Birds: Skomer Island Archive
Skomer Island is the most important seabird site in southern Britain.
The colony of Manx Shearwater is possibly the largest in the world, and the Puffin, Storm Petrel, Guillemot and Razorbill colonies present a significant proportion of the total population of these species in Britain as a whole. On the cliffs there are thousands of Kittiwakes, and hundreds of Fulmar, augmented by Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls. Apart from the seabirds, breeding species include Short-eared Owl, Curlew, Chough and Peregrine. Other species include Oystercatchers, Mallard, Moorhen, Raven, Buzzard, Kestrel, Little Owl, Meadow Pipits, Skylark, Wheatear, Rock Pipit, Whitethroat and Dunnock.
"Offshore islands are always good places at bird migration times. The visitor to Skomer in spring or autumn may see a good rush of migrants of many species on suitable days, especially with an east wind and early morning mist and drizzle, conditions which cause a 'fall' of birds to rest on the island until the weather clears. Most will be common species like the Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart, while in the late autumn there will be massive movements of Skylarks, Starlings, Thrushes and Finches.
Over the years many rare species have been recorded on Skomer; recently these have included the Spoonbill, Hobby, Great Skua, Little Gull,. Black Tern, Alpine Swift, Hoopoe, Wryneck, Bluethroat, Melodious Warbler, Firecrest, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Richard's Pipit, Woodchat Shrike, Serin and Lapland Bunting.
Some of the more unusual visitors are common mainland residents but infrequent on the island, like the Little Grebe, Tawny Owl, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Treecreeper and Bullfinch."
(Skomer Field Guide, D. Saunders, 1980s)
