Island update - June/early July

Take a look at what our LTVs Molly and Amy have been up to during June and early July!
 

Seabird counting

We both feel extremely grateful for the opportunity to help the island team with seabird counts this year as long-term volunteers.

Counting guillemots, razorbills, fulmar and kittiwake from both land and boat takes great practise, land counts enabled us to get a good feel for counting, with the Mew Stone as our first mission. Razorbills tucked away in crevices and guillemots huddled together tight on the cliffs; it was fun to get our eye in and learn how technical, but rewarding, counting can be. Boat counts were great too, with a little more experience under my belt it allowed for the added element of sea swell! Seeing Skomer Island from the sea is extraordinary, the volcanic geology and beautiful lichen covered cliff faces really blew me away. Counts are done as systematically as possible, with the island split into sections using boundaries such as cliff cracks. Teams of two will take a species within that section and using clickers the counting begins! Teammates will compare counts completed in a section and must be within 10% of each other, an average is then taken. All counts from each section are then combined to give a total island population for each species.

Helping with manx shearwater census involved playing calls into burrows, across many plots around the island, and documenting call back response. This yearly census allows members of staff to assess the current state of the manx shearwater population on Skomer Island. Whole island counts are completed every 10 years. Helping out gave us an opportunity to see some areas of the island usually left unvisited; all covered in tall bracken and hidden burrows!

 

Amy counting the guillemots and razorbills at the Pigstone

Molly counting the seabirds at The Wick

Chough update

Chough have been a joy to monitor on Skomer Island. Locating nest sites tucked away in the cliffs, distinguishing each pairs breeding stage throughout the season and differentiating adults with fledglings has allowed me to learn so much about this member of the corvid family. Currently, 8 out of 10 pairs holding territories have fledged chicks. Completing my report will give clear evidence of breeding behaviour, location of nest sites and foraging areas. It will be interested to compare Skomer Islands 2025 productivity with other chough populations around Pembrokeshire once reports have been released.

Razorbill and Curlew updates

The razorbill monitoring has been an absolute highlight from my time here on Skomer. Getting to spend so much time at Bull Hole every day, sat on a cliff edge, scope at the ready and binoculars glued to my eyes! Looking at my 117 pairs to see what they were doing, waiting for each one to move to see if they’d reveal an egg or a chick that was hiding beneath them, an excitement like no other! Then watching the little grey fluff balls grow and then fifteen days after hatching watching them take the leap of faith as they begin to fledge. Day by day the cliffs would become quieter as more and more chicks took the plunge and now only a few remain.

A razorbill chick being closely guarded by its parents, photo by Amy Compton

The curlew on the other hand have been slightly trickier! Trying to locate nest sites of a brown bird in brown bracken at the beginning of the season to trying to locate tiny chicks as the dense foliage grew. But in the end, they finally decided to show themselves and I confirmed that two pairs were successful in fledging chicks, and although this project has been frustrating at times, I’ve learnt so much about these amazing bids and have loved every second!

 

A curlew chick running down the path, photo by Amy Compton

A curlew in a pretty pink sunset, photo by Amy Compton

Grassholm Trip

To celebrate the completion of seabird season, staff, volunteers and researchers had the opportunity to take a boat trip around Grassholm Island. I had never been before and seeing this magnificent island up close was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Grassholm is visible from Skomer but distinguishing its size and the seabird colonies that call the island home were always difficult. I can now confirm, as I have included in many Skomer welcome talks, the island’s white appearance is for certain gannets and all their guano! The island was truly covered. The array of juvenile plumage, adults soaring above the boat, groups diving, it was a spectacle. The speckled white and black of juvenile wing pattern resembled the keys of a piano, with everyone looking slightly different. As of 2024, Grassholm Island is home to 19,199 AOS (Apparent Occupied Sites) of gannets. Due to a huge hit of Avian flu in 2022, Grassholm gannet numbers dropped from 34,491 AOS in 2022 to 16,000 AOS in 2023 (Morgan and Stephens 2024). Let’s hope 2025 numbers continue to show an increase in gannet numbers as seen between 2023 and 2024.

