Puffins - Skomer or Farnes in June?

[erwinx]

Hi,

i'm planning a trip to the uk in june 2004 and would like to go and see and photograph puffins. I've been to the Farne islands before and enjoyed myself, but photography was a bit rushed because we had only 1/2 day per island.

Am wondering whether Skomer would be better? Are the Puffins at Skomer as close as they are in the Farne islands? Please let me know if you have links to any Skomer galleries too :)

thanks

erwin

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Erwinx,

Welcome to BirdForum!

You definitely want the Farnes! :D

Michael

[Andrew03]

Hi
Tricky! - i've had puffins much closer on Skomer (appearing out of burrows right by my feet), and also flying up and landing very close, but at the Farnes they can be almost as close, and in greater numbers - certainly much easier to get shots with several puffins in i'd say. Then again, you don't get so long on the islands on the Farne trips (mind, should get about 4hrs on the all day trip, but last summer I only got 1hr on the first island as the swell was too great), whereas you get longer on Skomer. My choice would be the Farnes as the terns are an excellant bonus to the guillemots and razorbills that are common to both. Shags also amazingly close on the Farnes. Best solution is to do both! (no choughs anywhere near the Farnes!)

Andrew

[nigelblake]

Without doubt Skomer is the better option of the two for photographing Puffins, particularly at 'The Wick' and by the landing steps, but the best way is to book up for an overnight stay there because the daytime trips are neither good for the best activity or the best light, plus on the daytrips you are more restricted from getting good shots as the many visitors can be in the way. There are of course many places on the Scottish Isles that offer even better Puffin photography, Handa being one of the most accessable.

[erwinx]

thanks everyone for their informative replies. Am looking forward to returing to the UK :)

[leighjauncey]

thanks everyone for their informative replies. Am looking forward to returing to the UK :)
Sorry I'm probably a bit late but I would go for Skomer - see the attached picture it was with a Canon EOS and a sigma zoom at 300mm - there's been no digital manipulation at all the background is a cliff top and the sea. The original is lighter though.

Leigh

[william j clive]

I have done the Farne's once only, and I have to say you do not see Roseate and Lesser Crested Terns on Skomer ;)


Skomer is virtually on my doorstep (I wish) and I have made many visits. If you go for the overnight stay on Skomer, choose a moonless night and you should have a brilliant night with Manxies arriving and departing in a glorious cacophony of unearthly calls. You should get great shots of Puffins and Choughs, and in early June there is always a chance of a rarity such as Subalpine Warbler or Black-headed Bunting.

[PaulAshton]

Skomer is great for puffins and only a short boat ride. We went there last summer and spent a few hours watching the puffins at very close quarters, almost under your feet or flying past your head. The crossing can be choppy so check the winds and contact the ferry before you go.

Pembs. is a lovely part of the world. I'd recommend staying at the Lobster Pot Inn at the neareby village of Marloes. Great food and 5 mins drive from the bay where the ferry lands.

You could also visit New Quay along the coast (in Cardigan Bay) to the north a have a look out for any Dolphins.

[Colin]

Erwin,
I echo what Nigel said about Handa. I did a bit of voluntary wardening there in 2000. It is possible to book accommodation in the very very basic bothy through Scottish Wildlife Trust who manage the island for the private owners. You would have to supply and cook your own food. There are no trips there on a Sunday so if you booked for a long weekend you would not have the public getting in your way although this would not be a problem anyway. Other birds there include nesting Great and Arctic Skuas.

[Andrew03]

Strangely, I visited Handa in June last yr and didn't see a Puffin on the Island! - did see at least one on the Stack. In June 2001 there were a lot on the island nr the Stack - approached to within a few feet. In 2000 I didn't see so many. I thought that Puffins had only recently started nesting on Handa as previously rats had kept them away??

Still, all years the skuas are superb.

Andrew

[Colin]

Andrew,
Puffins have been nesting on Handa for ages but rats were a problem and the numbers nesting on the island itself (as opposed to the nearby stack) dropped to almost none in the late 1990s. There was a rat eradication programme and monitoring continued after all the rats were got rid of. There were no rats by 2000 and monitoring recorded none (done with wooden lollipop sticks covered in butter and placed around the island at strategic places such as likely holes in the ground. Rats chew the sticks so with no chewed sticks, no rats - rabbits leave the sticks alone and the shrews do likewise, there are no mice present). The Puffins were gradually colonising the island again(they were always nesting on the stack because the rats can't get there) by 2000 but I have no recent information and the rats may have made a comeback. No one really knows how they got there in the first place but the general opinion is that a pregnant female may have been carried over inadvertantly in a bag of feed which was used for the few sheep which graze a small portion of the island. Having said all that it should be possible to get good close views of Puffins on the stack with bins and or scope.

Alternate to all this, there are a handful but only a handful of Puffins at Portland Bill and at the other end of the mainland there are Puffins on Faraid Head near Durness and in both cases there is no boat trip needed. The numbers, however are small.

[Andrew03]

Colin, thanks for the reply, I remeber the wardens telling us about the rat erradication program and that it had been sucessful, however i'm curious how good Handa is for puffins?? Last summer there seemed so few about - was it just that day?? To me either the Farnes or Skomer are far far better? I'd like to visit Staffa this year.

Another spot on the mainland is Bempton Cliffs - i've not failed to see then in three visits.

Andrew

[Colin]

Andrew,
I have only been on Handa in April and May and it may be that by June, especially towards the end of the month some of the Puffins, the failed breeders, will already have left. Of course, they go off to fish at various times and it may have been that was what was happening when you were there.

Handa is of course a long way from anywhere in England and so the better bet maybe the Farnes or Skomer. My earlier mention of Portland and Durness may not lend itself to close photography so the original places of this thread may be the answer.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Another possible option is the Isle of May. There are daily boat trips from Anstruther Harbour during the summer (not cheap at around 15 pounds a head) but there are around 150,000 Puffins there in early July. Even I managed a few nice pictures. It's possible to stay there as well and always the chance of a rarity. Lots of terns, seals, cetaceans and other seabirds as well.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

We visited Skomer in 2000, between 20th and 23rd July. The puffins were everywhere - we had to take great care not to tread on them. :eek!:

[Steve G]

Colin, thanks for the reply, I remeber the wardens telling us about the rat erradication program and that it had been sucessful, however i'm curious how good Handa is for puffins?? Last summer there seemed so few about - was it just that day?? To me either the Farnes or Skomer are far far better? I'd like to visit Staffa this year.

Another spot on the mainland is Bempton Cliffs - i've not failed to see then in three visits.

Andrew
I think part of the problem with Handa is the Skuas & Great Black backed Gulls -these make the "Handa" Puffins on the nearby stacs more wary & secretive so there is much less evidence of loafing around -as might be seen on The Isle of May, Farnes, Skomer,etc. On the other hand the prospect of Skuas, Black Guillemot, etc are attractions in themselves. ;)