Skomer Island

Recently we were lucky enough to go to Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire. We weren't sure if the boat was running as the boat on the previous day was cancelled due of rough water. My Mum and Dad set an alarm for 7 o'clock in the morning to see if the boat was running. I rushed out of bed and went into there room to check, but Tommy was too tired to get up because of the late night! "Yes" we all shouted when the e-mail came through saying the boat was running. We had some breakfast and got changed, then left the house. We arrived where the boat was picking us up about 15 minutes early so had a walk up a hill to look across the sea. On the way back down the hill it started tipping it down with rain and we started to worry that the boat wouldn't run. But luckily the boat was running and we managed to get to Skomer Island. On the boat trip there was a seagull called Tonto who was flying above the boat as the man, named Jim, was feeding him cheese. He also tried to land on someone's head. When we reached Skomer, the puffins were EVERYWHERE!!!! They were just sat on the side of the path!! Here's what we saw:  





Puffins

Butterfly


Tonto and Jim


All the birds on the sea



Fun Facts!
  1. Skomer has its own type of vole, the Skomer Vole
  2. There are almost 25,000 breeding pairs of Puffins on the island
  3. It supports the largest breeding population of Manx Shearwater in the world - over 300,000
  4. The reason this island has one of the only puffin populations in the UK, is the fact that there are no rats on the island. Rats would kill and eat the puffin chicks. All of the people involved with the island are trying very hard to keep it that way, so Puffins are still nesting here for years to come.

When visiting the island, part of the price you pay for a ticket is a landing fee. This money goes towards the conservation of the island and birds. There are also a group of volunteers that help maintain the island and look after guests. This is something I would be interested in doing in the future.

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