Skomer May 2018

Today I'm going over to Skomer to see the Puffins ,  Jan is staying with the dogs as they are not allowed on the island.   It has been quite windy so the Skomer boats didn't sail at the weekend, Monday  or yesterday (Tuesday) so it will be busy today.
There are only three sailings a day over to the island on the Dale Princess , max 50 people on the boat , first at 10 am, But the ticket office opens at 8 am so I need to get there quite early to get in the que for a ticket.   Arriving at 7 am  to find the car park already half full was a bit surprising!   I think there must be well over 50 people ahead of me , which means I will probably be on the second 11 am boat!  Arghhhhh   a long wait then.  As it turns out , they are putting an extra 2 boats on today ,  and I haven't even got on the second boat!!  
    It appears that people are getting loads of tickets for friends who just come down later , and one person bought 30 for a group of students!!!!!!   That is totally unfair  !!!!!           if you want a ticket everyone should que in person!!!    

Anyhow, I now have to wait until 11am for the third sailing , so a walk up over the headland is in order to see if I can photograph any birds.

          The wild flowers are looking fabulous, and I can see them carpeting the island from here!

                                                                        A Stonechat
                                                 cropped from 5dsr file shot with 100-400L

                                              looking across to Skokholm in the distance.

                                         Its going to be a glorious day over there, and hot!

                                                  Time to head back to get the boat now.

I am now on Skomer , the bluebells are late this year and still in full bloom , they look fabulous, and along with the pink campion the island is very colourful,  didn't see any of this last time I came .

I have managed to get ahead of everyone else and making a fast walk to get to the "Wick"  which is the main Puffin area , although since we have had a cold late spring they are late this year and therefore their eggs have not hatched yet ,so there will not be as many around . the wardens did mention due to bad weather last few days they have not been able to go out feeding , so most of them will be out today in the good conditions.

I have just spotted my first Puffin , just down from this path. I am crouching low to try get a decent composition with the wild flowers and using f5.6 to blur the background.

    The bright sun is just too strong for photographing these birds, its going to be difficult to get anything decent I fear!

                                     Carrying on walking past a load of beautiful pink Campion .

Arriving at the "Wick"   there are very few Puffins, at least compared to last time when they were constantly bringing back food for their chicks.       Along this cliff edge a few were coming in to land after coming back from feeding.       I used a 17-40 wide angle to shoot this panorama image.

                                                                 Canon  5dsr  100-400L

        There are hundreds of Puffin burrows everywhere ,the Wardens give a talk after departing the boat about not walking off the paths !    this one popped up out of a hole right next to me  ,  I had my 100mm macro lens on a 5dmk2 for this image as the tiny bird was only a foot away.

The bright sun in a cloudless sky is terrible for photography, I have given up shooting the Puffins now and am going to walk around the island, firstly to stop of at a point further around to sit and eat lunch.   passing glorious fields of blue and pink.

                             I remember this spot from last time, a great place to sit for a while .
                                                        Pigstone bay I think its called.

Continuing around heading to the far side of the island,  the warden mentioned that Short Eared Owls have been regularly seen in this area.  it would be great to see one .

              This is a beautiful walk in the sunshine, the colours make the island look so beautiful.

 I have just seen an Owl quartering along the ridge ,below image. It then dived down onto something!

            Enough of that moment of excitement,  now heading through pink carpets of Campion.

I have just noticed a couple of people watching something through binoculars.  somewhere behind those rocks!

                                     Yay   an Owl just sitting amongst the flowers on a rock :)

Almost time to head back to the boat landing now,  its usually a good place to see Razorbills and also more Puffins.

            Below me is the boat landing and to the left there are indeed a couple of Razorbills .  and also quite a few Puffins both on the water and flying past , it might be good to see if I can get an in flight shot.

                                         
                                        One of , if not the most elegant of seabirds, a Razorbill.
                                                                    5dsr  100-400mm L

                                                                         Puffin in flight

                                     A huge crop from a 5dsr file , thanks to 50mp sensor  lol

                                  Finally ,this is my favourite image from Skomer , another Razorbill .

                        Here comes the boat , goodbye Skomer , its been great to see you again .

