hollis_f
Well-known member
Skomer – 14th to 17th June 2007-06-22
Day 1:
On Thu 14th June at around 09:00, Didi and I arrived at the National Trust car park at Martins Haven on the Pembroke coast. We were ready for our two night stay on the island of Skomer – nicely refreshed after a night at the Wolfscastle Hotel (expensive, but worth it). A quick walk down to the harbour (in the only rain we experienced during the whole trip) persuaded me that we’d be better off driving down to the harbour itself, dropping the bags off and returning the car to the car park. Inside these bags was everything we’d need for three days birding – optics, cameras, clothes, bedding, food and drink (Tip 1: Don’t take too much food – if you want to take booze I’d recommend a box of wine).
On the way to the harbour were several Swallows flitting to and from their nests in the toilet block and a Sedge Warbler singing out in the open.
After a lot of effort we finally dragged the bags to the landing stage where we waited for the boat. While waiting, a Black Redstart was feeding on the rocks just below us. At 10:00 the boat pulled up and we squeezed on board along with another 50 people. I didn’t think it’d be that popular on a wet weekday morning.
The journey took around 15 minutes and gave us a chance to get a water-level view of some of the birds we’d be getting better acquainted with over the next three days. Puffin, Guillemot, Gannet and Razorbill (the first and last of these being lifers for Didi) were abundant on and over the water, as well as all over the cliff faces as we arrived at Skomer.
On arrival, we allowed the day visitors to disembark first as I though our progress up the steep steps may be slowed by the weight of our bags. Fortunately, right near the bottom of the steps Anna, our Welsh Wildlife Trust hostess, appeared and insisted that our bags be carried up for us. All this fresh air and exercise must work as she got those bags up (with help from some of the volunteer assistants) as if they were laden with feathers.
After the Warden’s lecture (Tip 2: Buy the Skomer Island Guide for £1 – worth it just for the map) we loaded our stuff into the tractor and set off for the farmhouse – half a mile away. En route, we got our first experience of the island – wide expanses of green and pink (from Red Campion) with Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (the most common gull on the island), Herring Gulls, Great Black-Backed Gulls and Meadow Pipits everywhere.
As we reached the farm, Anna and the tractor arrived with our gear. We were given a quick briefing on life at the farm, shown to our room and left to contemplate the rain that had just started. Undaunted, we decided that it must be time for some lunch. When we’d finished, the rain had stopped – to be replaced by fog. Oh well, must be time for a beer. As we finished our drinking and pondering, the fog was lifting and the weather actually started to look promising. Time to venture forth!
For our first walk, we decided to try the North-West quarter of the island. We started out by crossing the North Valley, where we saw Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler / Chiffchaff. Then, as we approached the northern coast we saw a Peregrine Falcon flying over the rocks. Amazingly it came towards us and we got great views as it flew past. Moments later we were overlooking the Garland Stone where over a dozen Grey Seals were basking in the afternoon sunshine.
Turning westwards, we were treated to good views of Oystercatcher with a couple of young, followed by several Wheatear at very close distances to us. Here, the ubiquitous Meadow Pipits were joined by Rock Pipits. All this while I’d been checking all the corvids looking for one of our targets. Suddenly I could hear the distinctive call and looked around – to see three Ravens flying past – another lifer for Didi. As we headed back towards the farm, past thousands of gulls, more Oystercatchers, Wheatear, Curlew and Meadow Pipits, we revelled in being almost alone (the day visitors had all left) in such a beautiful place.
Back at the farm, I thought it would be a good time to sit outside and wait for one of my bogey birds. I’ve been after one of these for quite a while and always missed out. But now I was determined. So we set up our chairs overlooking the North Valley and waited, and waited. We were entertained by a singing competition between a Wren (one of many on the island that were singing from well exposed perches) and a Whitethroat, with appearances from juvenile Linnets and Meadow Pipits keeping us on our ID toes.
Then, after about an hour, I realised that one of the gulls on the far side of the valley didn’t look quite right. I lifted my bins and was rewarded with the instant recognition of my target – a Short-Eared Owl was floating over the field. Unfortunately it didn’t come any closer and soon passed over the ridge and out of sight – but it was still a magic moment for me. Feeling very happy, we returned to prepare our dinner.
