Stay on Skokholm

"Stay on Skokholm" is not a description, but an imperative. You have to stay on Skokholm because, unlike Skomer, there are no day trips. The fishing boat leaves you on Monday morning and you're there until Friday. Or vice versa, for a weekend stay. Unless the weather prevents landing, in which case you wait....

We were fortunate to get a late cancellation with less than a week's notice so we rearranged work commitments and drove west to the far tip of Pembrokeshire for the 8.30am crossing. About 15 visitors can stay in the newly-updated accommodation which was comfortable in the dry, warm weather, and getting to know strangers who have similar interests was one of the delights of the stay.

The island is only about 1 mile long by half a mile wide and is owned by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, and administered by the Friends.  A well-stocked library and a ringing shed completes the observatory which has recently received accreditation again after a break of over three decades, and is staffed by two wardens and three volunteer assistants, who were charming, knowledgeable and good company.

Richard and Giselle write a good blog http://skokholm.blogspot.co.uk/, and are assisted by temporary volunteers Will (storm petrel expert), Dean (marine biologist) and Bill (pan lister and expert in everything else). The photo below shows Bill and Dean calling into storm petrel burrows and listening for replies, presumably under the delegation of Will.

 Skokholm is famous for its large populations of Manx shearwaters, storm petrels and lesser black backed gulls, of which more later.......

and puffins of course.

Birds on Skokholm

Not a bad place for a bird hide!

Overlooking cliffs where guillemots and razorbills "nest" away from the prowling gulls. Unfortunately, evolution has decreed that the chicks must jump/fall/bounce down into the sea, where other perils reside. Then they float out into the Atlantic with father razorbill or both parents if a guillemot. How did their ancestors develop like this? It's a successful strategy, though, as many hundreds breed here.

Even more astonishing, though, is the life history of the Manx Shearwater. 45,000 pairs nest in burrows across the tiny island but apart from corpses you don't see them in the day. In the evening, though, rafts build up as the birds that have been out to sea all day congregate, waiting for the comparative safety of darkness.
Then, if the moon is not too bright, they fly in and somehow find the right burrow.

If they don't find it, they are at the mercy of the gulls that are waiting for them, as their short legs make it difficult to move around on land. To help them find the burrow, the mate underground screams its banshee call. Sleeping at the observatory can be difficult as they are right outside.

The wardens are, of course, continuing the ringing process that was started when Skokholm became the first observatory in 1933.

The information gradually gained from the recording process is astonishing.... Manxies have been ringed and recaptured showing they live until at least 54 years old..... they fly 5 million miles in that time, between nest sites in the western British Isles and their winter feeding grounds off the coast of Brazil and Argentina...... and the parents leave the young in their burrows, and the fledglings eventually emerge and fly off to the south Atlantic on their own. And find their way back to the same island a couple of years later. I'm staggered.

The wardens and assistants also carry out ringing programmes on nesting storm petrels, auks, lesser black-backs and great black-backs (above) with much rock climbing.
There are also Heligoland and mist net traps that are no doubt full and fascinating in the migration times, but when we were there seemed to be occupied mostly by the handful of sedge warblers nesting nearby.

Families of choughs and ravens added to the enjoyment of cliff walks.

And of course there were puffins.......

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20 things to do before......

Looking back on the blog, I see that in 2010 I posted a list of 20 things to do before I'm .... well, older than I was then. 
Some 9 years later, I'm still at work but have similar interests to then, and have accomplished some of these targets already.  Notes are consequently listed below (with links to appropriate blog-posts) and I can now put my mind onto new objectives for the next decade.

Watch the waders at high tide at Snettisham  Done, as a kind Christmas present, a few days after that blog-post. Very cold, not many birds, but a lovely experience.

Find eagles (Golden and/or Sea) in Scotland  Not even close, but may be achieved on the Isle of Wight soon.

See a hummingbird - anywhere   Even further from achieving this.

Sit on the rock of Gibraltar, to see the raptor migration  Done this -wonderful time staying in the Gibraltar bird obs.

Walk the cliffs around the Lizard in Cornwall - I've been there a few times before, but never with my eyes open for plants    Nope.

Visit Ranscombe Farm in north Kent for Corncockles and Cornflowers, Cudweed and Ground Pine   Lovely place, visited a few times and found all these in profusion (except ground pine which I have seen at The Larches and Blue Bell Hill)

Clamber over the limestone pavements of the Pennines   Not yet - must be done soon.

Find a Late Spider Orchid on the downs  Working nearby, I have seen them at a number of sites but none without help.

Visit a place I know where Fly Orchids flower, but for once at the right time  Have done, and have successfully predicted where they may be in new areas.

