May 2024 – Skomer Island
I managed to book a few days staying at the RSPB site on Skomer Island (Wales).
A short 15-minute boat trip is necessary to reach the island.
I also needed to carry my camera bag plus all the clothing and food for 3 days (and nights).
Not much sleep happens on this trip, not forgetting that the days are gradually getting longer and there’s plenty of daylight.
The day starts at about 05:00 so up and out to where the puffins are. It’s a bit “fresh “and windy at that time of day, but one must be ready to grab those winning shots. Bleary eyed and somewhat tired I walked the mile or so to the area of interest.
Puffins are the order of the day and as it was mating time the puffins were extremely busy flying in and out with sand eels for their partners. To give to any idea of the conditions the puffins would fly back to their burrows but could not land as the wind was so strong and I was trying to get an image of a puffin with sand eels in its mouth – I had to track the bird from its first failed round of landing to the next time ……. hoping that I have locked on the bird and my image is sharp. Thankfully the images were a success.
10:00 and I head back to my digs for a late breakfast and a few hours sleep.
15:00 Up again a light bite to eat and out this time to a different place on the island to try and capture the birds with the setting sun, another long day returning at 22:00, then a self-prepared rehydrated dinner (out of a packet) and off to bed this I repeated for the next two days.
