... And back again!
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
3w ago
The winters are getting shorter. Certainly, that’s how it seems – as we returned to Skomer last Tuesday, it didn’t seem like three months since we had left. After the usual fortnight of constantly refreshing the weather forecast, we took advantage of the first apparent window, boarding Wave Dancer at Neyland on Tuesday morning.  Loading the Wave Dancer Everything but the kitchen sink! We enjoyed… or endured… a rather choppy and very wet voyage to the island. Accompanied out of the haven by common dolphins, we made it around St Ann’s Head in sheeting rain and an unpleasan ..read more
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Long-Term Volunteering – Hear It From Them!
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
3M ago
Two of our long-term volunteers from 2022 kindly answered a couple of questions for us about their experience of volunteering on Skomer. Don't just take it from us - listen to them! Lira Valencia Lira, in her new job at Walthamstow Wetlands, holding a very small spider! When were you an LTV on Skomer? Hello everyone, my name is Lira and I was a long-term volunteer during the Autumn (July-October) on Skomer Island.  Favourite memory/ies from Skomer? I initially applied to volunteer on Skomer island for the hands-on experience and to gain some practical conservation ..read more
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David Saunders MBE
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
5M ago
We are sad to report the passing of David Saunders MBE in October 2023. David moved to Pembrokeshire in 1960 and was appointed first warden of Skomer Island, when it was declared a National Nature Reserve. He worked on the Island for seven years, with his wife and two children. David’s passion for seabirds then led him to help lead Operation Seafarer (the first national seabird census of 1969–1970), which provided the first comprehensive account of the numbers and distribution of seabirds around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. He was the director of the West Wales Naturalists Trust from 197 ..read more
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Young Birders' Week 2023
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
6M ago
This year, we enjoyed having 25 young people staying in the hostel as part of Young Birders' Week 2023. The event was generously funded by Pembrokeshire Bird Group and the Nature Networks Fund which helped to make the event accessible for young people. We got up to a variety of activities during their stay - from moth trapping to cetacean watching, Manxie chick weighing and quizzes it truly was a fun week for the island staff. But that's enough from me - let's give our young people a voice and hear their thoughts on the event. Rob, Skomer VO ------ 1. Liliana  Liliana holding a Man ..read more
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Island update: LTVs El and Maddie
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
9M ago
Hi! I'm El, one of the long term volunteers on Skomer this July to September. After a day's delay due to poor weather conditions we arrived on Skomer to a warm welcome and warm weather. I've only been on Skomer a week but am already settled in and excited for what the next three months will bring. El spotting kittiwakes at the Wick I studied Ecology and Conservation Biology. After graduating in 2021 I worked in practical conservation and habitat management at an environmental education center. Eager to get a chance to get more involved with species monitoring efforts, last summer I vo ..read more
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Seabird Counts 2023 - How Did We Count Them?
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
9M ago
 If you were on the island in May or June, you may have noticed our staff carrying out lots of land and boat surveys – that’s because it was seabird counting season. With the aid of some photos, we thought it would be nice to explain a little more about what the survey work entailed. Our Puffin counts were completed in March (see blog post here) so we were focusing on Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Manx Shearwaters. Rob and Leighton fixing up the boat ready for launch Rob on his powerboat course pre-season Guillemots and Razorbills Our counts for Gu ..read more
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LBB (Lesser Black-backed Gull) counts 2023 - Which is also known as – ‘Finding Rare Birds’
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
10M ago
A guest blog from two volunteers; Mike and Ted Wallen who count Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Skomer every year:    We are honoured once again be be asked to write a guest blog of our annual pilgrimage to Skomer to count the Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The weather forecast looked good for the 5 days, and although the wind direction for our stay (mainly north) didn’t look brilliant for rare birds, you can never really tell, little did we know what lay ahead ……… At the end of the day, we were here to count gulls, not find rare birds …………   We were met by Leighton as we jumped off th ..read more
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Meet The 2023 Skomer Island Team
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
11M ago
The arrival of May has seen our seabirds starting to lay and our researchers are hard at work monitoring their productivity. But the changing season has also brought a flurry of new staff to the island. And so, introducing Skomer Island’s WTSWW 2023 staff… The 2023 Team, L-R: Hannah (Fieldworker), Lotti (LTV), Erin (LTV), Leighton (Warden), Rob (Visitor Officer), Ceris (Assistant Warden) © Skomer VO Leighton out on the boat © Skomer Warden Leighton – Warden (he/him) Leighton is back for his third year as Warden and sixth year in total. As a previous Visitor Officer on Skome ..read more
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Clickers at the ready...
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
11M ago
So, how do we count the Atlantic puffin? Puffins massing on the Isthmus © Skomer Warden Unlike the majority of our seabirds, which are counted in May or June, our puffin count takes place sometime in late March or early April. Counts are carried out at this early point in the season as later on a large proportion of our puffins will be hidden away in burrows incubating eggs and later feeding chicks. Therefore impossible to count by eye! Often coinciding with the weather improving, counts occur on evenings where the puffins begin to mass in large numbers off the island. Once a threshol ..read more
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Island update: LTVs Lotti and Erin
The Skomer Island Blog - Weekly News and Updates
by Skomer Island
1y ago
Su’mae! My name is Lotti and I am one of the long-term volunteers (LTVs) on Skomer from April to July 2023!  I graduated in Zoology last year, during which I spent an incredible year as a placement student with a field centre in the Scottish Highlands, and after which I worked as an Assistant Ecologist in Devon. I came to Skomer because I wanted to learn more about surveying breeding birds and what goes into managing a nature reserve, as well as to connect with other nature enthusiasts and experience an alternative way of life that is more connected with wildlife and the land – and what b ..read more
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