Puffins on Skomer 17th June 2014

Today i am going to Skomer to see the Puffins , i have never seen them before so really looking forward to it.  Jan is staying back in the caravan with the dogs while i go on my own, as dogs not allowed on the island and we cannot find a kennels to take them really early in the morning . I have been told to get there for about 7 am which means getting up at 5am!!!!  i need to get near the front of the Que to get my ticket when the office opens at 8.30 but there will be more people wanting to go than there are places on the boats ,only a limited amount of people are allowed on the island each day .
   I have arrived at the car park near Marloes at 6.55 , and walk down to Martins Haven where the boat departs, i find I'm 3rd in line :)    maybe i didn't have to get here quite this early i am thinking , but within half hour there are more than enough to fill first of the three boats that sail to the island. Having got my ticket on the first boat i  will take a walk around the headland to shoot a few birds as the boat doesn't leave until 10.00!

                                          A Chough , great to see these fabulous birds :)

There are loads of small birds up on the headland , think this might be a Meadow Pipit , but could be wrong  lol

                                     Not a clue on this one..........  hope i can id a Puffin  :D

                                                                This Is a Stonechat :)

Time to head back to catch the boat now , its getting very warm and is going to get quite hot out on the island with no shade from the sun.

 On the way , and we spot a Gannet , which apparently is quite unusual as they stay on and around Grasholm which is about 10 miles straight out to sea.   the currents are quite strong between the mainland and the island , Loads of seabirds are on the water and flying around.

                       Guillemots are all around and on the rocks as we climb off the boat :)

 After a quick talk by the rangers telling us Not to walk off the paths , as the Puffin and Manx shearwater burrows are everywhere and fragile. I have decided to walk straight to "the Wick"   which is the best area for the Puffins.  its about 20 mins fast walk i believe.

                                                                             "The Wick"

I have just arrived at the "wick"  a warden is sitting near the ropes talking to a few people, Puffins are flying all around:)
Just to the left in the above image, the path is roped off to protect the burrows which are everywhere, they are all numbered i have noticed and i can actually hear the Puffins in their burrows :)      there are quite a few all around and after a few crap shots one flies in with a beak full of sand eels :)    and i managed a few good shots   yay!

I have just spotted a Puffin with an oof  grass background. one of my intended images  Yay   little do i know that was my only chance to get the image i wanted!    the Puffin is a bit larger in the frame than i would have liked , but never mind.

Now time to get my macro lens out for some portraits , they are really close to the ropes and will easily fill the frame with my 100mm macro lens  and are uncropped on 450d body .  this one just popped its head out of a burrow and then walked out and just stood there while everyone close by took its picture :)

 

 I can hear them underground all along the path edge , this one just "crash" landed by me and just stood on the edge of its burrow for a few minutes before going down underground.

I have decided to go for a walk around this side of the island as its getting a bit crowded here now, so i will head to Skomer Head , one of the rangers said it is a good place to sit and have lunch without any burrows to watch out for .             

                                                            What a stunning view!!!!!!!

 After eating lunch i am making my way through to the centre of the island in hope of seeing the little owls but no sightings , but did shoot this little Wren :)

I have about an hour and half left before needing to make my way back to get the boat , so back to the "Wick" as its easily the best spot , might even try in flight shots .

                                                                    " Flapping wings "

   I  Really like this image , its been difficult shooting in the bright sun all day with Harsh light not helping, especially with the whites on the birds.

There are loads of birds on this flat area about two hundred yards from the main area where i was shooting earlier , they are flying in from the open water.  A few with sand eels in their beaks , but they are incredibly fast and almost crash land into their burrows making it very difficult to get any shots.

                                                      this Puffin is looking a bit sad :(

I have just managed another sand eel shot, the Puffins eggs have only just started hatching, later than normal so there are very few adults bringing in sand eels yet unfortunately , but managed a few images of this one ,    most i took where out of focus :(

                                              the Light is tooo bright , but its an ok shot

                                                                            "landing"

 i have tried my best but my canon 5d mk2 autofocus is no good for this type of fast moving subject!

 Time to go now, i have 25 minutes to get to the other end of the island. lovely views as i walk across the island.

Having made my way back to the boat landing i can rest now and just watch the birds flying around the landing area.

 i shoot this while waiting :)

                                                              Threes a crowd here :)

         As i am climbing down to the boat , i notice that the Razorbills are roosting just above the steps and i manage a few shots before having to continue downwards . They are Very majestic/impressive birds.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 5 hours on the island , managed some really nice images and was great to finally see the Puffins :)    the wind is getting up now and it will be a bit of a rough 15 minute journey back to the mainland.

Having left the boat , one last shot as the "Dale Princess" leaves to return to the island to pick up the next party.

                         Back to see Jan and the dogs now , and a trip to a beach this evening.