Wild Britain: S02E02: Skomer

Off of the coast of Pembrokeshire, Skomer Island is a haven for Puffins and a whole host of other wildlife. Helped by the maximum of 250 people per day on the island.

The Wick, a North facing cliff edge, has Ray explaining the birdlife consisting of many bird including Guillemots, Puffins, Gulls, and sometimes buzzards. We hear that due to no predation on the island, the birds are ok with human contact. The largest mammal is the rabbit!

There is also a lot of plant life. The red Campion and other woodland flowers use bracken for shade, as the trees were cut down in the Bronze age – to make way for farming. We hear that the only truly native creature on the island is the Skomer Vole. We get to see some of these voles having been trapped in animal friendly traps – with lots of food.  The vole we see has been captured previously, as we see from the tag that it wears. This tagging has helped the conservationists estimate 20000 voles on the island. As the vole dashes for freedom, we hear that the short eared owl is the primary predator of the vole.

We watch a seal trying to have a nap on a small plot of rock during a rising tide. It closes its eyes and tries to keep out of the sun. After a short time though, the tide rises enough that the seal dumps itself unceremoniously into the water.

In part two Ray heads to Grassholme island, 8 miles distant from Skomer. Grassholme island is covered in guano making it look rather like an iceberg. This is the guano of the Gannet. A quite large and noisy white sea bird.

Back on Skomer we look at the great black backed gull trying to predate Puffins, even adults. We watch the gull eat a black rabbit. It’s a shame to see, but only because it’s the demise of one animal over another. But that is, of course, natural selection in action.

Manx Shearwater have been studied on Skomer for over 60 years. Looking at their burrows, we see that there is a kink at the entrance to try to prevent predation. The egg is incubated for around 50 days. When the chicks leave the nest they don’t come back for about two years – with nobody knowing what happens during the bird’s first two years of life. Manx Shearwater has their legs right at the back of their body, this is for power in the water. A beautiful bird.

Now we see the highlight of the episode. Puffins! Some of the 6000 pairs, at least. We catch the adults on their way back to their young after being out at sea all day fishing. The beaks of the puffin are evolved to hold many fish at one time – very efficient. Watching their courtship behaviour, we can see that they are a complex, but wonderful bird.

From this episode I can see that Ray was really effected by being on the island. It's a place that Lucy and myself saw in the distance as we walked some of the coastal path in Pembrokeshire. I'm glad that we didn't visit Skomer that time, as we had a great time on the mainland coast. Skomer though, is the place to be, Lucy and I agree. And we'll get there some day...probably for some camping near the island.