We came, we saw, we Skomer-ed!

As they say in the cartoons "that's all, folks!". Another Skomer week done and dusted. I know my photos make it seem like I just go and sit on a rock for a week watching wildlife, but it's a hard week of long days and physical work. A brief rundown of what I've done this week includes carting three lots of luggage up and down 87 steep steps up onto the island; standing around in the hot sun for three hours at a time, and going back up and down those steps, when welcoming boats and sending them home again; walking between 5 and 8 miles per day around the island; cutting back invasive plants in the middle of shoulder-high bracken and cutting back paths; cleaning the poo chute in the compost loos and cleaning the visitor hostel (shower rooms, kitchen and lounge as a minimum every day). All of this in mostly baking hot sun on an island with no shade whatsoever. We have to be ready to start work at 8:30am and we finish around 4:30pm

I make it sound like torture, I know, and now you're probably wondering why the hell I'm so keen to go! The reasons are many, such as spending a week in great company with equally hard-working friends - I'm not sure where else I'd have such a laugh cleaning a compost loo - but most of all it's worth it to have free rein on the island when the day visitors have gone. To be able to get so close to, and observe, wildlife in a way that most people will never experience. It's not just the puffins, although they're so full of character it's impossible not to be captivated by them, but there's so much else. Manx Shearwaters, if you can bring yourself to go out at 2am, owls, peregrine falcons and a myriad other birds, butterflies, moths, seals and, if you're lucky, porpoise and dolphins.

It's also a great opportunity to speak to and learn from people who are experts in their field and to help with different activities, depending on when you visit the island. Nature and conservation in this country relies heavily on volunteers and places like Skomer certainly wouldn't be able to offer the experiences they do without our help. However, not all volunteers are created equal, and I've just spent a week with some of the best. You absolutely can't spend a week sharing a room, a kitchen, bathroom and your main jobs with people you don't get along with.

So, to my fellow volunteers, thank you. We were a bloody brilliant team this week, and I hope you've all got a very well-deserved gin/wine/cider (delete as appropriate) to celebrate a very successful week.

Will we stay or will we go?

It was a day of two halves today; a strong northerly breeze this morning and boiling hot again by this afternoon.

Morning boat duty is always nice as you're welcoming visitors to the island. The majority are first time visitors but we also have people who come regularly - from once a year to once every few months.

Whilst waiting for the first boat this morning I saw seven seals, two chough, two ravens and a cormorant/Shag (it was too far away to be precise).

Two of the seals were on the rocks where the boat comes in, which makes it even more difficult to get people up the steps as they get excited, but thankfully they'd gone by the time the visitor boats arrived.

Island patrol this afternoon was very hot again, and the best part of the day is taking off my walking boots and putting my flip flops on when I'm done. The first cuppa after a long, hot day is also very satisfying.

Tonight we had a barbecue with some of the island staff as one of the long term volunteers (LTVs) is leaving after being on the island since March. The boatmen also gave one of the LTVs a bag of freshly caught mackerel earlier (probably in exchange for all the cake we've given them this week!) and it was bloomin' gorgeous done on the barbecue. You can't beat fish straight out of the water and cooked within hours of being caught.

There's still some un certainty about whether we'll get off the island tomorrow. It's all calm out there now but that could change overnight. For now we're assuming we're going and are packing or stuff up. Thankfully the food boxes are much lighter than they were when we came over!

I've had another amazing week on this island, helped massively by the fact that I know almost everyone I'm here with. It's not an easy week by far and we've all worked bloody hard, not just with visitors but on the non-visitor days too. But it's worth it to get to see and experience the island as no one else does (at least not unless they've paid quite a bit of money!)

Quiet today

It's been a really quiet day on the island today. The weather forecast wasn't great so I think that put a lot of people off and we only had four boats coming over and three going back (we joined two together).

I had to rescue a Manx Shearwater on my way down to the boats this afternoon. Two visitors told me there was "an injured bird" on the path and I realised what it was. They're basically gull food if they're out in the open so I had to get it back in the bracken. They've got vicious beaks though and they're feisty so I had to put my coat over it to keep it quiet while I scooped it up and let it go in the bracken. I hope it had the good sense to stay there until tonight!

