Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Skomer II - the other side

Yes Skomer is mostly about the puffins, but when you have time to explore there is much more to see.
At the time we visited the bluebells were in full swing, punctuated by campion of the pink kind - not the small white ones seen with the puffins.  So pretty even I focused the camera a couple of times in a bid to remind myself that flower snapping isn't my thing.



The other key birds for me were the owls - the glorious piercing-eyed short-eared and the 'can you see me pretending to be a rock' little ones. 

In the warm light of early morning the island was lovely - puffins and seals down at the beach, oystercatchers, raven and the SEO.






On our last morning for a brief minute I thought I'd get an SEO over the bluebell field, but packing up time pulled me away and this was my nearest effort.  The main bluebells are just over the ridge.
As you wandered around the paths you kept stumbling across 'angel wings' - actually much more grisly than the name suggests these are what are left when the shearwaters which flood onto the island at night get caught outside their burrows.  Look below the gull nest and you can see who some of the culprits are.



Plenty else to see - more frustrating chough, stonechat, rock and meadow pipit, bunnies - and Kim's favourite, the wren.


Down at the Wick the cliffs were home to nesting fulmar, having a bit of a domestic
 - but at the end of the day Skomer is about the puffins, and I just hope before too long I'll stay there again for another go.


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