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.

Skomer I

Leaving Saltee we headed for another island, Skomer - off the Pembrokeshire coast and not really so far from home.  This time we were able to stay on the island and were lucky to be able to enjoy some lovely evening light.
The trip over isn't too bad.  Leaving from Marloes you form a human chain down a path and then a 'plank' to pass down the bags and all the food onto the boat - bit disconcerting as thousands of pounds worth of camera kit gets passed from hand to hand, but we made it safely onto the boat which was soon piled high. 

Get to the other end and the process is reversed, but this time the people leaving the island get to join the chain.
Skomer has a good mix of birds,

but the main target was the puffins, and both evenings we made our way down to The Wick, the premium snapping site. 

We couldn't have hoped for better light, but looking at my images I was left with a feeling I could have done better.  I know I learn best by visiting s site a few times, looking at my efforts and going back to refine the efforts that worked best.
Don't get me wrong the pics are OK, and it was fun to watch the puffins in and making their burrows, and play with different exposures in the warm evening light,

but in hindsight I spent too long on flight shots, none of which I liked, and not enough on wider angle pictures trying to show more of the environment as well.

Still there's always next time ...........

If you want to see some great wide angle pictures of the Skomer puffins check out Matthew Cattell's snaps from a few weeks after we visited.