Skomer island …at last !

Well, what can we say, we just love the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Thus, and despite the distance from Wimbledon, we keep going back.
This region has so much to offer visiting photographers including those world class seascapes, our main reason for making our third trip already since we arrived in the UK 3 years ago.

Wales is most certainly a prime destination for travel photographers seeking interesting and accessible landscapes without the tourist crush that rival European destinations now experience.

Pembrokeshire has that rugged coastline which we love so much – almost all of which can be accessed via the Coast Path. The possibilities for seascape photography here are almost endless.

But our main goal this time around was an island off the west coast of Pembrokeshire: Skomer Island.

A scrupulously protected wildlife reserve, accessible, by boat only, from late spring to early autumn, and temporary home for breeding to an estimated 42.000 parrots of the sea: puffins. Which are a dream for photographers as they are extremely photogenic and completely oblivious to the presence of humans on the island and will just do their thing, completely at ease, a few yards or less from where you’re standing.

And there are also an estimated 300.000 pairs (!) of breeding Manx shearwater on the island. Which unfortunately you will never see as they only come out at night and stay hidden in their underground burrows during the day. But it emphasizes the importance of this island for the preservation of these endangered species.

In order to limit the human presence on the island, access is strictly limited to 250 visitors a day, 6 days a week. And except for a very limited number of persons (who stay overnight in basic accommodation) you’re not allowed to spend more than 5 hours on the island. Day trips to Skomer Island | The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales

A bit more about puffins then.

Puffins don’t like to hang about, everything they do, they do at full speed. Flying, diving, walking, … They are the boy racers of the bird world. Puffins always fly (and I mean always) flat out, as fast as their little wings will propel them.

If a Puffin were a car, it would be a VW Golf GTI hatchback with a psychedelic paint job, a huge back spoiler and an exhaust shooting flames 🙂
But imagine the challenge for my photographer better half to try and photograph these magnificent little birds in flight as they come in from the sea, at full throttle, with their beaks full of sand eels to feed their chicks. They can catch and carry 15 sand eels and more in their beaks in one go, the record is said to stand at 61. A photo of a puffin in flight is the absolute money shot if you’re able to take it … but alas, not for us this time around. Better half was already a very happy bunny just being able to shoot them both feet on the ground. Which gives us the perfect excuse to go back of course.

For the birders, a few examples of other birds shot on Skomer during our visit.

But this trip was not all about puffins, this part of the UK is truly a walkers and land/seascape photographer’s dream.

Just an example: 13 miles south west of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire lies the 1.5 km long beach at Marloes Sands. This rock strewn beach is a seascape photographers paradise. Stretching over a mile this expanse of golden sand offers some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere on the Welsh coast.
Marloes Sands is full of outcrops of rocks of all shapes and sizes which make for numerous foreground interest whatever the level of the tide. In fact there is so much choice that it is worth spending a good amount of time here scouting compositions. But watch the tide, it comes in very fast, you don’t want to get stuck on these razor sharp rocks.

And at the end of a tiring day on Marloes Sands, when you make it back to the top of the cliffs, Mr. Terry is patiently waiting for you in his ice cream truck  🙂

The road west towards the peninsula past the village of Marloes comes to a halt at St Martin’s Haven. Just before it does, there is a National Trust car park (this is also where you embark the ferries to Skomer). Park here and go through a gateway in the wall and you will find yourself on a peninsula of land stretching out towards Skomer Island, known as the “Deer Park”. Despite the name, there’s not a single deer anywhere to be seen but there are paths leading around the precipitous cliffs, offering fabulous views of Skomer and Skokholm islands, seabirds, and inaccessible coves where, in season, you may find seals coming in to bask or give birth to their young. Bring your binoculars.

Do pay a visit to the coastal café Runwayskiln, they serve excellent panini and more before or after walking to the Deer Park Coastal Café.

There are also loads of lovely other little coves and fishing villages with nice pubs to explore in that part of Pembrokeshire.

Dale for example, is a quiet place to spend a few hours, sit on the wall with a pint looking over the harbour.

Our base of operations during this trip was the comfortable Glebe House in Talbenny a 200 year-old former Welsh farmhouse, located a few hundred yards from the sea and about a mile from the beautiful coastal town of Little Haven.

This trip certainly made up for the completely failed trip to Snowdonia. All the right boxes were ticked this time. The weather, the cottage, the company, no tourists, no kids, … Unfortunately, now it’s time for our summer break as school holidays will start, and it’s hard to avoid, or at least minimize, interactions with the spoiled screaming little angels, during school holidays. The clue is in the name, when all else fails, you could always find yourself an Adults-Only Hotel. But we prefer just staying at home.
Wait & see where we’ll go next folks, watch this space.

And last but not least a big thank you to the staff of Happy Paws in Haverfordwest who took excellent care of Evi the pooch while we were on Skomer (dogs not allowed in the island)