After eating (and checking out Didi’s photos for the day) it was time to head to the Warden’s House for the daily Bird Log (Tip 3: If staying overnight do try and attend – we found it very interesting and even our small contribution was helpful) then back to the farm to prepare for the main event.
At around 23:15 we set off east again. The night was lightly overcast and moonless – ideal conditions, so we were told. On the way to the Warden’s House we saw numerous Glow Worms by the side of the path. As we walked on, we became aware of some strange calls in the skies around us. Didi started pointed out things flying through the blackness, but my old eyes saw nothing..until one of the shadows came close enough to flick my beard – my first ever Manx Shearwater. As the night wore on the skies became full of them. At the Landing Stage we sat in amazement as scores of birds came flying past – and crash landing all around us.
After an hour we started walking back – slowly because the path was full of Manxies trying to shuffle along to their burrows and we were trying to avoid stepping on them. There was a bright beam shining into the night, picking out Manxies like bombers caught in a searchlight - one of the guests was filming the Manxies for an art project (note to self – keep a Google-Eye open for this). Occasionally a smaller bird showed up in the beam – but we were unsure as to their identity. All this made us fully realise that Skomer is great for a day trip, but only those lucky enough to stay overnight really experience the full magic of the island.
Finally, we made it back to the farm for some well earned sleep (Tip 4: a duvet cover, sheet and pillowcase take up less space and are more comfortable than a sleeping bag).
Day 2:
Time to explore the south of the island. First of all we walked down to The Wick, where there were lots of day visitors, two volunteers (including Cudyll Bach – BF member) and several hundred seabirds. The Puffins here seem to have had some media training and were very good at posing for photographs. But there was one species we were really keen to see. The previous day we’d been checking out every Jackdaw we saw, but none of them had even the slightest hint of red about their beaks or legs. Then they appeared – another lifer for the two of us – a group of Chough. Two of them were kind enough to start feeding on the grassy slopes just beneath our watchpoint, providing Didi with a great opportunity to photograph these beautiful birds.
Then we moved on towards The Mew Stone with views of a Buzzard flying along the coast. Here, our next target was perched right at the top – Shag, another lifer for Didi. In addition a family of Ravens gave us much better views than the previous day.
After walking past the High Cliff – with more cliff-nesting seabirds – we headed back for lunch. So far I’d not taken my camera out, but the opportunities at The Wick seemed so good we decided to return for the afternoon. Again the Puffins performed very well and I was rewarded with several of the ‘classic’ pose: Puffin with beak full of Sand Eels. However, the weather wasn’t kind and a change in wind direction, combined with some ominous clouds sent us hurrying back to the farm, arriving seconds after the first drops of rain began to fall. Exhausted after the exertions of the previous two days and the late night, we retired for a little nap – which turned into several hours deep sleep with the result that we missed the Bird Log that evening. However, we were well rested for the return of the Manxies – and this time we were armed.
We set off a little earlier than we had the previous night as we’d been told that some of the returning birds came back earlier. We parked up by the Quay on the beach and waited – entertained by the continuous warning calls of a pair of Oystercatcher. After a while small, dark shadows could be glimpsed flying over the small breakers. They looked like swallows but were another lifer for the two of us – Storm Petrel. These were probably the smaller birds we’d seen in the spotlight the previous night.
Heading back to the Landing Stage, the Manxie chorus struck up again as we sat on the bench. Tonight seemed even more frantic than before, with birds crashing into notice boards, each other and, at one point, onto the bench between me and Didi! Now we tried to capture them in flight – setting the focus at around 4m manually (by focussing on the ‘flash-ready’ light on Didi’s camera), framing an area of sky and marking it in the mind by relation to features on the mainland shore and waiting for birds to fly into the ‘hit zone’. It sounds hit and miss – and it was. Of a dozen shots, only two had birds in the frame and one of those was a blur. But one shot captured a Manxie in flight, almost all of it in the frame and not very blurry – indeed better than many of my photos taken in daylight!
