (photo by weekly volunteer)

A small brown bird with a long tail sits on a thin outstretched branch, the background is a blurred green shrub

A Spotted Flycatcher uses a branch of North Valley's Willows as its hunting perch (photo by LTV Nick)

A rather warm and still evening early this month proved to be the most fruitful moth trap record so far this season! LTV, Nick, identified and recorded 111 individual moths comprising an amazing 36 species. This included the first migratory-giant Convolvulus Hawk Moths of the year as well as an astounding 73 Common Sexton Beetles. There must have been plenty of delicious carcases dotted around the island that night!

A large moth faces the camera and sits on the bark of a tree stump. It has large, dark eyes and fine comb-like antennae. The moth is covered in tiny grey and drown 'hairs''.

Close-up photo of a beautiful Convolvulus Hawk Moth taken by a weekly volunteer

Golden Hair Lichen Survey

One of Skomer’s rarest inhabitants, Golden Hair Lichen, is a striking lichenised-fungus that only colonises north-facing, sheltered crags that have exceptional air quality. LTVs Nick & Pete have been tasked with remapping its distribution based on pointers from the last survey over a decade ago in 2013. After a handful of still afternoons scrambling on the clifftops, we are thrilled to have found a new colony on the rocks inland from Pigstone Bay, and at Bull Hole where the lichen was thought to have disappeared! It is refreshing to survey and shed light on such a beautiful species in an under recorded and underappreciated taxonomic group.

A vertical line of golden-yellow clumps sits in the centre of the image. The clumps of sponge-like lichen are attached to pale grey slabs of rock that make up the rest of the image.

Golden Hair Lichen (Teloschistes flavicans) thriving in a crag looking towards The Garland Stone

Skomer Yoga!

Led by ex-Skomer Visitor Officer, Catrin Norris, two groups of ‘Yogis’ ventured to Skomer to enjoy a retreat filled with meditation and focused exercise. The wild and earthy qualities of the island proved the perfect setting to align the chakras and get a (mental and physical) breath of fresh air – this was especially true during the dawn yoga session overlooking the Garland Stone!

A group of people are sat in a circle in the centre of the image on a dark green grassy plateau. Behind them is the sea and a pale-grey sky.

Yoga and meditation session at the Garland Stone

Biosecurity Checks

Skomer is extremely fortunate and proud to be the breeding site for 41,605 Puffins and over 750,000 Manx Shearwaters (according to 2024 seabird counts!), but none of these birds would be able to breed here if ground predators made it ashore. For context, if a single pregnant rat managed to get onto the island, there would be over 800 rats in just 6 months! This is why the whole island team is dedicated to monitoring the island for rodent activity with frequent biosecurity checks.

A person in a red coat crouches in front of a grey box. The foreground is a carpet of bright green plants, and the background is the sea with a cliff rising out of it.

LTV Pete setting up a biosecurity box at The Wick

A shallow cylinder sits in the middle of the image on top of a grey box. The cylinder is dark brown with a lighter brown skirt, and scratch marks can clearly be seen along the top of the cylinder. The background is a grey boulder which stands out of focus

A chocolate & wax block with small mammal toothmarks from either Skomer Vole or Wood Mouse

Although the chocolate wax blocks may look and smell delicious when you’re marching around the island to check the biosecurity boxes, the bait is key to identifying small mammal activity by picking up tooth marks left by furry visitors. Ink pads also give another piece of the puzzle by leaving footprints, providing resident slugs and snails haven’t eaten their fair share of course!

Young Birders Week

It’s the time of year when two groups of enthusiastic young birders also migrate to the island ! To kick the trip off, a walk around the island gave way to a bird race, this being a race between groups to spot as many bird species as possible within the allotted time. The competition was fierce, but in the first week the “Swagtails” came out on top, and the “Chough’ed to be here” group won bonus points for best team name in the latter half of the week!

A line of people sit in chairs or stand around a table in the centre of the photo. In the foreground, a person is holding a sheet of paper and all other individuals are watching this person intently

Young Birders and island staff eagerly awaiting the results of the bird race in the library

Visiting birdwatchers also took part in Skomer Vole handling, moth trapping, Manx Shearwater chick weighing, and even a bird knowledge quiz! We’re very lucky to share the island and its wildlife with such knowledgeable and keen youngsters.

Four people stand in the foreground, two of the people are holding small, fuzzy, grey chicks with both hands. All are smiling and facing the camera. The background is made up of dark seacliffs and green clifftops

Young Birders helping weigh the fast-growing Manx Shearwater chicks

A line of people runs vertically through the image. The people are sat, facing to the left with scopes and binoculars looking out to sea from a clifftop. The background is made up of grey rocks, green grass, and a pale grey sky above.

A mass seawatch on the lookout for the Great Shearwater

Even More Fungi?!

A cluster of bright orange mushrooms sprout from a mossy tree branch in the centre of the image. An individual in a navy blue coat and hat peers at the underside of the mushrooms in the right half of the image. The background is green moss-covered branches and brown leaf litter

LTV Nick inspecting some Spectacular Rustgills (Gymnopilus junonius) in North Valley Crossing

Manx Shearwater Fledging

On dark and blustery evenings as of late, we’re giving many sad but exciting farewells to the Manx Shearwater chicks that are fledging! At night, they come out in their thousands to stretch their wings and show off their elaborate hair-dos as they shed their down and prepare to fly to the rich waters off the coast of Argentina and Brazil.

A left-facing bird with pale-grey fluffy feathers comprises moat of the image. The bird has a long black beak with a downward hook at the end, and a smooth, dark face and eye can be seen emerging from the fluffy feathers. The background is a pale-grey sky.

A Manx Shearwater chick beginning to lose its down in style

Unfortunately, we have also said goodbye to OxNav’s Masters students, Layla and Bridget. These two have been working tirelessly to weigh the Shearwater chicks in the study burrows every day since the end of June, as well as carrying out their own research projects investigating Manxie foraging habits at different life stages and parental dual foraging strategies. Layla and Bridget have been a great part of the island team and community - they will be sorely missed!