 

Everyone looking up at the gannets in amazement

All smiles after a great boat trip to Grassholm 

A gannet gliding over the water at Grassholm, photo by Amy Compton

Skomer Pride

As a team on Skomer and as part of the wider Wildlife Trust community, representation is extremely important to us. It was great to celebrate Pride and demonstrate to others that diversity is what makes this world a wonderful place. Queerness can be seen across nature; humans are no exception! Some bird species breeding on Skomer Island are also included in Bagemihl’s (1999) list of birds displaying homosexual behaviour. Kittiwake, raven and guillemot are all included, how amazing and beautiful are our ecosystems. The evening involved a potluck and an array of party games, welly throwing, egg and spoon race and even hide and seek. Once again, I am left unsurprised at the level of competitiveness this island holds. We all got rather invested. I am however, left surprised at how hard welly throwing is I must admit! The Trig Point made for a lovely sunset watching spot, the sky was set on fire with pinks and oranges. The celebration was bought to a close with a campfire, sing song and vast quantity of Manx shearwaters darting above our heads in the night sky.

 

Island staff and volunteers celebrating Skomer pride

In action! Welly wanging fun!

Midway through the egg and spoon race

Jumpling watching

As dusk began to settle over the island, anticipation fell over the small group of us gathered at the Amos. The air was filled with the calls of the guillemot chicks as they prepared to take the plunge! Then it began.

One by one tiny fluffballs no bigger than a fist, detached themselves from the rock face. They took the leap of faith, tumbling, rolling and bouncing off the cliffs and most of them hit the water with a surprising gentle splash! Waiting patiently below, bobbing on the waves were the proud fathers, ready to guide their courageous offspring out into the vast open sea.

Watching a jumpling take its leap is not just watching a bird fledge, it’s a heart wrenching moment waiting for each one to make the plunge, gasps and cheers could be heard as each one successfully made it, it’s a privilege to be on Skomer at this time of year, to witness this extraordinary natural phenomenon.

 

A guillemot with its cute fluffy chick

Weighing chicks and gull ringing

Over the past few weeks, we have been lucky enough to get involved in hands on experience helping out Freya and Duncan with the weighing of the cutest little razorbill chicks and pufflings! Each chick had its tiny wing length meticulously measured, they were carefully weighed and if they were big enough, they would be ringed too, this is all done to measure their growth rates.

Another recent island activity we got involved in was the lesser black backed gull catching, this is done to monitor their breeding success. This involved searching through dense tall bracken for the chicks some of which would hunker down and be easily caught while others would decide to run and put up a fight! So, you’d then have to quickly follow the rustling of the bracken and sometimes run after them if they came out into a clearing, and try to avoid being bitten, scratched, and thrown up on when you eventually caught them! They would then be ringed under licence before being released.

Amy holding a razorbill chick

Molly holding a cute fluffy puffling

Amy holding a gull chick after hunting through the dense vegetation 

Goodbyes

In mid July I said my goodbyes, or rather a see you soon! Skomer Island has unsurprisingly left me feeling more connected to wildlife than ever before. I will be eternally grateful for my time on this magnificent island, and I can’t wait to return again.    -Molly

Thanks for reading

Diolch yn fawr

Gull Counts 2025

Ted and I are once again so honoured to write a blog about our most recent visit to the most beautiful place on Planet Earth.

The anticipation and excitement that had built up for weeks was suddenly upon us and we arrived on the 8^th May for 6 days of counting Lesser Black-back (LBB) gulls, hopefully finding some scarce birds, fresh air, flowers, seabirds and all with the most friendly, lovely, warm, welcoming human beings 😊

We were soon meeting up with familiar faces, people that now feel like family! Leighton + Sarah, Ceris, Amy and later Will and Molly. I wasn’t sure whether the smiles on their faces were because they were just happy or was it the doughnuts that accompanied us 😊

We walked up to the farm, emotions were high, we were so happy to be back – amazing, breathtaking Skomer !