There was also much excitement when a new scythe arrived on one of the boats this afternoon (yup, it was a slow day). We're down to one scythe at present which makes maintaining vegetation difficult at best so having two will make a big difference.

At the moment it's looking like I might have to stay on the island until Sunday as the wind direction is due to change tomorrow and the wind speed is supposed to pick up. So we'll be on weather watch for the next few days.

And on the fifth day it rained

This morning we had a bit of rain, which was very welcome after the heat of the last few days. It wasn't heavy and it was still quite warm but I was still happy to see it.

This morning I was at the Wick, which is the biggest puffin colony on the island. It's nice to go in the morning as it's nice and peaceful until the first visitors arrive. We only had one whinger but apparently he comes regularly and always finds something to moan about. Today's was the fact that it's very rough terrain (which he already knows) and what would happen if he broke his ankle! You can't win them all!

This afternoon we were on boats, helping people back onto the Dale Princess, the boat which brings visitors to the island. There were quite a few young children on the island today and they've always got lots of questions, like "what colour is puffin poo?"

One little girl fancied herself as a volunteer and was helping take tickets from people as they went down to the boat. She was four and far less trouble then some adults! The boat skipper also offered me a summer job on the boats next year, so I must have done something right!

No decent wildlife spots today, although I did see an adult Shearwater at the Wick. It came out of a burrow, briefly, before disappearing. It's unusual to see them in the day so we'll mention it at bird log this evening.

I don't think I put any photos up on Facebook last night so tonight will be a bumper edition.

We're expecting rain overnight and into tomorrow and the wind is expected to change direction and become stronger so we'll see what happens by the weekend. Some early discussions about whether we'll get off the island, but a lot can happen between now and Saturday.

Also, I got pooed on by a puffin today.

Hot, hot, hot

Christ, it's been hot today. This morning I was on boat duty, which meant getting all the stuff from the overnight guests onto the boat and all the stuff for the new overnight guests up the steps to the tractor. I then had to stand around for three hours while the visitor boats came in and we got everyone up the steps each time.

After boats it was back to the farm for lunch. I was so hot I soaked my hat in cold water before putting it back on to go out again. Lush

I was on island patrol this afternoon - not much to report. Everyone was very well behaved today, but it's a long walk. I went all around the outside of the island, so about 4 miles. Plus a couple extra down to North Haven and back, twice.

We went out to watch the sunset again tonight. Not spectacular but the puffins were so curious and came right up to us. They were particularly interested in the bottle of gin

Not a bad office for the week

No-boats-Monday doesn't mean we get a day off. We use the day to do other jobs that are needed. Some are ok, some are grim.

Today started with the grim task of cleaning the poo chutes in the compost loos. I'm not joking. This involved a pair of overalls, gloves and what looks like a very long-handled toilet brush. Guess who ended up with that job.... Rob got a video of me doing what has been christened the "toilet twerk" and took great pleasure in showing the island staff.

After the joys of the compost loos we headed out to cut down a large patch of rosebay willowherb. We had to pick our way through thick bracken off the main paths to get to it, being careful not to step on any burrows. We made huge inroads into it and almost cleared it all.

After lunch a few of the others went for a swim in North Haven, which is where the boats normally come in. I didn't go in as I know just how cold that water is! One of us had to stay on the side anyway, for safety. There's been a Canada goose hanging around there for the last few days and every time anyone goes down near the water it comes over. It didn't stop them all going in though.

After lunch there was a bit more path clearing to be done and then our time was our own.

It wasn't a bad day for spotting things as I saw a peregrine falcon on one of the cliffs and some adult wheatears feeding their young.

We all went down to the Garland Stone, which has been renamed the Skomer Arms, tonight to watch the sun set. There were loads of puffins about and they were very interested in the bottle of gin that we had! I got some nice shots on my big camera.

Back to having visitors tomorrow, plus there's a changeover in the hostel so lots of carrying other people's stuff up and down the steps.

