Skomer; Part 4 of the trilogy.

My friend Martin and I, with Ben and Joe, our respective sons, are on Skomer, an island off the Pembrokeshire coast in south-west Wales. Ostensibly, we are here to go bird watching, but there does seem to be a lot of cricket going on. This is day 4, an unexpected extra day. My  11 year-old son is not a birdwatcher, but was keen to come along anyway. We booked for 3 nights with Joe having the option to use his veto and pack it in after 2. To my surprise and delight, his tolerance has improved and he wanted to stay on for the third night. Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 can all be found at the respective links. 

Martin and Ben were able to shake off the gripping on day 3 by seeing the Short-eared Owl from North Valley Hide this morning. I contented myself with a gentle stroll around the grounds of the farmhouse, noting a singing Northern Wren while the hero of the hour dozed peacefully. A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling in the dry grass near the owl bench and another was calling from close to the stream. I wasn’t able to pinpoint this potential lifer and had to content myself with Willow and Sedge Warblers. Joe came out to check on the Slowworms.

When Martin and Ben returned, we put out our luggage to be taken by tractor to the landing point for our boat home scheduled for 12.00. We still had a couple of hours left and were reluctant to leave the farmhouse in case the owl, which had settled on the far bank, took another flight. The owl didn’t show again, but a Black Redstart alighted on the apex of the old building by the bench. The apex may deserve a post all of its own.

The island was taking visitors again today and we were going against the flow by heading towards the landing point. The Razorbills were still there and didn’t seem to mind cameras being pointed at them. I took Joe for a look at the cave that he had found earlier in the week only to find 2 Grey Seals in there, which hurried out from a potential trap.

The other seals out in the bay were curious to have a look at Joe again, which was nice as he wanted to get a close look at them too. With a last bit of rock climbing, we headed for the boat and the mainland. A Common Sandpiper flushed as we left, lifting the week’s list to 62 species.

Species seen; 36

Northern Fulmar 15, European Shag 1, Canada Goose 6, Mallard 4, Northern Shoveler 2, Common Buzzard 2, Common Kestrel 1, Common Pheasant 6, Common Moorhen 1, Eurasian Oystercatcher 6, Common Sandpiper 12, Great Black-backed Gull 4, Herring Gull 30, Lesser Black-backed Gull 400, Common Guillemot 15, Razorbill 400, Atlantic Puffin 300, Common Wood Pigeon 2, European Swallow 8, Meadow Pipit 20, Pied Wagtail 1, Northern Wren 2, Common Blackbird 2, Black Redstart 1, Northern Wheatear 8, Sedge Warbler 2, Willow Warbler 25, Blackcap 2, Common Whitethroat 2, Eurasian Magpie 6, Red-billed Chough 1, Eurasian Jackdaw 15, Common Raven 1, European Goldfinch 1, Common Linnet 4, Reed Bunting 1.

Common Kestrel

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales have built a terrific website with tons of information, maps and logistics for anyone wishing to visit Skomer. I would draw your attention to one detail which deserves highlighting. The boat does not ferry visitors to and from the island on Mondays. If you turn up on a Monday, you will have to be satisfied with a circumnavigation of Skomer and its neighbouring islands. This also means that visitors staying overnight on Sunday will have to stay the extra night until Tuesday (Incidentally, the ‘first come first serve’ policy on the ferry left a few disgruntled passengers having to wait for the next sailing, though overnight guests take precedence over day-trippers).

The boat only runs during the season between April 1st and October 31st.

Kenfig, Glamorgan, Wales

It sounds like a compound name for the Kent Figure-skating Association, or perhaps the Ken Livingstone Figgy-pudding Baking Institute. Thankfully, Kenfig is neither of these and provided a very pleasant break on the long journey to Skomer.

It is a reserve made up of a lake, grass and scrub-covered dunes and a coast-line with a surfing beach looking out onto the Bristol Channel.

Willow Warblers were singing madly to announce their recent arrival, with their song characteristically trailing off towards the end.

Other migrants included Common Whitethroat and Blackcap which were also giving a great performances from hawthorn and bramble.

The dunes reach up to one and a half miles inland where the M4 cuts through the furthest advance. From  the Visitor Centre to the Bristol Channel is just under a mile in a straight line through the dunes, but there is no chance of that with the maze of paths that have been trodden through to the beach. It could be easy to lose one's sense of direction were it not for the chimneys and plumes of steam and smoke from Port Talbot to the north-west.

Linnets were common and Skylarks were singing from on high.

15 species of orchid have been identified at Kenfig. To my untrained eye, this one looks like Green-winged Orchid, Orchis morio.

A cursory look at the lake gave a couple of Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant and some Coot.

By the visitors centre is a short boardwalk that produced the only Chiff Chaff.

This was a very quick stop to excercise an 11-year-old, buy ice-cream and meet a friend en-route to Skomer, so a brief post cannot hope to do it justice. There is a great website for Kenfig which gives a much more in-depth picture.

I was delighted to note that my son was actually showing an interest in the birds, albeit a very fleeting one. He used the binoculars and was able to get a handle on the Willow Warbler song. Many of the birds below are lifers for him as he had never bothered to have a good look and ask about them before.

 Birds seen; 34

Great Crested Grebe 4, Great Cormorant 2, Mute Swan 2, Canada Goose 3, Mallard 2, Eurasian Marsh Harrier 1, Common Coot 7, Northern Lapwing 1, Great Black-backed Gull 1, Herring Gull 15, Lesser Black-backed Gull 3, Common Wood Pigeon 2, Eurasian Collared Dove 1, Eurasian Skylark 2, European Swallow 3, Northern House Martin 2, Meadow Pipit 1, Northern Wren 2, Common Blackbird 4, European Robin 2, Willow Warbler 20, Common Chiff Chaff 1, Blackcap 3, Common Whitethroat 6, Great Tit 8, Blue Tit 6, Eurasian Magpie 8, Carrion Crow 1, Common Starling 20, House Sparrow 12, Chaffinch 10, European Goldfinch 1, European Greenfinch 3, Common Linnet 20.