Didi decided to try and capture a Manxie flying past my head. Unfortunately she’d turned away and missed a real photo-op. Whilst walking up to a more favourable location, I was suddenly smacked on the side of the head by what felt like a feathered football - a Manxie had totally failed to spot me and collided. The bird landed on the path and seemed less stunned than I by the experience. No wonder the ‘artist’ we’d seen the previous night had been wearing a crash helmet!
Day 3:
We had an early start to catch the first boat back to the mainland. Many people stay most of the day to get the last boat, but we had targets for our way home. It was sad to leave but at least the luggage wasn’t as heavy as on the way out (Tip 5: You have to take any glass or tins back to the mainland with you – another reason why that box of wine is better than beer).
From Martin’s Haven, we headed of for the Forest of Dean - somewhere we’d always wanted to visit but never got round to. At 14:15, we arrived at the Speech House hotel and were told that we could get some food from the bar until 14:30. Unfortunately nobody had informed the bar staff of this and we were told, quite rudely, that they’d stopped serving food. When I enquired about nearby pubs I was told, quite rudely too, that they all stopped serving food at 14:30. So we rushed up the road to the nearest pub, arriving at 14:28, to be told they had stopped serving food at 14:00! We were lucky to get a couple of drinks and some pickled eggs because he decided to close the pub just after I got my second pint. We only knew about this because we heard him tell the five groups of potential customers that arrived.
This is a popular tourist area on a Saturday afternoon in June. And it’s not possible to get anything to eat between 14:30 and 18:00? Did we pass into a time warp back to the 1970’s? Are these people so rich they can afford to turn away customers like this? <Rant mode off> (Tip 6: Don’t get hungry in the Forest of Dean in the late afternoon).
Anyway, luckily I remembered reading that the Peregrine Watchpoint at Symonds Yat was close to a café. So we headed off there, where a delicious bacon and egg bap quieted my complaining stomach. When we reached the watchpoint, we were met by the RSPB people who were excellent. Just after we arrived - and before I could unpack my camera - a buzzard flew past just below the level of us observers. An unusual view, to be sure. After around 20 minutes the call came that the female Peregrine was approaching with some food. Even burdened down with a Pigeon she was too fast for me to get a decent picture. As she arrived at the cliff face, the youngsters all came out to claim their share – giving us some good views through the RSPB scopes before going back to hide in the nearby trees.
Day 4:
This was the day to head home, but we had a couple of other places to visit first. A leaflet picked up at Symonds Yat recommended a site where Goshawks were regularly seen. So, after a hearty breakfast, we went of to New Fancy Watchpoint. Just after we arrived three Buzzards appeared, then went off into the distance. A Willow Warbler sang at us from just a few metres away. But time was pressing – we had to leave soon. Just then a local birder (with his son) arrived. We chatted while he scanned the woodland – then he surprised us by calming saying, “Oh, there’s a Goshawk over there”, and sure enough, just discernable in the bins (but slightly better through the scope) was our target - another hit.
So far, we’d seen all our target birds bar one. Could we make it a clean sweep at our final site – RSPB Nagshead? The volunteer on duty hadn’t seen our target on his morning rounds, but they were definitely about. On the way down to the Lower Hide we were passed by another birder who had just seen a female 50m from the visitor centre. Darn, were we finally going to fail? We trekked down to the hide and waited 40 minutes, no go, and I still had almost 300 miles to get home (and work the next morning).
Feeling slightly down, we headed back to the visitor centre whilst scanning all the trees around the fields bordering the path. And then a light brown bird with white patches on the wings flew to the top of a nearby conifer, from whence it flew out in short sorties, catching flies. Was this it? Moving around for a clearer view I saw the fine bill and the small white marks on the outside of the tail. Sure enough, it was a Pied Flycatcher – our final target bird making it a 100% strike rate.
Now we could head for home in a happy mood, with just a brief stopover at Aston Rowant nature reserve, overlooking the M40. We’d stopped here to make up for not having time to see Red Kites in Wales. And, sure enough, within a few minutes they appeared – still one of my favourite birds.
Life ticks:
Frank: Short-Eared Owl, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Chough, Goshawk, Pied Flycatcher.
Didi: Razorbill, Puffin, Raven, Short-Eared Owl, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Chough, Shag, Goshawk, Pied Flycatcher.
The rest of my images can be found at my Imageevent Site
Didi should be posting a link to her trip report and her photos sometime soon.
