A magical visit to Skomer - 5/6/2014

Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire is a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales - to me, it always appeared to be a magical place to visit.

Seeing it was early June and the puffins were there we looked at the weather forecast for the coming week and booked the next 'nice' day off to visit. We picked Thursday 5th June and the Met Office had given full sun for most of the day - we hoped the weather wouldn't be unpredictable and change.

We headed out early with the intention of arriving at Martin's Haven before 8am. The boat to Skomer sails three times a day with a capacity of only 50 people per crossing on a first come first serve basis. For this reason it is best to get there early to guarantee your ticket.

Martin's Haven is two miles from the village of Marloes in Pembrokeshire and we parked up at 7.30am in the National Trust car park (parking is £5 a car or free if you are National Trust member).

Martin's Haven welcome sign and info about the area

We made our way to the Wildlife Trust's Lockley Lodge which was just down the road from the car park. It was 7.40am and there were at least 10 people already queuing up for tickets outside the lodge. As we waited I noticed a few caterpillars on the nearby fence and bushes, pretty, brightly coloured creatures that were the caterpillar of the lackey moth.

There were a number of caterpillars of the lackey moth near Lockley Lodge

Lockely Lodge is a gift shop/tourist information centre which opened at 8.20am for us to get our tickets. Luckily we managed to get onto the 10am boat. It costs £10 landing fee to get on to Skomer and an £11 boat ride (which you pay onboard). Being members of the Wildlife Trust South and West Wales we didn't have to pay the landing fee, just £11 each for the boat ride. After getting our landing tickets we made our way back to the car, looking back there were still many people waiting for tickets.

After getting our tickets at Lockley Lodge there was still quite a queue for tickets

We had our breakfast in the car, got our rucksacks (full of food, fluids and other emergency items) and decided to go and explore Martin's Haven. We walked through the gate of the deer park (there's no deer there though) and climbed up the steps to the cliffs whilst getting great views of Lockely Lodge and the car park.

Before the boat trip we had a little stroll around Martin's Haven - The view of Lockley Lodge and the car park.

We continued climbing up the steps - there were lots of birds and butterflies at the top. There was one bird I couldn't identify, so whilst writing this blog I asked a few people including Simon King and Bill Oddie on Twitter...here were they replies:

I could hardly believe it - I actually saw and took a photo (not the best photo in the world) of a rare bird. I am still not 100% sure what bird it is, but when highly respected birders like Bill Oddie & Simon King say it’s a Sardinian Warbler then that's good enough for me :)

A Sardinian warbler or Whitethroat? Will I ever know?

Other animals we saw on the cliffs of Martin's Haven included Common Blue butterflies, Chough and cows grazing.

Common Blue butterfly

Cows on the cliffs

We stayed on the path, passing the Coastguard Hut and started walking to the edge of the cliff. Skomer was in front of us and the views were breathtaking. We got really excited that we would be spending the next 5 hours on that island and the weather was glorious.

Pink thrift with Skomer in the distance

At around 9.30am we made our way to the jetty ready for our 10am boat crossing. On the way down we stopped in the toilets and were immediately greeted by Swallows. Whilst in one of the ladies cubicles I heard a bird tweeting and looked up to see a Swallow staring at me, can you get any privacy these days? lol! We got to the jetty at 9.40am and started queuing.

We were greeted with Swallows at the toilets, including a rather cheeky one in the ladies cubicle :)

The jetty on Martin's Haven

It wasn't long before our boat the 'Dale Princess' arrived and we all climbed aboard. 50 of us all squeezed on and off we went. Whilst on our journey we gave the boatman our £11 for the trip and he showed us all how to put on life jackets incase we needed them (yikes, I can't swim!)! It wasn't long before we saw an array of birds in the water: guillemots, razorbills and of course the puffins.

Life jacket lesson!

The sail across was calm and very relaxing - the sky and water was the most beautiful blue. As Skomer got nearer the numbers of birds increased. We all got off the boat and made our way up the steps where we were greeted by staff from the Wildlife Trust with a few island rules. Basically the most important rule of them all was 'stay on the path' - the whole island is full of burrowing birds like Manx Shearwater and Puffins as well as rabbits. You must stay on the paths to avoid collapsing burrows and squashing birds or eggs.

The steady climb up

Island rules by the lovely Wildlife Trust staff

This cheeky jackdaw watching us whilst we were told the rules of the island

So off we went to explore Skomer - the main thing we wanted to do was see the Puffins so we headed to 'The Wick'. As we made our way we were blown away by the scenery and the carpet of Bluebells and Red Campion that adorned the island. We instantly fell in love with the place and knew that the next five hours were going to fly by. There were birds and rabbits everywhere!

