We were fortunate, the weather on our chosen day to visit Skomer Island was fine and warm. By contrast the following days were forecast to be poor so much so that the crossing from Martin's Haven to the island via the Dale Queen was due to be cancelled.
We booked in at the Wildlife Trust's Lockley Cottage, named after naturalist and writer Ronald Lockley who spent much of his life studying the wildlife of Skomer and nearby Skokholm Islands. Lockley was a prolific writer publishing no less than 58 books as well as founding the first British Bird Observatory on Skokholm. Interestingly Lockley also lived closer to home for a while farming land on the county boundary between Newport and Cardiff and managing much of it for nature. For those interested in the social and natural history of Skomer Mike Alexander's 445 page tome about the island is a must read.
At Martin's Haven we waited along with a queue of others who I could confidentially say fitted the demographic of largely retired people. As soon as the Dale Queen arrived were all made our way in a orderly fashion to the boat showing our ticket before boarding. The short trip to the island was a little choppy but not too alarming and was enlightened by a commentary from a guide who talked, in broad terms, about the birdlife that could be seen from the boat. Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills could all be seen in increasing number amidst a cacophony of seabird calling as the boat arrived at the Island.
Having all disembarked and negotiated the 70 or so steep steps we paused to catch our breath at a greeting point where a Warden welcomed us to the island with brief talk that set out some clear and unambiguous visitor ground rules. Due the large number of burrows that housed nesting Puffin and Manx Shearwater we were instructed to keep to the narrow paths and to walk the island in a clockwise fashion. Here too a view of the Wardens accommodation and research station provided a reminder that this is a National Nature Reserve and active research facility.
Having visited the island previously my son and I made straight for The Wick. This is the part of the island that is one of the best locations to photograph Puffins. Here too are commanding views of the seabird cliffs with hundreds of breeding birds including Razorbills Guillemots and Kittiwakes along with distant views of the RSPBs Grassholm Island Reserve part clothed in the white of breeding Gannet, erupting from the sea like a bout of teenage ache. On the way we passed many breeding gulls, calling Pheasant, Wheatear and several pairs of Oystercatcher, But this wasn't a general birding trip were we on a mission to photograph Puffin and if possible to get those characteristic shots of birds complete with a bill full of Sand Eels.
At The Wick Puffins were plentiful some standing motionless others busily flying out to sea and returning complete with the aforementioned Sand Eels. This was a popular spot for photographers many sporting camera equipment that as a freshly retired person on a pension could never justify spending thousands of pounds on, but clearly we were in the company of those who we happy to invest heavily in their hobby.
Our visit was scheduled to last five hours and it was surprising how quickly time went. After four hours we decided to make our way back following the well trodden path, to wait for the Dale Queen to back to Martin's Haven. En route a pair of Wheatear were seen feeding young along with several grazing melanistic Rabbits, as we passed a women photographer sporting a large camera lens that my son confidently proclaimed cost £18,000 to buy new!
Back at the landing point we joined a small number of other visitors who had also decided to arrive early. As we waited we watched a steady stream of people descend the path towards us including two individuals who loudly engaged in objectionable right wing 'white lives matter' rhetoric. Here there were excellent views of nesting Razorbills along with another noisy backdrop of seabird cliffs. We boarded the Dale Queen and home.
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