Day 1:
On Thu 14th June at around 09:00, Didi and I arrived at the National Trust car park at Martins Haven on the Pembroke coast. We were ready for our two night stay on the island of Skomer – nicely refreshed after a night at the Wolfscastle Hotel (expensive, but worth it). A quick walk down to the harbour (in the only rain we experienced during the whole trip) persuaded me that we’d be better off driving down to the harbour itself, dropping the bags off and returning the car to the car park. Inside these bags was everything we’d need for three days birding – optics, cameras, clothes, bedding, food and drink (Tip 1: Don’t take too much food – if you want to take booze I’d recommend a box of wine).
On the way to the harbour were several Swallows flitting to and from their nests in the toilet block and a Sedge Warbler singing out in the open.
After a lot of effort we finally dragged the bags to the landing stage where we waited for the boat. While waiting, a Black Redstart was feeding on the rocks just below us. At 10:00 the boat pulled up and we squeezed on board along with another 50 people. I didn’t think it’d be that popular on a wet weekday morning.
The journey took around 15 minutes and gave us a chance to get a water-level view of some of the birds we’d be getting better acquainted with over the next three days. Puffin, Guillemot, Gannet and Razorbill (the first and last of these being lifers for Didi) were abundant on and over the water, as well as all over the cliff faces as we arrived at Skomer.
On arrival, we allowed the day visitors to disembark first as I though our progress up the steep steps may be slowed by the weight of our bags. Fortunately, right near the bottom of the steps Anna, our Welsh Wildlife Trust hostess, appeared and insisted that our bags be carried up for us. All this fresh air and exercise must work as she got those bags up (with help from some of the volunteer assistants) as if they were laden with feathers.
After the Warden’s lecture (Tip 2: Buy the Skomer Island Guide for £1 – worth it just for the map) we loaded our stuff into the tractor and set off for the farmhouse – half a mile away. En route, we got our first experience of the island – wide expanses of green and pink (from Red Campion) with Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (the most common gull on the island), Herring Gulls, Great Black-Backed Gulls and Meadow Pipits everywhere.
As we reached the farm, Anna and the tractor arrived with our gear. We were given a quick briefing on life at the farm, shown to our room and left to contemplate the rain that had just started. Undaunted, we decided that it must be time for some lunch. When we’d finished, the rain had stopped – to be replaced by fog. Oh well, must be time for a beer. As we finished our drinking and pondering, the fog was lifting and the weather actually started to look promising. Time to venture forth!
For our first walk, we decided to try the North-West quarter of the island. We started out by crossing the North Valley, where we saw Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler / Chiffchaff. Then, as we approached the northern coast we saw a Peregrine Falcon flying over the rocks. Amazingly it came towards us and we got great views as it flew past. Moments later we were overlooking the Garland Stone where over a dozen Grey Seals were basking in the afternoon sunshine.
Turning westwards, we were treated to good views of Oystercatcher with a couple of young, followed by several Wheatear at very close distances to us. Here, the ubiquitous Meadow Pipits were joined by Rock Pipits. All this while I’d been checking all the corvids looking for one of our targets. Suddenly I could hear the distinctive call and looked around – to see three Ravens flying past – another lifer for Didi. As we headed back towards the farm, past thousands of gulls, more Oystercatchers, Wheatear, Curlew and Meadow Pipits, we revelled in being almost alone (the day visitors had all left) in such a beautiful place.
Back at the farm, I thought it would be a good time to sit outside and wait for one of my bogey birds. I’ve been after one of these for quite a while and always missed out. But now I was determined. So we set up our chairs overlooking the North Valley and waited, and waited. We were entertained by a singing competition between a Wren (one of many on the island that were singing from well exposed perches) and a Whitethroat, with appearances from juvenile Linnets and Meadow Pipits keeping us on our ID toes.
Then, after about an hour, I realised that one of the gulls on the far side of the valley didn’t look quite right. I lifted my bins and was rewarded with the instant recognition of my target – a Short-Eared Owl was floating over the field. Unfortunately it didn’t come any closer and soon passed over the ridge and out of sight – but it was still a magic moment for me. Feeling very happy, we returned to prepare our dinner.
