Tuesday 28 May 2013

Skomer Island, West Wales

Just back from a weekend away in west Wales. Before I get onto the birds I need to mention the journey! It took 5 hours to get to Swansea, where we (me, Julia, Sophie and Jamie) met up with my cousin Patrick and his wife Emma, before we continued west for another 2 hours! A long journey but well worth it.  

We stayed over night stay at a great little B&B, and enjoyed a nice meal out in a pub in the picturesque coastal town of Littlehaven. In the morning we were up bright and early for a full Welsh breakfast, before making the 5 mile journey to the coast to get a boat over to Skomer. With blue skies and calm waters we were not the only people who wanted to get onto Skomer. There was a considerable queue for tickets but after an hour we were in and on the 10.30 am boat. By 11.00 am we were there! 

Like most people our main reason for our visit was to see Puffins, and Skomer currently has around 12,500 of them! As well as Puffins (lots), we also had good views of Chough, Razorbill, Guillimot, Gannet, Peregrine  Falcon, Buzzard, Wheatear and Stonechat. 

   
 

Razorbills - stunning up close



The clan crossing the island (on a path!) cutting through a  blanket of pink and blue  


There's not many places in the UK to see Choughs and I had my best views ever of these birds on Skomer 







Showing distantly at around 6 inches




Many thanks to Patrick and Emma for putting us up for a couple of nights and being great company!       

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