Out of puff on Skomer Island
| 12:59 UK time, Monday, 30 June 2008
The night before this trip we sat and watched ourselves in Episode 1 of Not In My Nature and while eating a meal I lifted a chair, twisted a knee and was in various degrees of pain from then on. But nothing would stop me playing my part in whatever was ahead.
After a quick radio interview with Iolo it was aboard the Dale Princess with Capt Ken for the 15 minute trip to Skomer Island. A bonus was seeing porpoise in the sea nearby the boat - magical.
On to the island there were puffins everywhere. Wow, these birds are so tiny - I had visions of them being more around the size of penguins. Shows how little I know ;0)
Apart from the puffins, there were loads and loads of birds. Several types of Lloyd's faves - gulls - and other stuff, including razorbills and many more.
The scene is full of birds in flight, on the water, hanging to the rock faces or standing in groups, by the burrows.
Experts on hand, we start task one - trying to spot 5 puffins who have very small geo satellite tracking devices attached to the leg. This was never going to be easy (needle in haystack). It required patience but most of my fellow recruits only lasted 5 mins and grumbles started to surface. Then it quickly moved to mass sunbathing.
I suppose this show is called Not In My Nature but sadly this is near the end. HAS IOLO FAILED ?
Things were quickly brought back on track, with a change of focus. Tim, our expert, brings us a puffin and a ball of fluff (puffin chick). What a privilege. Getting hands on with these remarkable little birds, everybody back on track.
We did the same with the Manx shearwater; over 100,000 live on Skomer - this is half the world's population.
These birds stay out at sea in the day - returning to their burrows after dark - as they are attacked and eaten by gulls and others. The remains of the Manx shearwaters - who got it wrong are found all over the island. It's a tough world :0(
We then walked to the Wick (knee still bugging me) a huge slab of bird infested rock sooo big with soooo many birds.
There were more puffins that waddle a couple of feet in front of you - in a style of walk which is a mixture of penguin and Charlie Chaplin. I love puffins :0)
We sat in the midst of the puffin burrows and it was so special - then a final chat with Iolo and some secret bubbly shared.
It was over - the rain came and we slowly made our way over to the Dale Princess and 15 minutes later dry (very wet) land.
This was a special ending to an incredibly special time. For me, Not In My Nature had become Now In My Nature ;0)
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