After eating (and checking out Didi’s photos for the day) it was time to head to the Warden’s House for the daily Bird Log (Tip 3: If staying overnight do try and attend – we found it very interesting and even our small contribution was helpful) then back to the farm to prepare for the main event.
At around 23:15 we set off east again. The night was lightly overcast and moonless – ideal conditions, so we were told. On the way to the Warden’s House we saw numerous Glow Worms by the side of the path. As we walked on, we became aware of some strange calls in the skies around us. Didi started pointed out things flying through the blackness, but my old eyes saw nothing..until one of the shadows came close enough to flick my beard – my first ever Manx Shearwater. As the night wore on the skies became full of them. At the Landing Stage we sat in amazement as scores of birds came flying past – and crash landing all around us.
After an hour we started walking back – slowly because the path was full of Manxies trying to shuffle along to their burrows and we were trying to avoid stepping on them. There was a bright beam shining into the night, picking out Manxies like bombers caught in a searchlight - one of the guests was filming the Manxies for an art project (note to self – keep a Google-Eye open for this). Occasionally a smaller bird showed up in the beam – but we were unsure as to their identity. All this made us fully realise that Skomer is great for a day trip, but only those lucky enough to stay overnight really experience the full magic of the island.
Finally, we made it back to the farm for some well earned sleep (Tip 4: a duvet cover, sheet and pillowcase take up less space and are more comfortable than a sleeping bag).
Day 2:
Time to explore the south of the island. First of all we walked down to The Wick, where there were lots of day visitors, two volunteers (including Cudyll Bach – BF member) and several hundred seabirds. The Puffins here seem to have had some media training and were very good at posing for photographs. But there was one species we were really keen to see. The previous day we’d been checking out every Jackdaw we saw, but none of them had even the slightest hint of red about their beaks or legs. Then they appeared – another lifer for the two of us – a group of Chough. Two of them were kind enough to start feeding on the grassy slopes just beneath our watchpoint, providing Didi with a great opportunity to photograph these beautiful birds.
Then we moved on towards The Mew Stone with views of a Buzzard flying along the coast. Here, our next target was perched right at the top – Shag, another lifer for Didi. In addition a family of Ravens gave us much better views than the previous day.
After walking past the High Cliff – with more cliff-nesting seabirds – we headed back for lunch. So far I’d not taken my camera out, but the opportunities at The Wick seemed so good we decided to return for the afternoon. Again the Puffins performed very well and I was rewarded with several of the ‘classic’ pose: Puffin with beak full of Sand Eels. However, the weather wasn’t kind and a change in wind direction, combined with some ominous clouds sent us hurrying back to the farm, arriving seconds after the first drops of rain began to fall. Exhausted after the exertions of the previous two days and the late night, we retired for a little nap – which turned into several hours deep sleep with the result that we missed the Bird Log that evening. However, we were well rested for the return of the Manxies – and this time we were armed.
We set off a little earlier than we had the previous night as we’d been told that some of the returning birds came back earlier. We parked up by the Quay on the beach and waited – entertained by the continuous warning calls of a pair of Oystercatcher. After a while small, dark shadows could be glimpsed flying over the small breakers. They looked like swallows but were another lifer for the two of us – Storm Petrel. These were probably the smaller birds we’d seen in the spotlight the previous night.
Heading back to the Landing Stage, the Manxie chorus struck up again as we sat on the bench. Tonight seemed even more frantic than before, with birds crashing into notice boards, each other and, at one point, onto the bench between me and Didi! Now we tried to capture them in flight – setting the focus at around 4m manually (by focussing on the ‘flash-ready’ light on Didi’s camera), framing an area of sky and marking it in the mind by relation to features on the mainland shore and waiting for birds to fly into the ‘hit zone’. It sounds hit and miss – and it was. Of a dozen shots, only two had birds in the frame and one of those was a blur. But one shot captured a Manxie in flight, almost all of it in the frame and not very blurry – indeed better than many of my photos taken in daylight!
Didi decided to try and capture a Manxie flying past my head. Unfortunately she’d turned away and missed a real photo-op. Whilst walking up to a more favourable location, I was suddenly smacked on the side of the head by what felt like a feathered football - a Manxie had totally failed to spot me and collided. The bird landed on the path and seemed less stunned than I by the experience. No wonder the ‘artist’ we’d seen the previous night had been wearing a crash helmet!
