Birds Skokholm Island Puffins

[Mike Renny]

Back recently from a wonderful stay on Skokholm Island off the Pembrokeshire Coast. Those that work on Skokholm call it dream island and it's hard to argue with that statement. It truly is a magical place and offers incredible wildlife and bird photographic opportunities. The puffins are just the most delightful and characterful little birds and it was a joy to be able to get so close to them. I took many thousands of images - here's just a few of them - hope you enjoy!

• ILCE-1
• FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 250

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/1600 sec
• ISO 800

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 1.4X Teleconverter
• 280.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/1250 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 407.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/640 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 2000

• ILCE-9
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 2500

• ILCE-1
• FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-1
• FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/4000 sec
• ISO 200

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
• 200.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/800 sec
• ISO 320

• ILCE-1
• FE 400mm F2.8 GM OSS
• 400.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/640 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2000 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-1
• FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II + 1.4X Teleconverter
• 228.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1250 sec
• ISO 200

• ILCE-1
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 489.0 mm
• ƒ/14
• 1/800 sec
• ISO 1250

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Fantastic photos. That's not a place I've heard of either. I will be researching.

 

[Mike Renny]

Fantastic photos. That's not a place I've heard of either. I will be researching.

Cheers for the kind words. There’s a couple of islands off the Pembrokeshire Coast where you can photograph puffins. Skomer Island is the bigger and more well known of the two. You can do a day trip to Skomer but you’ll need to book well in advance. Skokholm doesn’t have day visitors which is a real plus and as you’re staying on the island you can shoot when the light is better. It’s not easy to book however as members of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales getting booking priority and it’s sells out very quickly!

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Interesting. Great info. I wanted to do Skomer, but the fact you can't book the ferry in advance puts me off.

 

[spudhead]

Great set here, looks like a great place to visit

 

[Mike Renny]

Interesting. Great info. I wanted to do Skomer, but the fact you can't book the ferry in advance puts me off.

I did a day trip to Skomer in 2019 and had to queue up for 2 hours at silly o'clock in the morning to get a ticket for the boat however they've changed things and you can now book in advance - check out the link below. It is very popular however so you will need to book a few weeks in advance and then there is the risk of the boat not sailing due to bad weather. We were booked for a 4 night stay on Skokholm from Monday to Friday but due to bad weather we didn't get on the island until Tuesday afternoon but then we were stuck on the island for 3 extra days again due to poor weather so we were lucky to get 6 nights on the island instead of the 4 we booked!

Land On Skomer

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Cheers for that. That makes a big difference

 

[evacguy]

Back recently from a wonderful stay on Skokholm Island off the Pembrokeshire Coast. Those that work on Skokholm call it dream island and it's hard to argue with that statement. It truly is a magical place and offers incredible wildlife and bird photographic opportunities. The puffins are just the most delightful and characterful little birds and it was a joy to be able to get so close to them. I took many thousands of images - here's just a few of them - hope you enjoy!

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All great shots, hard to pick a favourite. I do like the one with the seagull, he looks very evil! Did you know that Pufins are a delicacy in Iceland? I tried some at an event I was at a few years ago, gotta say, I didn't think they were particularly good eating.

 

[Jabo]

One word, beautiful !

 

[Mike Renny]

All great shots, hard to pick a favourite. I do like the one with the seagull, he looks very evil! Did you know that Pufins are a delicacy in Iceland? I tried some at an event I was at a few years ago, gotta say, I didn't think they were particularly good eating.

Cheers Ed appreciated. So that particular Great black-backed gull is well known for terrorising the puffins on the island and has been labelled the puffin pulveriser! Typically the gulls will try and steal the sand eel catch as the adult puffins bring them in to feed their young but every now and then they'll grab a young unsuspecting puffling. Within a couple of minutes of capturing that shot the poor puffling was a goner with the gull feeding on his catch. Sad to see but truly nature in action. I'm not sure I'd want to eat a puffin myself...... such cute little birds!

 

[Mike Renny]

Great set here, looks like a great place to visit

It really is a fabulous place to visit - cheers for the kind words!

One word, beautiful !

Thanks Jan appreciated

 

[Sdawes]

Interesting. Great info. I wanted to do Skomer, but the fact you can't book the ferry in advance puts me off.

You can book the ferry in advance Kev unless its changed very recently , but the issue is its weather dpendant as to whether the boats sail each day or not , I got caught out the first time I booked as high winds prevented the boats sailing so I had a refund and a wasted journey , however , better luck the next attempt as I booked two consecutive days and got on the island both days , an amazing place .

 

[Sdawes]

What a fabulous set of images Mike .

 

[Mike Renny]

What a fabulous set of images Mike .

Cheers for the kind words. It really is a fabulous location. Felt very privileged to have been able to spend time on the island.