Skomer Island

The world famous Skomer Island nature reserve lies just off the coast of Pembrokeshire. It sits at the south end of St Brides Bay and is the largest of Pembrokeshire’s surrounding islands.

 

History of Skomer Island

Skomer is thought to have been a Bronze and Iron Age settlement. With burial mounds that suggest that people lived there over 2000 years ago. Skomer has tall sea cliffs and the rough seas around the island made a defensible position for the Fort that was situated there. Up to 200 people called it home.

There was a farm dwelling at the centre of Skomer Island  operated until 1948. Its buildings became derelict and in recent years. Some have been renovated to provide basic bunk house accommodation, toilet facilities warden accommodation and visitor centre.

The island is owned by Natural Resources Wales and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Skomer became a marine nature reserve in 1990. The reserve encompasses the island and the surrounding 1400 hectares of sea floor.

Skomer Wildlife

The position of Skomer in the confluence between the Gulf Stream and nutrient rich waters coming down from the Arctic make for unique conditions that support a vast bio-diverstiy. Abundant sea life provides food for a great variety of sea birds and mammals. A lack of ground predators on the islands make it the ideal nesting place for the birds.

 

Puffins

The most famous of Skomer’s sea birds is the Puffin. This colourful billed member of the Auk family is comical in its appearance and movement. First time visitors to the island note  the tsize of the birds, they’re generally much smaller than people expect which only adds to their appeal. Puffins come to Skomer to breed  in April each year and stay through the summer leaving before Autumn sets in.

 

Razorbills

The Razorbill is a sea fairing bird only coming back to land to breed with around 6000 pairs coming to Skomer each year. Razorbills are also Auks like the Puffins, better suited to swimming than being in the air. They hunt for sand eels and sprats also much like the Puffin.

 

Choughs

The Chough is a member of the crow family that has bright red beak and legs and lives predominantly  on the western coasts of Wales and Ireland. Its an aerobatic flier which coupled with contrasting black and red colouring make it a wonderful sight. There are only around 300 breeding pairs in the whole of the British Isles.

 

Skomer Vole

Identified as a species unique to Skomer island the Skomer Vole is sub species of the Bank Vole. There are approximately 20,000 of these Voles on the island. They make a good source for the indigenous birds of prey including the Short Eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Buzzard and Kestrel.

 

Grey Seals

Grey Seals come to Skomer to pup between August and September. The grey Seal is the largest of the UK seals with big males getting up to 300KG in weight. The waters around Skomer are rich with fish at the end of the summer. This makes Skomer the ideal time for the pups to fatten up for a winter at sea.

 

Visiting Skomer Island

Visiting Skomer Island is by boat only and landing is controlled with tickets available on the www.pembrokeshire-slands.co.uk website. These tickets cover a return journey plus the landing fee. The island is open for visits from April until September, schedules are limited and the weather can prevent the boat from running. However, if you manage to get there its an experience that you will never forget.