Day 3:
We had an early start to catch the first boat back to the mainland. Many people stay most of the day to get the last boat, but we had targets for our way home. It was sad to leave but at least the luggage wasn’t as heavy as on the way out (Tip 5: You have to take any glass or tins back to the mainland with you – another reason why that box of wine is better than beer).
From Martin’s Haven, we headed of for the Forest of Dean - somewhere we’d always wanted to visit but never got round to. At 14:15, we arrived at the Speech House hotel and were told that we could get some food from the bar until 14:30. Unfortunately nobody had informed the bar staff of this and we were told, quite rudely, that they’d stopped serving food. When I enquired about nearby pubs I was told, quite rudely too, that they all stopped serving food at 14:30. So we rushed up the road to the nearest pub, arriving at 14:28, to be told they had stopped serving food at 14:00! We were lucky to get a couple of drinks and some pickled eggs because he decided to close the pub just after I got my second pint. We only knew about this because we heard him tell the five groups of potential customers that arrived.
This is a popular tourist area on a Saturday afternoon in June. And it’s not possible to get anything to eat between 14:30 and 18:00? Did we pass into a time warp back to the 1970’s? Are these people so rich they can afford to turn away customers like this? <Rant mode off> (Tip 6: Don’t get hungry in the Forest of Dean in the late afternoon).
Anyway, luckily I remembered reading that the Peregrine Watchpoint at Symonds Yat was close to a café. So we headed off there, where a delicious bacon and egg bap quieted my complaining stomach. When we reached the watchpoint, we were met by the RSPB people who were excellent. Just after we arrived - and before I could unpack my camera - a buzzard flew past just below the level of us observers. An unusual view, to be sure. After around 20 minutes the call came that the female Peregrine was approaching with some food. Even burdened down with a Pigeon she was too fast for me to get a decent picture. As she arrived at the cliff face, the youngsters all came out to claim their share – giving us some good views through the RSPB scopes before going back to hide in the nearby trees.
Day 4:
This was the day to head home, but we had a couple of other places to visit first. A leaflet picked up at Symonds Yat recommended a site where Goshawks were regularly seen. So, after a hearty breakfast, we went of to New Fancy Watchpoint. Just after we arrived three Buzzards appeared, then went off into the distance. A Willow Warbler sang at us from just a few metres away. But time was pressing – we had to leave soon. Just then a local birder (with his son) arrived. We chatted while he scanned the woodland – then he surprised us by calming saying, “Oh, there’s a Goshawk over there”, and sure enough, just discernable in the bins (but slightly better through the scope) was our target - another hit.
So far, we’d seen all our target birds bar one. Could we make it a clean sweep at our final site – RSPB Nagshead? The volunteer on duty hadn’t seen our target on his morning rounds, but they were definitely about. On the way down to the Lower Hide we were passed by another birder who had just seen a female 50m from the visitor centre. Darn, were we finally going to fail? We trekked down to the hide and waited 40 minutes, no go, and I still had almost 300 miles to get home (and work the next morning).
Feeling slightly down, we headed back to the visitor centre whilst scanning all the trees around the fields bordering the path. And then a light brown bird with white patches on the wings flew to the top of a nearby conifer, from whence it flew out in short sorties, catching flies. Was this it? Moving around for a clearer view I saw the fine bill and the small white marks on the outside of the tail. Sure enough, it was a Pied Flycatcher – our final target bird making it a 100% strike rate.
Now we could head for home in a happy mood, with just a brief stopover at Aston Rowant nature reserve, overlooking the M40. We’d stopped here to make up for not having time to see Red Kites in Wales. And, sure enough, within a few minutes they appeared – still one of my favourite birds.
Life ticks:
Frank: Short-Eared Owl, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Chough, Goshawk, Pied Flycatcher.
Didi: Razorbill, Puffin, Raven, Short-Eared Owl, Manx Shearwater, Storm Petrel, Chough, Shag, Goshawk, Pied Flycatcher.
The rest of my images can be found at my Imageevent Site
Didi should be posting a link to her trip report and her photos sometime soon.