We caught up with Leighton some more and discussed the gull work ahead, chucked our bags into the accommodation, loaded up with food, drink and the gull maps and we were off.

We headed south to start, onto South Plateau where some large ‘Barrel Jellyfish’ were below us by the Mew Stone, and an apparent new sub-colony of both LBB and Great Black-backed (GBB) gulls was clearly increasing in numbers.

 

Pic 1 – Jellyfish - Mike

We encountered 2 Chough very close to us, one of Molly’s projects, and that’s just another wonderful thing here, your sightings, your observations are all valuable and help build the scientific picture of Skomer over the season and over the years.

Pic 2 – Chough - Ted

We counted gulls up until tea-time and then began 'migrant bashing'.

We were at North Valley Crossing, now the best area of bushes, all now numbered off so we can get onto birds quicker. There were some Willow Warblers/Chiffchaffs and then a bright warbler popped out in front of us, a delicate and lovely Subalpine Warbler! We watched, took pics and got the news out really quickly and soon anybody who wanted to see it had, a nice little Skomer twitch.

Subsequent analysis of the photos (particularly the tail pattern) suggest it is probably a Western Subalpine, but females are very tricky and without a feather for DNA we might not resolve which one of the recently split ‘Subalpine Warblers’ it is, over to BBRC.

Pic 3 – Subalp – Ted

Wow, what a sunrise to start day 2, and with clear skies and easterly winds surely more good birds were coming- and they duly arrived.

Pic 4 – Sunrise-Mike

Early morning start to where else, but North Valley Crossing, no sign of the Subalp, but we soon found a Reed Warbler and then a beautiful Cuckoo which was really difficult to see perched in one of the bushes, the first one this year on the island.

Pic 5 – Cuckoo – Ted

We then went out west of the farm into Well Field and soon enough found another decent bird, a stunning male Redstart – what a cracker, and we hadn’t even had breakfast yet.

Pic 6 – Redstart - Mike

We were counting gulls for the rest of the day, but being out all day long with eyes and ears open, we picked up Ringed Plover and Red Kite.

In the evening the Cuckoo was still about and it was a stunning evening with Short-eared Owls everywhere you looked.

Day 3 – another early start (obvs) and we’d decided to go seawatching at Skomer Head, banking on the fact that any migrants would either turn up later, or at least hang around.

Seawatching from Skomer in the Spring is traditionally hard work, it is, but good birds came in the form of terns, dolphins were feeding - how magical, and with the sun behind us and a calm sea it was very pleasant. Then suddenly a diver, a Great Northern Diver in winter plumage flew past, very close to us at eye level, what a spectacular sight. As we discussed our good fortune only 5 minutes later Ted saw another, over our heads! Another Great Northern Diver but in full summer plumage – Wow, just wow!!!

Pic 7 – GND in front of Grassholm – Ted

Hirundines and Swifts were coming in and then the most unexpected bird of the morning came in off the sea, a Sedge Warbler!

The gull counts continued all day, in wonderful weather and then just before lunch we found the most important birds of our trip- 3 Curlew chicks 😊

11^th May - After the success of the seawatching we decided to return to Skomer head and seawatch the next morning, so at 0630ish we were settled in our spot staring at the sea, this turned into a crazily exciting morning.

Another Great Northern Diver flew past, at up to a metre long and in summer plumage these really are awesome birds, an incredible sight.

Pic 8 – GND in SP – Ted

A flock of Curlew Sandpipers flew north and hirundines and swifts were coming in off the sea.

