Seal of Approval for Skomer Island Accommodation
Photo credit Lynne NewtonSkomer Island accommodation receives tourism award as seal pup season gets underway!
As Skomer Island prepares for the arrival of the first seal pups of the season, there is good news for the human visitors; Skomer's overnight accommodation has been awarded 3 stars by Visit Wales.
The island has accommodation for up to 16 visitors in private bedrooms sleeping 2 to 5 people. Other facilities are shared, including a fully equipped kitchen and dining room.
In August seal pupping begins on the beaches and in caves around the island. The Manx Shearwater population of 250,000 continue to arrive and leave during the hours of darkness as the chicks develop, ready to fledge from September. Seal pupping and the arrival of migrant birds continues through to the end of the visitor season on 31 October. The island reopens on 1 April to coincide with the arrival of the returning Puffins and Manx Shearwaters.
There is currently availability for August (including Bank Holiday weekend), September and October 2010. For further details and to make a booking, visit our website at www.welshwildlife.org or call the booking office on 01239 621600. Booking for 2011 opens on 11 October 2010.
Skomer sunset, Andy DaviesWith self catering accommodation for up to 16 people, there is room for families and groups to come and enjoy a holiday on the island.
We have vacancies throughout August, September and October up until the island closes on 30 October, including the August Bank Holiday and half term week.
For more information go to our accommodation page.
On the 17th June 2010 the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, plus all of the organisations who funded and supported the Heritage Project on Skomer visited the island to celebrate the projects completion. It was a glorious Pembrokeshire day, the weather was set to fair and the island worked its magic on everyone (or the puffins did!)
.jpg "A boat full as we set off to the island")
A boat full as we set off to the islandThe Heritage Lottery Fund, Crown Estates and Tubney foundation were all significant funders in the creation of visitor accommodation, research centre, warden's accommodation and interpretation areas. The the only Marine Nature Reserve in Wales deserved something special and we feel that this project has delivered that.
The project took several years to complete and, as you can imagine, delivering project work like this on an island is not the easiest, getting equipment, as well as people, on there is a significant challenge.
.jpg "The First Minister of Wales presents the plaque to WTSWW's chair, Lynda Warren")
The First Minister of Wales presents the plaque to WTSWW's chair, Lynda Warren
.jpg "Without our funders and supporters we would not have been able to achieve this work")
Without our funders and supporters we would not have been able to achieve this work
Skomer has been a very busy place this June. Not only have we been welcoming lots of eager day visitors we have also hosted two University field courses, five film crews, one radio interviewer and many hundreds of school children. If you haven’t already seen Skomer on TV this mlonth we will be on Countryfile, Coast, the One Show, Iolo Williams’ new series and a series hosted by Alan Titchmarsh in the near future!
As well as all this ‘human’ activity the ‘wild’ residents of the island have also been incredibly busy!
The Puffins have been bringing in hauls of fish for their chicks and by the end of June and start of July many were young already fledging. Some lucky visitors were treated to glimpses of the Pufflings as they dart out of their burrows to exercise their wings and then dart back in at the first sign of a marauding Gull.
The Puffins will mostly have left Skomer by the end of July, however if you are planning a vist after then there is still plenty to see from Kittiwake chicks and hunting Short-eared Owls to Porpoise and Common Dolphins.
The first Manx Shearwater chick hatched in a study burrow on June 18th and lots more had hatched by the 25th. These study burrows are being used by some researchers who have fitted high-tech tubes within the burrow entrance. These tubes log the adults arrival and weigh them as they come and go, from these weights we hope we can work out how much food they are feeding the chick inside.
The Shearwater chicks will spend the next 50 days in the burrows being fed by the adults each night before fledging at the end of August and early September. You can watch a couple of the chicks as they grow by visiting the webcam images on our website www.welshwildlife.org/web-cameras-public_en.link or you can watch the live footage at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, Lockley Lodge and from the visitor centre on the island.
The first Kittiwake chicks were seen on June 11th and lots more were recorded over the next few days. Some of the researchers have been busy fitting tiny ‘geolocators’ to some of the adult Kittiwakes, Puffins and young Guillemots and Razorbills. These little gizmos will allow us to find out where the birds are going whilst not on the island and increase our understanding of ecology and how best to conserve the bird populations.
The Guillemot and Razorbill chicks that hatched a few weeks ago started to leave the cliffs from June 18th and by the middle of July only a very few were left. The Guillemot and Razorbill chicks leave the cliffs before they are able to fly properly, they take a ‘leap of faith’ and glide down to the water on stubby little wings. They do this just as dusk falls to avoid predation by Gulls and then swim out to sea accompanied by their Father who will look after them for the next few weeks.
