Last full day on the island today and the rain and wind has continued so we've continued with the cleaning theme and have attacked the volunteers' accommodation.
It's certainly been a week of two halves; a sun-reddened face at the start of the week and the north wind doing it's best to blow us off the island these last two days! The rain stopped mid-afternoon so I went for a final walk to some of my favourite places. I managed to see a peregrine, a seal and five ravens.
We can see clear weather coming in from the west, just in time for us to leave tomorrow! It's always the way.
Facebook pics include the remains of an Iron Age roundhouse that can be seen on the island. Skomer has been inhabited since the Stone Age and, like many islands, was part of the mainland around 35,000 years ago. It was used as a warren (where rabbits were reared for meat and fur) during Norman times and it was farmed regarly up until 1956 when the last family left and the island was donated to the Nature Conservancy.
Once again I've loved my time on Skomer and I'll spend the next week missing tbe solitude and the sounds of the oystercatchers, manx shearwaters and even the gulls (you get used to them by about the third day). My highlight this week has been seeing peregrines, porpoise and diving gannets all at the same time!
I said this would be the last time I came to Skomer (I always feel a bit selfish for leaving my family behind to indulge myself in a whim), but we'll see... I do also wonder how long my luck will last in terms of my fellow volunteers; I've been very lucky so far.
Thank you for reading my ramblings, and sorry I couldn't add photos to the blog this time around. See you all when I'm home x
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