Beautiful scenery everywhere you looked

Dan walking through a carpet of Red Campion

One of the many rabbits on the island

One good thing about the island is everywhere is sign posted, with some informing you how long it takes to get to a specific area - the Wick was 30 minutes away. On the way we were starting to get sightings of Puffins as well as Herring/Greater Black-Backed Gulls and Choughs. There were also huge numbers of seabirds bathing in the sea.

Good clear signs help you get around

Great Black-backed Gull with many birds in the sea

Guillemots in the sea

We started to get our first glimpses of dead Manx Shearwater which unfortunately fall victim to the Greater Black-Backed Gulls. There are over 120,000 breeding pairs of Manx Shearwater on Skomer and  if they do not reach the safety of the sea or burrow by dawn then the gulls get them - they leave the wings, feet and head as they can't swallow or digest them. We were warned about the dead birds when we arrived on the island and there were indeed many, but they count for only a small proportion of the total number of birds and you do get used to seeing it.

A dead Manx Shearwater - unfortunately one of many

Eventually we reached The Wick and already we were getting glimpses of Puffins.The Wick is a sheer cliff which forms a valley, it has carved ledges which are perfect for nesting birds such as Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes - these can be easily viewed from the opposite cliff.  The puffins definitely were one of the stars of the day and I had never seen one before and was surprised with how small they were. They didn't seem too bothered with everyone taking photographs, in fact some were coming really close so someone like me with a small point & shoot camera could get a half decent pic. They are very mesmerizing and extremely cute going about their day to day duties. There were many photographers there, so we didn't want to overcrowd them and continued on the path which headed to 'Skomer Head'.

The charismatic puffin

The Wick

A puffin arises from his burrow

On the way we saw many other birds including: wheatear, wren and oystercatcher. Before we got to Skomer Head we stopped to look over the cliff and saw a grey seal splashing around in the sea below. When we got to Skomer Head we were blown away with how beautiful it was, the cliffs were covered with Pink Sea Thrift and you could see the island of Grassholm in the distance covered in 'snow'. Infact the island is home to 39,000 breeding pairs of Garnets giving the illusion of a snowy mountain.

The view on top of Skomer Head

Wheatear

A pair of breeding Oystercatchers

Grassholm Island - Not snow but 1000s of Garnets

From here we made our way to the Garland Stone to have our lunch and we were hoping to see porpoises and more seals. It was surprising how much we had walked and how hot it was, making us realise how important it is to bring a packed lunch and plenty of fluids. Out in the distance was Ramsey Island which is owned by the RSPB.

This is where we saw the grey seal

A close up of the grey seal (Pic by Daniel Turner)

Lunch overlooking the Garland Stone with Ramsey Island in the distance

From here we headed towards the old farmhouse, this is also where there is overnight accommodation and more importantly the toilets. We had heard that a little owl can be seen around here but unfortunately we didn't see it. We did see Meadow Pipits and lots of rabbits though. There was also a trig point near the farmhouse which we couldn't resist climbing up to. I have to admit it was no Pen Y Fan, but still an achievement to be standing on the highest point of Skomer at 289 feet.

The Farmhouse in the distance

Me and the trig point, with the farmhouse in the background

Meadow Pipit

We glanced at our watches again, it was already 2pm - oh no, we only had an hour left on the island! We decided to head back to 'The Wick' to see the puffins one last time. After a few more pictures of the colourful characters we decided it was time to make our way back to the boat.They advise you to be there at least 10 minutes before departure so it's not one mad rush. Whilst walking back we passed 'The Mew Stone' and just took in the scenes once more - it's like nowhere else I have ever been before and I didn't want to leave.

The Puffins are so sweet and it's unbelievable how close they come to you

The Mew Stone

Beautiful views all around the island

As we were waiting for the boat we saw a few razorbills nesting on the cliff edges and watched them until the 'Dale Princess' arrived on time. We all got back on board and sailed safely back to Martin's Haven.

Razorbills on the cliffs

The Dale Princess approaches

It was truly a magical day and everything I ever dreamed it would be. We popped into Lockley Lodge to get a few mementos and started talking to the nice chap on the counter. He asked us if we enjoyed and told us we should come back for the Manx Shearwater Week when the Manx fledge. You get to stay overnight and he explained that he would take us to where they fledge, with the Manx using you as a launch pad to get into the air. Amazingly from this point they don't stop flying until they reach Argentina. Of course Dan and I wanted to do this and have booked for a night in August.

It you love nature and pure escapism then a trip to Skomer is a must. There is so much to see and it really is a magical place. I certainly can't wait to return and I'm looking forward to see how the island changes throughout the seasons.

A treasure island indeed :)