A Week On Skolkholm
Skokholm Island lies about three miles from the Pembrokeshire coast in South Wales. It’s approximately one mile long and half a mile wide with beautiful red sandstone cliffs. It was the first Bird Observatory in Great Britain and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve managed by Resident Wardens Giselle Eagle and Richard Brown on behalf of the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales.
There are no cars on Skokholm only a dumper truck used by Richard and Giselle to meet the boat arriving from Martin’s Haven, near Marloes on the Pembrokeshire coast. The accommodation is basic and powered by solar panels. Residents bring their own bedding and food and there is a small stock of items on the island just in case the return boat is cancelled because of bad weather.
All the gear needed for the week needs to be carried from the shore at Martin’s Haven to the jetty to meet the boat. There is a lot of gear. As well as the usual range of clothing and photographic equipment, it is surprising how much food is required to feed one person for a week! The gear is lined up on the rocks leading down to the jetty and a human chain is formed to pass all the boxes and bags down to the boat. On arrival at Skokholm, while Richard transports the luggage in the dumper truck, Giselle and assistants are waiting with coffee and chocolate biscuits. What could be better?
Skokholm is a superb wildlife haven with thousands of seabirds such as puffins, guillemots, razorbills, manx shearwaters and storm petrels, accompanied by inter alia oystercatchers, chough, skylark and wheatear as well as predators such as black-backed gulls. The puffins arrive on Skolkholm in April and return to the sea with their new chicks in mid July. I was there for a week in mid June 2019.
The puffins nest in burrows with a single chick. The parents take it in turns to fish for sandeels and from daybreak to dusk the cliffs are alive with puffins flying like fighter planes back and forth skilfully avoiding the predatory gulls which attempt to steal their catch as they return to the nest. The puffins rely on speed to escape the gulls and will often dart into the safety of the burrow with a gull chasing inches behind.
Each morning I chose a location at The Neck on the east of the island so that I might capture the birds as they returned from the sea, backlit by the sun illuminating their spectacular orange feet. It was great fun.
In the afternoon I walked the numerous paths of the Island to photograph the various passerines which live alongside the rabbits in the rich undergrowth and in the old stone walls which populate many parts of the Island.
There are thousands of razorbills on Skokholm and they look spectacular against the red sandstone of the cliffs where they make their nests.
Skokholm is an isolated place away from much of the paraphernalia of modern living. As well as providing wonderful opportunities for wildlife photography, a week on the Island is a great experience. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
