Out and around Skomer

A late post for 2 January

A quick (and very cold) trip out to Skomer found a couple more winter plumage Razorbills around West Dale, and several large flocks of feeding gulls in the south-flowing current from Jack Sound towards St Ann's Head. These feeding flocks are a wonderful feature of winter, but are seldom obvious from land (a large flock in St Bride's Bay off Martin's Haven yesterday morning was a notable exception). The gulls were over 75% Black-Headed, the remainder mainly Kittiwakes, but some Common Gulls. Interestingly, seldom any Herring Gulls; an adult Mediterranean Gull was a lovely bonus. They typically feed by flying up along the current in a very low, slow deliberate way, dipping down to pick up tiny bits of food. We could see no fish on the fish finder, but the available food was enough for many hundreds of gulls over a space of 5-10 acres.

Around Skomer, a flock of 25 Curlew roosting in North Haven, along with 100 Grey Seals of all ages. 2+ Buzzards, 2 Peregrines, Chough, Raven and 5 Greater Black-backed Gulls. Off the Pig Stone a flock of 20+ Fulmars.