We then picked up a falcon on the south coast as it seemingly also arrived in - it looked different and exciting! The excitement rose to ridiculous levels when Ted looked at it in the scope to see that it was ‘blue’ all over. I then watched it through the scope as Ted took pics (how on earth he managed to get something is beyond me), it was over half a mile away, but undeniably a male Red-footed Falcon – the stuff of dreams. We looked at each other in dis-belief, once it was gone - big hugs and a desperate run across the rocks to get the news out. The adrenaline was flowing so hard at this point that I (Mike) had to literally sit down!

Frustratingly the bird looked to be heading for the mainland and no-one else on the island saw it.

On with the gull counts after a late breakfast/ brunch and out to the west where we encountered a Short-eared Owl doing its distraction display – it worked! We’ve never seen one do this before, it was quite weird to watch, we took a video and quickly moved on.

Video 1 - Short-eared Owl distraction display

More excitement in the afternoon when Ted picked up an Egret spp, neither of us had ever seen an egret here. Frustratingly it went straight out of view but then just as quickly reappeared and was quite close to us, a Little Egret.

Pic 9 - Little Egret- Ted.

Lots more Gull counts in the afternoon, lots more Short-eared Owls and there were quite a few Spotted Flycatchers around in the evening migrant hunt.

The next day, our last full day had to start with another seawatch and this time we had the wonderful company of the gentleman known as Will 😊

More divers, Great Northern and Red-throated, we had 6 Turnstone go north just around the head at eye level, more terns too - Arctic and Sandwich. But the highlight was 2 Arctic Skua the second of which came really close (in seawatching terms) which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Pic 10 - Arctic Skua underside – Mike

Pic 11 – Arctic Skua upperside- Ted

Later in the day between counts we confirmed at least 2 more Curlew chicks with a second pair of Curlew, it’s so important that Skomer hangs onto its breeding Curlews.

Pic 12 - Curlew Chick – Mike

Tuesday the 13^th, our last morning and we couldn’t resist it could we, early morning seawatch with both Leighton and Will, another great morning, a Black-throated Diver completed the diver set, pretty good for Skomer in May, 12 terns of 3 species and some Common Scoter going south. We also watched a Gannet close in below us swallow a large Garfish.

Pic 13 – Gannet – Ted

A check on a couple of counts on the return to the farm with a final look at North Pond and our time was up.

The gull numbers looked to be down again, but hopefully not by much, fingers crossed in the next couple of years the numbers will plateau and start going back up - we do hope so!

The gull counts were pretty much complete and it was time to say our goodbyes.  

It was difficult watching the Garland Stone getting further away as the boat took us back to reality, leaving behind our little bit of paradise, and the most wonderful, wonderful people 😊

 

Mike + Ted Wallen

May 2025  

Island update - late April and early May

The 2025 season is well and truly underway. Our long-term volunteers, Molly and Amy, have now settled into their duties and projects are well underway. Take a look at what they have been getting up to during late April and early May.

Spring has arrived! Watching Skomer Island gradually become a sea of bluebells and red campion has been truly magical. An influx of swallows has also solidified a change in the season and their sweet-chattery calls now fill the air at the farm.

Bluebells towards Garland Stone- Molly Ashton.

The longer evenings and warmer weather have been a great excuse to get the Kubb out. A game enjoyed throughout the years on the island involving wooden blocks, throwing sticks, defensive lines and great distraction techniques! 

As long term volunteers, Amy and I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the weekly volunteers. We have met some amazing people so far, connecting through our passion for nature and Pembrokeshire islands with long-standing and new volunteers. Card games have been a favourite!

The island team have given Amy and I two personal projects to complete during our time on Skomer. Firstly, I will be studying the island population of chough. In line with the Chough Conservation Strategy for Pembrokeshire and the Pembrokeshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan Species Action Plan for the chough, the project focuses on the number and distribution of breeding pairs and on productivity. Data collected on the sub-population of chough here on Skomer will contribute to a larger assessment of the conservation status of chough here in Wales.