First proper day with the puffins

It's been a good day for spotting things today. I was on island patrol this morning and saw a short eared owl straight off. It was shouting at me for being in its territory. I've also seen a wheatear (male), a linnet (male), three choughs and a couple of seals. Lots of wrens singing away, too. I got some photos of the wheatear and the linnet but they're on my big camera.

This afternoon was spent at the Wick, one of the main puffin colonies. Everyone was very well behaved and I had lots of nice chats with visitors. There were a couple of pufflings popping in and out of their burrows too; they'll probably fly the nest in the next day or so.

Photos on Facebook are mostly coastline and puffins. Also the progress of my farmer tan.

Short blog tonight as I'm not feeling 100% - it's been another long day in the sun so it's an early night for me

It's nice to be back

The first day on Skomer is always tiring as you're up early and then you have to load everything into the boat. There was a large photography group coming over, too and even though they're only here for three days they've brought enough door for a week! There was also some extra water to take for the island and some new beds so it was a pretty strenuous morning.

After putting our stuff away I headed down to the Wick for an hour or so, until the shift change, then back to the farm for a quick lunch before going down to help get visitors back on the boats. I think I've been up and down those steps about six times today.

Today's visitors were all lovely and had all had a great time. No complaints, no issues, and there was even a marriage proposal an one of the boats going back!

I'm so tired this evening, I can barely  keep my eyes open. I'm still waiting for my tea to cook though - it can take a while when six people are trying to use on four ring cooker and an oven.

Not much time for photos today as we haven't stopped. I'll do better in the week.

Nos da

'Twas the night before Skomer

Hi-di-hi campers

The boat for Skomer leaves at 9am so we're back at West Hook campsite tonight to get my stuff down to the jetty (i.e. a narrow strip of concrete running sharply down to the boat) early in the morning.

Word has it that people have been arriving at the lodge from 5am to be in with a chance of getting on one of the visitor boats to Skomer!!! It's first come first served for boats, and there are only 250 per day. The first boat doesn't even leave until 10am!  Bloody members of the public... If that's true it'll make it even more difficult to get the van near the beach as they have to wait on the road until the lodge opens. Anyway, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

It's been glorious today so we had a short walk along the coast path after we arrived. We were lucky enough to get the last bus into Marloes earlier, to eat in the pub, but we had to walk the couple of miles back. It was lovely walking back with the sun still shining at 9pm, and we arrived back at the van just in time to see the sun set over the sea. I make no apology for going on about the sunsets here; they're just fabulous.

I don't think I'm going to be able to post photos again - the signal just isn't strong enough to upload them so you'll have to wait until I'm home and I'll post some then. Soz ☹️

The blog is back!

This can only mean one thing; I'm off to Skomer again. This year I'll be there from 6-13 July.

I know I said last time that I might not go again, but this year a cunning plan has been set in motion by a few of the regular volunteers. We've managed to wangle a week on the island together by being completely blatant in our applications and saying who we wanted to be on the island with, and putting down the same dates as each other! 

This means not only do we know who we're bunking in with, but the island staff know that they've got a group of people who are already familiar with each other, and the workings of the island, and who can get on with things as soon as we arrive. 

So the preparations have begun in earnest in the last week. A discussion on the WhatsApp group confirmed that lots of cake will be needed, so I spent the last weekend making banana bread and starting to buy food. It's quite a challenge deciding what to take as you have to decide in advance what you're going to want to eat for your tea next Wednesday.  There are some obvious essentials (chocolate and cider) but otherwise I aim for substantial meals that will give me the energy to walk up to 6 miles a day, climb the 87 steps to the island a few times during the week and which will fill me up after a day walking the island. You also have to take some spare food in case the weather doesn't allow us to come back on our allotted day. 

This week will be taken up with checking I have all the kit I need and dusting off the waterproofs and suntan lotion (both equally likely to be needed) and packing my clothes and food. 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload photos this year - the signal isn't always strong enough - so here are a couple from past years, to remind you what keeps drawing me back, and because you can never have too many photos of puffins :)