Pembrokeshire, Wales.

For a few years now I’ve wanted to see Puffins but had never made a decision to actually book a trip that would enable me to do so.  I knew that there is a big puffin colony on Skomer Island, which is just off the coast of Pembrokeshire in west Wales, a mere 3 hours drive away, but there is only one ferry company that lands there and they get booked up months in advance.  Last year I missed out, but got my act together a few months ago and chose a date in July that should enable us to see the puffins flying in with beaks full of sand eels to feed their pufflings. (What a great name for baby puffins!)  The crossing to Skomer takes 15 minutes and you can spend 5 hours on the island unless you are staying in the one (fairly basic) hostel there.

My partner and I stayed in a small hotel about 35 minutes drive away from where the ferry departs, and had a beautiful sunset the evening before our day on Skomer.

The crossings over to Skomer are every 30 minutes unless the weather is too bad.  In those instances they will cancel the ferry and refund you, as they can’t fit you in on another day due to always being fully booked. Luckily the weather was absolutely perfect and the sea was very calm.

As we approached Skomer we saw hundreds of puffins in the sea, and some more as we climbed the steep 87 steps up from the ferry landing.

First stop was at the farmhouse/hostel in the middle of the island in order to use the toilet, as that is the only one on the whole island.  I took the image below as I was sitting in the shade of the main building and it’s just a little shed – not where guests stay!  There are less than a handful of buildings on Skomer which makes it feel very untouched and at one with nature.

As we were walking towards the perimeter of the island again we started seeing beautiful wild flowers and I commented how lovely it would be if we saw puffins amongst them.  We didn’t have to wait long until my wish was granted.

Puffins mate for life, frequently remaining with the same partner for over 20 years. However, their lifelong commitment is driven more by their loyalty to an actual burrow than to each other. They still show affection for their mate though as the photo below shows. ❤️

They can look quite comical and I could just imagine the two below shouting “look at me mum, I’m learning how to fly” 😂

Incoming……..  It was really difficult to capture them in flight as no sooner had I spotted one, it had landed before I could raise my camera and lock focus on it.

Visitors to Skomer are strictly restricted to marked paths as there are burrows all over the island which would collapse under the weight of a human foot.  This burrow was right at the side of one path, and the puffin was very unfazed with me peering at it.

Another successful capture of one in flight – I’m not good at capturing birds in flight and don’t practice enough, so was pleased with the few images I did get that were in focus.

On the way back down the steps to the ferry I  noticed this pile of rusty chains and I always like a bit of ‘abstract’.

My first paragraph in this post mentioned wanting to see the puffins with beaks full of sand eels.  Unfortunately we were a couple of weeks too late and most of the pufflings had already fledged so I didn’t see any 🙁

Lastly, as the ferry was departing, this trio were taking off.  They ‘run’ on the water whilst flapping their wings before eventually getting airborne.

The following day we visited Tenby before continuing our journey home.  I’d never been but had seen photographs of how pretty it is. It was busy with tourists, but a nice place to stop for a few hours and by biding my time I managed to omit people from my images.

I feel very fortunate to have had perfect weather for a trip to Wales, as it’s renowned for raining a lot there!