Here is a summary of my findings during late April and early May:

• 10 pairs have been recorded around the island with a non-breeding group of 7 individuals moving between the island and mainland.
• 7 of these pairs have displayed breeding behaviour that indicates incubation of eggs.
• 1 pair has been seen taking an egg sac out of the nest, indicating hatching of chicks.

A hopeful year for chough so far, lets keep our fingers crossed that this continues throughout the rest of the breeding season! 

A chough quivering - Amy Compton

View from the Neck of South Stream cliffs - Molly Ashton.

Secondly, I will be studying the island population of Jackdaw. Jackdaws are difficult to census; new methodologies have been curated in hope to gain further understanding of the current status of Jackdaw on Skomer. The aims of the project include establishing the number of Jackdaws nesting on Skomer, mapping their breeding areas and calculating productivity from a sub-set of nests.

Here is a summary of my findings during late April and early May:

• Jackdaw colonies on Skomer are located at numerous locations around the island, of those surveyed so far colonies average at 20 pairs.
• Jackdaws are nest building enthusiasts and have been seen working hard consistently bringing nest material to nest sites over the whole duration of the survey period.
• Individuals have been seen feeding partners on the nest, an indication of incubation.
• In recent days, I have noted jackdaws carrying eggs shells out of nest sites, indicating hatching of chicks has begun.

The team on Skomer have been great with clear guidance, support and shared excitement when clear breeding behaviour is noted for both species!

Molly out surveying amongst the sea campion - Matt Small.

- Molly, LTV

We have been so lucky with the amazing warm sunny weather and lovely clear night skies, mid April we were treated to a brief but beautiful showing of the Northern lights. Pillars were visible to the naked eye as they danced across the sky.

The Northern lights on Skomer Island - Amy Compton

Owl and curlew watches continue

The short eared owls have been out in force recently, appearing everywhere you look! With lots of territorial behaviour between them and with the curlew being very vocal and active too, it was time to do another evening watch to see if we could pin down any nest sites or territories. We all headed out in different directions to different viewpoints across the island recording what we saw and at what time.

A short eared owl gliding over the bluebells - Amy Compton

Short eared owl in flight - Amy Compton

The first razorbill and guillemot eggs

The seabirds have been busy arriving back on the island, pairing up and now, finally, the first signs of the next generation are here, the first precious eggs have been laid amongst the rocky crevices and ledges that these birds call home. The arrival of these first eggs shows that the breeding season is well underway and over the coming weeks more eggs will appear, painting the cliffs faces with their range in colours and blotchy patterns.

Guillemot incubating its egg - Amy Compton

Guillemot on egg viewed through scope - Pete Richards

Raven chicks fledge!

Over the past few weeks we have watched closely as the raven chicks have rapidly grown, these intelligent charismatic corvids, known for their glossy black plumage and distinctive croaking calls, are now seeing their offspring leave the security of the nest and taking their first tentative flights.

Raven chicks venturing out of the nest- Amy Compton

Research projects

I have been lucky enough to have been given the research project of my favourite species on Skomer, razorbills, monitoring their productivity. These funky looking black and white auks return to the island in their thousands each spring to breed, and understanding their breeding success, or productivity, is crucial for their long term conservation. It is a meticulous and vital task that involves carefully tracking the progress of a marked nesting site throughout the breeding season, from the moment the eggs are laid right through to when the young chicks fledge and head out to sea. The ultimate goal is to determine how many chicks successfully fledge. Many hours have been spent staring at the cliffs ledges so far and I'm absolutely loving every second of it, feeling the excitement every time you spot a new egg, then so eager to find the next! 

My other research project is curlew, spending hours trying to track their movements, find territories and nesting sites. When you're looking for a brown wader in bracken this can get very tricky, but I'm loving the challenge! Hopefully soon we'll hear the pitter patter of little tiny curlew chicks running about!

A razorbill posing on the cliffs of Skomer - Amy Compton

- Amy, LTV

Thanks for reading!

