Skomer
Encyclopedia
Skomer is a 2.92 km² island
off the coast of southwest Wales
, one of a chain lying within a kilometre off the Pembrokeshire
coast and separated from the mainland by the treacherous waters of Jack Sound
.
Skomer Island measures approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) north-south and 3.2 km (2 mi) east-west.
After the war, the owner had offered the West Wales Field Society, now The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, the opportunity to make a survey of Skomer which was accepted and the Skomer opened for visitors from April 1946. It was last permanently inhabited by the Codd family (all year round) in 1950, and is known for its stone circle
, standing stone
and remains of prehistoric houses, as well as for its abundant wildlife. Skomer is a National Nature Reserve
, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
and a Special Protection Area
. Much of Skomer has also been designated an Ancient Monument
. It is surrounded by a Marine Nature Reserve
. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
population, including Manx Shearwater
s, Guillemot
s, Razorbill
s, Great Cormorant
s, Black-legged Kittiwake
s, Atlantic Puffin
s, European Storm-petrel
s, Common Shag
s, Eurasian Oystercatcher
s and gull
s, as well as birds of prey
including Short-eared Owl
s, Common Kestrel
s and Peregrine Falcon
s. The island is also home to Grey Seal
s, Common Toad
s, Slow-worms, a breeding population of Glow-worms and a variety of wildflowers. Harbour Porpoise
s occur in the surrounding waters. The Skomer Vole
, a sub-species of Bank Vole
, is endemic to the island.
There are over 10,000 breeding pairs of Puffins on Skomer and Skokholm
Islands, making them one of the most important Puffin colonies in Britain. They arrive in mid-April to nest in burrows, many of which have been dug by the island's large rabbit
population. The last Puffins leave the island by the second or third week in July. They feed mainly on small fish and Sand Eel
s; often Puffins can be seen with up to a dozen small eels in their beaks. After a period of declining numbers between the 1950s and 1970s, the size of the colony
is growing again at 1–2% a year (as of 2006). By 2004, there were numerous Puffin burrows on the island and adults flying back with food run across the walkways oblivious to the tourists.
Shearwaters are not easy to see as they come and go at dusk, but a CCTV
camera in one of the burrows allows subterranean nesting activity to be seen on the screen in Lockley Lodge on the mainland at Martin's Haven. The remains of Shearwaters killed by the island's population of Greater Black-backed Gulls can also be seen.
The Manx Shearwater has a remarkable life. After fledging the young birds migrate to the South Atlantic
off the coast of Brazil
. They remain there at sea for five years before returning to breed on their natal island. On their return they navigate back to within a few metres of the burrow in which they were born. As they are ungainly and vulnerable on the land, they leave their burrows at dawn for the fishing grounds some fifty kilometres out to sea, not returning until dusk. Thus they attempt to avoid the gulls to which they would fall easy prey.
. The lack of land-based predators on the island means that the bracken
habitat is an ideal place for the vole, with the population reaching around 20,000 during the summer months. Then the resident Short-eared Owls may be seen patrolling the areas close to the farmhouse in the centre of the island for voles to feed their young.
on the mainland, a 15–20 minute trip every day except Monday (Bank Holiday Mondays excepted) from April to October at 10am, 11am and 12 noon. Return is between 3pm and 4pm but the boatman will advise on the day. There are limits on the number of people allowed to visit the island (currently 250 per day), and long queues can develop early each morning. In 2005–06, there was a renovation project of the farm buildings which included the old barn for improved overnight visitor and research accommodation, the volunteers' quarters were rebuilt and the warden's house at North Haven was also rebuilt. Solar power provides hot water and a small amount of electricity for lighting. Self-catering visitor accommodation is now available from April to October.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
off the coast of southwest Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, one of a chain lying within a kilometre off the Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
coast and separated from the mainland by the treacherous waters of Jack Sound
Jack Sound
Jack Sound is a treacherous body of water about wide between the island of Skomer and the Pembrokeshire mainland that contains numerous reefs and a tidal race of up to 6 knots....
.
Skomer Island measures approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) north-south and 3.2 km (2 mi) east-west.
After the war, the owner had offered the West Wales Field Society, now The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, the opportunity to make a survey of Skomer which was accepted and the Skomer opened for visitors from April 1946. It was last permanently inhabited by the Codd family (all year round) in 1950, and is known for its stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
, standing stone
Standing stone
Standing stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....
and remains of prehistoric houses, as well as for its abundant wildlife. Skomer is a National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and a Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
. Much of Skomer has also been designated an Ancient Monument
Ancient monument
An ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. In the United Kingdom it is a legal term, differing from the American term National Monument in being far more numerous and always man-made...
. It is surrounded by a Marine Nature Reserve
Marine Nature Reserve
Marine Nature Reserve is a British conservation designation officially awarded by the government to a marine reserve of national significance....
. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
Wildlife
Skomer is best known for its large breeding seabirdSeabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
population, including Manx Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
The Manx Shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx Shearwaters were called Manks Puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters...
s, Guillemot
Guillemot
Guillemots is the common name for several species of seabird in the auk family . In British use, the term comprises two genera: Uria and Cepphus. In North America the Uria species are called "murres" and only the Cepphus species are called "guillemots"...
s, Razorbill
Razorbill
The Razorbill is colonial seabird that will only come to land in order to breed. It is the largest living member of the Auk family. This agile bird will choose only one partner for life and females will lay one egg per year. Razorbills will nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed...
s, Great Cormorant
Great Cormorant
The Great Cormorant , known as the Great Black Cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the Black Cormorant in Australia and the Black Shag further south in New Zealand, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds...
s, Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-legged Kittiwake
The Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
s, Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic Puffin
The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
s, European Storm-petrel
European Storm-petrel
The European Storm Petrel or Storm Petrel is a small bird of the storm-petrel family, Hydrobatidae, part of the seabird order Procellariiformes. It is the only member of the genus Hydrobates.-Description:...
s, Common Shag
Common Shag
The European Shag or Common Shag is a species of cormorant. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern...
s, Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Oystercatcher
The Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher, or just Oystercatcher, is a wader in the oystercatcher bird family Haematopodidae. It is the most widespread of the oystercatchers, with three races breeding in western Europe, central Eurasia,...
s and gull
Gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s, as well as birds of prey
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
including Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl is a species of typical owl . In Scotland this species of owl is often referred to as a cataface, grass owl or short-horned hootlet. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may...
s, Common Kestrel
Common Kestrel
The Common Kestrel is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European Kestrel, Eurasian Kestrel, or Old World Kestrel. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".This species...
s and Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s. The island is also home to Grey Seal
Grey Seal
The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...
s, Common Toad
Common Toad
The common toad or European toad is an amphibian widespread throughout Europe, with the exception of Iceland, Ireland and some Mediterranean islands...
s, Slow-worms, a breeding population of Glow-worms and a variety of wildflowers. Harbour Porpoise
Harbour Porpoise
The harbour porpoise is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen...
s occur in the surrounding waters. The Skomer Vole
Skomer Vole
The Skomer vole is a subspecies of bank vole endemic to the island of Skomer, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom. The Skomer vole has probably been introduced by man since the last ice age. It is one of four small mammal species on the Skomer islands. There are approximately 20,000 voles on the island....
, a sub-species of Bank Vole
Bank Vole
The bank vole is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia...
, is endemic to the island.
Atlantic Puffin
Skokholm
Skokholm is an uninhabited island off the coast of south west Pembrokeshire in Wales, lying south of the neighbouring island of Skomer. The whole island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest as is Skomer. The surrounding waters are a marine reserve, all part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National...
Islands, making them one of the most important Puffin colonies in Britain. They arrive in mid-April to nest in burrows, many of which have been dug by the island's large rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
population. The last Puffins leave the island by the second or third week in July. They feed mainly on small fish and Sand Eel
Sand Eel
Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. Most of them are sea fish of the genera Hyperoplus , Gymnammodytes or Ammodytes...
s; often Puffins can be seen with up to a dozen small eels in their beaks. After a period of declining numbers between the 1950s and 1970s, the size of the colony
Group size measures
Many animals, including humans, tend to live in groups, herds, flocks, bands, packs, shoals, or colonies of conspecific individuals. The size of these groups, as expressed by the number of participant individuals, is an important aspect of their social environment...
is growing again at 1–2% a year (as of 2006). By 2004, there were numerous Puffin burrows on the island and adults flying back with food run across the walkways oblivious to the tourists.
Manx Shearwater
With an estimated 128,000 breeding pairs, Skomer and 'sister' island Skokholm are the world's most important breeding site for these birds, the numbers comprising over half the world population of the species. They usually nest in rabbit burrows, a pair reportedly using the same burrow year after year.Shearwaters are not easy to see as they come and go at dusk, but a CCTV
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
camera in one of the burrows allows subterranean nesting activity to be seen on the screen in Lockley Lodge on the mainland at Martin's Haven. The remains of Shearwaters killed by the island's population of Greater Black-backed Gulls can also be seen.
The Manx Shearwater has a remarkable life. After fledging the young birds migrate to the South Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
off the coast of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. They remain there at sea for five years before returning to breed on their natal island. On their return they navigate back to within a few metres of the burrow in which they were born. As they are ungainly and vulnerable on the land, they leave their burrows at dawn for the fishing grounds some fifty kilometres out to sea, not returning until dusk. Thus they attempt to avoid the gulls to which they would fall easy prey.
Skomer Vole
Skomer has one unique mammal: the Skomer Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus skomerensis), a distinct form of the Bank VoleBank Vole
The bank vole is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia...
. The lack of land-based predators on the island means that the bracken
Bracken
Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...
habitat is an ideal place for the vole, with the population reaching around 20,000 during the summer months. Then the resident Short-eared Owls may be seen patrolling the areas close to the farmhouse in the centre of the island for voles to feed their young.
Access
Boats sail to Skomer from Martin's HavenMartin's Haven
Martin’s Haven is a small bay in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK. It is located on the Dale Peninsula, with views across St Bride's Bay towards St David's. Its tiny pebble and shingle beach has a stone slipway which acts as an embarkation point for the ferry which visits the nearby island of Skomer, a...
on the mainland, a 15–20 minute trip every day except Monday (Bank Holiday Mondays excepted) from April to October at 10am, 11am and 12 noon. Return is between 3pm and 4pm but the boatman will advise on the day. There are limits on the number of people allowed to visit the island (currently 250 per day), and long queues can develop early each morning. In 2005–06, there was a renovation project of the farm buildings which included the old barn for improved overnight visitor and research accommodation, the volunteers' quarters were rebuilt and the warden's house at North Haven was also rebuilt. Solar power provides hot water and a small amount of electricity for lighting. Self-catering visitor accommodation is now available from April to October.