For a full report on the birds and other wildlife seen on Skomer in June please visit www.welshwildlife.org/birdandwildlifereports_en.link and to keep up to date with the news and sightings from Skomer please visit our blog at www.skomerisland.blogspot.com
Skomer news June 2009
Bashing, tracking and Goodbye-ing on Skomer Island!
The volunteers on Skomer have helped us out greatly with this years Bracken management. Large areas around the Farm buildings have been ‘bashed’ and the areas of Heather have had all of the Bracken pulled out by hand. This very intensive but rewarding work helps greatly to control the invasion of this plant.
The researchers have been busy again this month and used some GPS technology to follow adult Manx Shearwaters. Their chicks hatched in mid-June and will fledge in late August and September, a lengthy 70 days! The adults return every night or every few nights to feed them and it is during these foraging trips that the researchers have been following them. Most of the birds tracked seemed to be using an area of sea west of The Smalls to feed. Depth recorders were also fitted so that feeding dives could be followed. The same team has also carried out GPS tracking on Shearwaters from Lundy and Copeland Islands to find out if they are all using the same feeding grounds. All of this exciting data will be compiled into scientific papers over the winter and we will keep you up to date with the findings. Keep an eye on our blog www.skomerisland.blogspot.com for the latest info.
Some exciting sightings in the last month, for full details see the latest Bird and Wildlife report at www.welshwildlife.org/birdandwildlifereports_en.link The highlights include quite a few Sunfish and Common Dolphins. Also a couple of reports of a Barn Owl and even two Otters seen in South Haven. Fulmar chicks have been the seabird highlight this month, currently they are growing their flight feathers and are surrounded by a fuzz of moulted grey down.
First Minister visits Skomer Island
On the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the islands status as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, visited Skomer and a tour of the island is an essential part of any visit to Skomer,
First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, said:
"Skomer is a wildlife wonderland – home to thousands of puffins, razorbills and guillemots and the largest population in the world of Manx Shearwaters. A visit to Skomer is always a truly magical experience and the new Skomer Island visitor facilities will allow many more people to appreciate the spectacular wildlife of this very special island in all its glory."
The Farmhouse Complex has been renovated in order to provide somewhere to stay overnight and experience the incredible night time return of Manx Shearwaters to their burrows.
As a part of the project we have also installed cameras looking into a Manx Shearwater burrow, these pictures are beamed back to the Visitor Centre, giving a fantastic insight into the lives of these mysterious birds. The Old Farmhouse can also be used as a classroom and the new office buildings have a library, laboratory and study rooms for researchers.
If you are unable to visit the island but are in the vicinity then it is worth a visit to the Lockley Lodge, where the new multi media exhibits give an opportunity to experience the island from the mainland.
Colin Preston, from the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said:
“Bad weather and demanding pathways have previously prevented visitors from going to the island. Now, remote cameras beam live pictures from Skomer Island to the mainland, enabling everyone to enjoy the wildlife spectacle of the seabird cliffs at The Wick, seals on the beach at North Haven and puffins returning to their burrows on The Neck.”
This significant project has been supported by the Countryside Council for Wales and part funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Tubney Charitable Trust and the Crown Estate Marine Stewardship Fund.
For more information about visiting this special place then please go here although do not forget we are very busy and getting out to the island is very weather dependant.
There is now a Skomer blog, written by the people living and working on the island. Please click here to get an up-to-date picture of what is on the island.
Skomer news April 2009
We were pleased to welcome three new members of staff to the Island team at the start of the season. Pete Milner (Visitor Services Officer) will be looking after overnight visitors, Jerry Gillham (Assistant Warden) will be looking after day visitors and overseeing work on Skokholm and Tessa Cole (Field Assistant) who will be carrying out monitoring work on the seabirds. The staff were also joined by several long-term researchers carrying out work on Manx Shearwaters and Guillemots.
Some spells of calm weather and warm sunshine meant that lots of people were able to visit the island and enjoy spectacular numbers of Puffins. Counts reveal a healthy breeding population this year.
The first Guillemot egg was spotted on the 24th, this is the earliest date on record for Skomer and eleven days earlier than last year. Razorbill eggs were spotted on the 26th, five days earlier than last year and the second earliest date on record.
Visitors were treated to marvellous views of Short-eared Owl and Curlew displaying above their breeding territories as well as lots of migrants passing through. The first Wheatears were seen on March 17th and the first Swallows on March 18th, first Swifts on April 24th and a Cuckoo was present on April 24th. Bluebells and Red Campion started to flower and should be in full swing by the middle of May.