Diolch yn fawr.

Island update - early April

What a great start to the 2025 season! Take a look at what Skomer had in store for the team during early April, from our new long term volunteers Molly and Amy.

Arriving on Skomer on the 29th of March, the team kept our first few days jam-packed with a hostel and visitor centre revamp. With our first hostel guests arriving on the 3rd April, it was important the island was ready for the exciting season ahead. Painting, painting and more painting, all staff and volunteers were on board. The visitor centre and hostel looked better than ever. There's no better way to get to know the team on Skomer than to spend all day painting together, very bonding! 

Amy (front) and Molly (back) painting the hostel on our first day.

Molly's first time using wall filler captured by Ceris.

With the guests came glorious weather. The island was once again open and ready to welcome boats. This allowed us to get to grips with day visitor welcome talks, in which we explain the main island rules such as staying on the paths, and talk about what amazing wildlife can be spotted around the island. 

Molly and Amy at the sales point ready to welcome guests.

We have been so lucky with the weather at the the start of this month, which enabled us to get started with breeding bird surveys. These featured lots of meadow pipits calling, jackdaws nest building and ravens loyally guarding their nest sites, even mobbing buzzards. 

Amy completing her first breeding bird survey with Ceris.

The beautiful sunshine and warm weather meant that Skomer swims were back on the cards, plunging ourselves from the steps into the surprisingly cold water! We were even joined by some nosy seals.

Our seabird populations, as usual, have been back and forth during April, keeping us and the guests on our toes. As long term volunteers, we have loved watching the auks busy nest-building, displaying courtship behaviour and even mating. Our knowledge of Skomer island's populations have grown and we feel extremely lucky to share this with visitors as they join us each day. Hearing the sounds of seabirds along the cliffs is a sure sign the spring is well and truly on its way. 

Puffins mating at the wick. Photo by Amy Compton.

A puffin nest building in the rain. By Amy Compton.

Easterly winds have blown over some exciting migrants this month. Our highlights have been hoopoe, a purple heron, ring ouzel and the charming common and black redstart, with their fire flick of a tail. The elusive hoopoe had all the staff running around the island to catch a glimpse of a species with such character. 

A male common redstart at the farm - Amy Compton.

A hoopoe foraging at the farm - Amy Compton.

Short-eared owls have been nothing short of a spectacle these last few weeks. We have witnessed plenty of territorial displays with pairs incubating already. A hostel guest, Shanyl, even captured a picture of a short eared owl hunting a Skomer vole. This was a fantastic shot and demonstrates one of the reasons Skomer is such a great location for nesting short eared owls; food in abundance!

Short eared owl hunting Skomer vole- Shanyl Ong. 

To gain better understanding of pair territories and nest sites, as a team we conducted a coordinated short eared owl watch. Alongside shorties, we also looked out for any curlew. With sightings often only being in flight, it can be difficult to pinpoint exact curlew nest and foraging locations. Ceris designated look out locations for all team members and we were off, some wrapped up ready for the cold more than others. We located a curlew nest with an incubating pair, and noted a possible short-eared owl nest as it settled down from flight within the old bracken. 

Molly on the look-out for interesting wildlife.

A short-eared owl perched near the farm - Amy Compton.

Of course the lovely weather couldn't last forever and a wet and windy storm hit Skomer. The island was looking rather dry with bluebells trying their best to grow, so the rain was well and truly needed.

The farm and surrounding fields from north valley, looking very dry.

This weather didn't stop our biosecurity protocols, with a full island check completed. As LTVs we noted no presence of rats from wax blocks and ink pads set out across Skomer. 

Amy during a biosecurity check.

These first few weeks have left us feeling very grateful about what we have already learnt from the team. We cannot wait for the seabird season to truly unfold.

Amy and Molly getting to grips with the gator!

Diolch! Thank you for reading.

- Molly and Amy.