The workshop on Skomer Island yesterday was memorable for a number of reasons. The forecast the night before was terrible but there is always the chance that the showers would miss us! Remarkably, and to my great relief,  the day started with sunshine and no wind and we made our way to the Wick to make sure that we spent as much time photographing the puffins before a storm passed through. The bluebells in South Stream Valley were glorious with pink campion coming through strongly and the air filled with song of  warblers.

There were plenty of puffins at the Wick and the faces of the group were beaming with smiles as they couldn't believe how close the birds were. The rain started around 1pm and we sheltered in Moorey Mere hide as one of the heaviest rain storms that I have ever seen lashed the island.

An hour later and the skies cleared and the wind had picked up making spectacular flying conditions for the fulmars and puffins. These gave great opportunities to learn how to capture birds in flight. The slopes were covered in hundreds of puffins as the rain and wind had brought them back to land where many were busy collected new nesting material as many burrows would have been temporarily flooded by the deluge. A puffin pair were seen mating but this is probably far too late to be successful in raising a chick.

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