Skomer Island

Photographing puffins has been on my birding bucket list (BBL) for a while, so I was blown away when my partner organised this trip as a birthday surprise.

We got the train from London to Swansea, then rented a car and drove to Marloes where we stayed the night. The next morning we took the 15-minute crossing by boat to the island.

Skomer Island has been inhabited since the Iron Age, you can still make out the ancient field boundaries and hut circles dotted around the 3km² island. At the centre of the island more ‘recent’ farming activities are evident. We stayed in a 19th century farmstead which has been converted to accommodate the researchers, volunteers and us, the overnight guests. You can stay from April – August or visit for the day instead. Although a converted farmstead sounds lovely the accommodation is very, very basic and as there’s no infrastructure on the Skomer you have to bring your own food and supplies.

I’ve never taken a trip solely to photograph birds and I’d upgraded my Fujifilm XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7 OIS II to the XF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 specifically for this outing. Most of the images here were taken using that lens mounted on my Fujifilm X-T5.

I’m keen not to get bogged down with detailed reviews regarding camera equipment on this blog as there are plenty of much more experienced photographers out there covering this. All I can say is the lens produced some amazing photos and is very compact, I was torn between this and the bigger, heavier and more expensive XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6. However after trying them both, I settled for the lighter but shorter focal length option. The XF 70-300mm also has a short minimum focusing distance making it great for close ups, it’s very versatile and has quickly become my favourite Fuji lens.

Puffins spend around 8 months of the year out at sea, they return to their nesting sites on Skomer Island in April each year to lay their eggs and remain there until around the start of August.

I’d had a bit of practice photographing birds in flight before we left but I’d not been prepared for how fast the puffins were. They fly out to the Atlantic to fish for sandeels and then pelt it back to their burrows in order to avoid the attention of the relentless gulls that hound them for their catch.

Puffins in flight

One of the best spots for photographing puffins in flight was The Wick, located on the southern coast of the island. This narrow gully offers an incredible vantage point: to your left, there’s a cliff face teeming with nesting seabirds, and to your right, a tall, sloped hill peppered with puffin burrows. The puffins fly in from the sea, hugging the slope before darting upwards toward their burrows. Watching them tear around the curve of the hill is like witnessing motorcyclists attempting the wall of death.

I’d not been prepared for how fast these little Puffins move.

To capture the perfect shot, I found it best to select one puffin coming in from the sea and stick with it. With so many puffins in the air, it’s tempting to switch focus, but doing so often means missing the moment. Once I picked my subject, I set my lens wide and panned to follow its movement, giving bird subject tracking a chance to kick in. As the puffin got closer, I gradually zoomed in—tracking them fully zoomed in is nearly impossible due to their speed.

Puffins will often circle their burrow until it’s clear of gulls, so if your chosen bird whizzes past, keep panning with it as it’s likely to swing back around for another landing attempt. The curve of the hill at The Wick is ideal for this, especially if the puffin’s burrow is near the top where you’re standing. From this vantage point, you can capture not only their approach but also their not so graceful landings.

There’s also a path that runs along the slope you’ve been watching. If you position yourself toward the end of this path, you’ll have an excellent vantage point to photograph puffins as they launch from their burrows and fly back out to sea. The opposite cliff face also helps creates a dramatic backdrop for your shots and emphasises the puffins compact size.

Puffin Portraits

On the ground the puffins don’t have any natural predators and I was surprised how relaxed they were around humans. With a telephoto you can get some nice close ups, whilst still respecting their space. They’re very humorous birds and you can easily spend an afternoon just watching them as they walk around looking for their burrows or socialising with their neighbours.

My key takeaway would again be to pick one bird and stick with it. I ended up missing some nice moments of them interacting because I kept jumping from one bird to another. Focusing on just one lets you catch those little interactions and behaviours that gives them so much character. If you want a more atmospheric shot, try switching to spot metering. It helps capture the puffin’s details and really brings them into focus like the main image used for this post.

There’s more to see on Skomer than just puffins. The island is home to thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes, plus the occasional seal, which I did hear on one morning walk but unfortunately they were concealed under the outcrop of a cliff edge. There’s also 350,000 breeding pairs of Manx Shearwaters. These birds only fly in at night, but since I was getting up at 5am to make the most of my time on the island, I didn’t stay up to see them. While I was there, I did spot a rare Curlew, though I couldn’t get my camera out in time ☹️ and a Short-eared Owl. I got a few shots of the owl, but it was too far away for them to be worth sharing here.

Tips

Here’s a list of a few tips and things I’d do differently if I could go back.

• Don’t stress too much about getting the perfect photo; take time to appreciate your surroundings and watch the wildlife.
  
• If I could go back, I’d try to include some people in my shots. I actively avoided it at the time, but looking back, a few photos showing how small the puffins are and how close they get to humans would’ve been a nice change.
  
• If you’re staying over night get up early to take advantage of having the island to yourself, the day visitors don’t arrive till 10am and leave at 5pm so plan your route accordingly (see below) to avoid the crowds.
  
• For a small donation (remember to bring some cash) grab the Skomer booklet which is available at your accommodation, it’s got a map that’ll help you plan your route around the island.
  
• There isn’t much natural shade, so make sure to bring sunscreen.
  
• Pack light and layer up the early mornings are a bit chilly even in July and the weather can change very quickly.
  
• The facilities are basic; to be honest the kitchen was quite grotty and the cleaning supplies were dirtier than the dishes. A regular visitor brought their own tea towel and j cloths, I would have done the same if I’d known.
  
• Keeping the above point in mind pack food which requires the least amount of prep.