Puffin Season — Skomer Island Wales
The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) colony on Skomer Island off Pembrokeshire — the finest accessible puffin site in southern Britain, with 36,000 pairs breeding from April through July and the puffins' complete fearlessness of humans (allowing approach to 50 centimetres from nesting burrow entrances) — creates one of the UK's most reliably intimate seabird encounters. The daily boat from Martin's Haven lands visitors on the island for unlimited walking time (overnight stays possible in the old farm buildings), and the combination of the puffins' burrow activity (fish-carrying landings, territorial displays, and the 'billing' courtship behaviour all visible throughout the day), the grey seal colony on the rocks below, and the island's wildflower meadows creates Skomer's unmatched combination of seabird and wildlife encounters. The puffin's combination of its comic facial appearance (the multi-coloured bill, the clown-like eye markings), its flight style (fast and direct, quite unlike the elegant seabirds it shares the island with), and its complete indifference to cameras creates Britain's finest single-species wildlife photography opportunity.
About this spectacle
Standing on Skomer Island in late April through July, visitors find themselves surrounded by thousands of Atlantic puffins moving with absolute disregard for human presence. Birds land within arm's reach of boots, carrying sand eels crossways in their vivid multi-coloured bills, disappearing into burrow entrances cut into the clifftop turf. The air is filled with the low whirring of wings — puffins fly with a rapid, almost mechanical beat quite unlike the languid glide of the gannets and Manx shearwaters sharing the skies. On the grassy slopes, pairs engage in 'billing', tapping beaks together in courtship rituals visible at eye level. Below the clifftops, grey seals haul out on wave-washed rocks. The surrounding wildflower meadows bloom in counterpoint to the seabird noise and motion. The light off the Pembrokeshire coast is soft and diffuse in the morning, ideal for photographing birds in close detail. The island is reached by daily boat from Martin's Haven, and overnight stays in the old farm buildings allow visitors to experience the evening exodus and dawn return of shearwaters alongside the puffin activity.
When to go
Apr — Jul
Getting there
Nearest airport: HAW. Nearest city: Haverfordwest.
Booking options
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