Pembrokeshire 9th. May

The main reason for me having a few days on the Pembrokeshire coast was to pop over to Skomer to view the Puffins. I’d seen thembefore on the north coast of Scotland but it was a foul weather day and I couldn’t get to within about 400 meters of them.

Getting to the Island by boat is pretty easy, but be warned, you need to get there early, the first boat sails at 10am and the Booking Office at Martins Haven opens at 8.30.
I arrived at 0615 and was 10th in the queue. You can of course turn up later and hope you’ll get on a later boat, the only thing being is that by the time the people off the latter birds arrive on the Island, the more people there are around.
For details of the trip, go to ‘Land on Skomer Island’

I took the anti-clockwise walking route around the Island. It is imperitive you stay on the paths as the Island is virtually one big tunnel complex housing not only Puffins but Manx Sheerwaters as well.

       When you get to the popular Puffin Breeding ground, it truly is an amazing sight with probably the most amazing thing being that the Puffins don’t seem in anyway disturbed by you; they will walk freely accross your path to get to their underground nests without a care in the world.
Some say they don’t mind the humans being around as it’s protection from predators ?

       I went in nest building time, so all were busy flying off and back again with various resources to make their homes comfortable. If you go later on when they’ve given birth to young ones, you will see the classic poses of Puffin with up to a dozen fish in their mouths.
This is usually from June, but again be warned, this is the busiest time trip wise. Some sleep outside the Booking Office all night apparently.

All in all it was right up there in both scenery and birdwatching stakes for me, a moment to remember, I would recommend seeing Puffins as a must for the Bucket List.

[fblike]