Bluebells, birds and boats....

I arrived on Skomer island three weeks ago, to an unexpected sea of bluebells, calling chough and a fantastic group of staff and volunteers! After a bit of time to unpack and a quick tour of the farm, I had the afternoon to explore the island, discover some of the wildlife and to begin learning my way around as well as the names of the features and landmarks of Skomer. It felt like so much to take in, and like I would never be able to remember everything, but it’s amazing what a few weeks of complete immersion in a place can do!

My two-month placement began with getting to grips with the running of the visitor boats. After watching Ceris (Assistant Warden) do a few talks to get an idea of what to say, it was time to give a go – so no time to get nervous! Within no time, I felt confident doing the welcome talks, explaining the ‘Golden Rule’ of Skomer, talking about the wildlife highlights and counting visitors off the island as they catch the boat back again, although this still feels like a big responsibility!

We (me and Grace, the other Long-Term Volunteer) have been kept very busy with lots of tasks, including bird monitoring, de-nailing and chopping wood, learning to drive the 4x4 Gator vehicle, path maintenance, data entry and chatting to visitors around the island.

We assisted with baiting the biosecurity boxes with wax blocks, peanut butter and ink pads, and then checking them for evidence of rats a week later. Luckily, we found no signs of rats, and it was really interesting to see the small mammal footprints and tooth patterns in the wax blocks of species like the Skomer vole, wood mouse and shrew. This also meant that we were able to go onto the Neck, an area of the island reserved only for research purposes, which was a huge privilege!

We’ve also had the opportunity to do reptile transects, where we saw several slow worms, toads and my first Skomer vole, which was very exciting! We’re also going to be doing some cetacean surveys and butterfly transects soon which I’m really looking forward to. There have also been lots of opportunities to get involved with the monitoring of several species including chough, curlew (the last breeding curlew in Pembrokeshire) and short-eared owls - a few very windy days and subsequent cancelled boats, meant there was time without visitors on the island to work alongside the other volunteers and contribute to the monitoring of these species. I’ve really enjoyed this and it has meant I saw my first curlew chicks as well as two short-eared owls in a dramatic territorial dispute, swooping and locking talons. I also spent a day with two other volunteers counting breeding gulls which was great practice in telling the difference between herring, lesser black-backed and great black-backed gulls, and whether they were sitting on a nest, or just resting!

A major highlight so far has been going out at night to see and hear the Manx shearwaters. I had never seen one before and was something I was really looking forward to experiencing here; it definitely did not disappoint! I’ve also really enjoyed the moth trapping and having a close look at the moths caught, I’m looking forward to doing more of this in the coming weeks. 

I’ve been increasingly keen to see the Common dolphin and harbour porpoise which I was told are often seen around the island, particularly at the Garland Stone, however these, for me at least, have been very elusive. After almost two weeks, and becoming increasingly eager to see some, Friday night was the night! While sea watching with other volunteers and staff at Skomer Head, I finally saw my first pod of common dolphins which were very active and put on a bit of a show!

I have a feeling that being surrounded by so much fantastic wildlife, with the likes of puffins, razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars flying directly over head on a daily basis, will never get old! So far, it’s been the best kind of whirlwind; learning loads, adjusting to island life and meeting lots of fantastic people! I can’t wait to see what the coming weeks bring: I’m really looking forward to experiencing more of the wildlife, learning and soaking up as much as I can and appreciating every moment during this once in a lifetime opportunity to live on Skomer Island!

- Lou, long-term volunteer