Locate a Long-eared Owl at roost  A very hidden one at Dungeness, pointed out to me.

Take a slow boat up and down Norwegian fjords     Nope.

Encounter a large wild animal, and survive  Wild boars in Crecy forest - scary.

Compare Duke of Burgundy butterflies in Hampshire with the Kentish ones  No, but have found another colony in Kent.

Watch Flamingos and Stilts on the Camargue  Yes! And more

See Swallowtail butterflies on the Norfolk Broads  Nope. Let's go now!

Walk the Breckland on a hot day  Nope. Let's go now! (or when it's a bit warmer)

Hear Manx Shearwaters around their burrows at night  Brilliant week on Skokholm.

Land on the Goodwin Sands, play cricket and watch the seals  Nope.

Clear the scrub from The Lynch to return it to chalk downland.  Tried, but it fought back. Must try again.

And finally, 20. Find a Military Orchid in Kingsdown. Or, if not, seek them in a little nature reserve in Suffolk.  No, but found them unexpectedly in Normandy so I am happy.


So that's 10 objectives achieved, and 10 not yet done. I'm quite impressed by that, and am grateful to the various people who helped me thus far.  I'll add another 10 in due course, to keep me focused.



 The original post.......


As I've long passed the allotted Two-score Years and Ten, the mind concentrates on things that must be done in the time before the mist rolls in.


I don't want to be just one of the crowd......

....so I need a clear view of what to accomplish:
So, in no particular order, here's a list of things that I'd like to do, near and far.........

1. Watch the waders at high tide at Snettisham
2. Find eagles (Golden and/or Sea) in Scotland
3. See a hummingbird - anywhere
4. Sit on the rock of Gibraltar, to see the raptor migration
5. Walk the cliffs around the Lizard in Cornwall - I've been there a few times before, but never with my eyes open for plants
6. Visit Ranscombe Farm in north Kent for Corncockles and Cornflowers, Cudweed and Ground Pine
7. Clamber over the limestone pavements of the Pennines
8. Find a Late Spider Orchid on the downs, and
9. Visit a place I know where Fly Orchids flower, but for once at the right time
10. Locate a Long-eared Owl at roost
11. Take a slow boat up and down Norwegian fjords
12. Encounter a large wild animal, and survive
13. Compare Duke of Burgundy butterflies in Hampshire with the Kentish ones
14. Watch Flamingos and Stilts on the Camargue
15. See Swallowtail butterflies on the Norfolk Broads
16. Walk the Breckland on a hot day
17. Hear Manx Shearwaters around their burrows at night
18. Land on the Goodwin Sands, play cricket and watch the seals
19. Clear the scrub from The Lynch to return it to chalk downland.

And finally, 20. Find a Military Orchid in Kingsdown. Or, if not, seek them in a little nature reserve in Suffolk.

The Galapagos should be on there, of course, but places like that need fewer tourists, and the carbon footprint would be frightening.

Further fauna and flora from the far west





The peace and quiet of Skokholm makes it easy to concentrate on the fine details of the place - the geology, geography, weather, flora and fauna have all come under minute scrutiny over the years. We tried to contribute our own little bits, but this was of course mostly confirming what has already been recorded rather than making new finds.

I followed the long-established but lapsed butterfly transect, which was not difficult so long as one can count to 100 for the meadow browns. Apart from the odd small copper and peacock there was little else, although looking back on earlier counts it was clear that a greater variety had been present a decade or so ago, including good numbers of dark green fritillaries that bred on the abundant wild pansy. Apparently they were over-collected, and breeding ceased. This raises the question - should they not be reintroduced? I'll follow it up.

Man's involvement in the island's fauna is clear amongst the rabbit population, as Lockley the farmer (before he became Lockley the conservationist) brought in different breeds in the hope of marketing their fur, leading to a legacy of chinchilla-bunnies....

....... black bunnies.......

..... as well as normal bunnies.

The old red sandstone provides a lovely background to the sparse flora

 A few stream beds are lush with unusual plants, including sea milkwort, the bizarre allseed,bog pimpernel and lesser skullcap.

Scarlet pimpernels

  

  

The sea was warm enough for swimming, and was especially welcome as there are no baths or showers on the island.  The grey seals kept me company.

Back on the mainland, the glorious sun turned to Welsh rain, but didn't dampen the spirits because Pembrokeshire is so beautiful.

This is a red kidney vetch - weird.

 

When the sun reemerged, it brought out silver-studded blues- a very welcome addition to my life list. They are just gorgeous. 

And a grayling posed for a series of photos too :-)