We had been staying in Exmouth for the weekend and took turns driving just over 200 miles to Monk Haven in Pembrokeshire, stopping at the services for lunch. The road from Haverfordwest soon narrowed and was often only a single track with passing places so I’m glad Chris was driving at this point! We arrived around 4pm and checked in to our lovely room at Monk Haven Manor overlooking the front of the building, had a cuppa, then went to explore.
The house was once the rectory for the small St Ishmael church opposite and was built in 1830.
We took the footpath for 10 minutes down to a small stony cove and saw the sea. There was chamomile growing between the rocks and I picked up a handful of pink stones to take home. It was all a little grey and the rain started on the way back.
We’d booked a table at The Castle in Little Haven and left early to go and look round. Despite the drizzle, we walked to the point … then back to the town for dinner.
We were shown to our table and the menu choice was easy when I saw the special was oven roasted mackerel with romanesco sauce and greens and Chris picked Sweet Potato Tagine with a side of chips so was completely happy!
When we left, the rain had become strong and steady and we returned to the B&B in time to see Emma Raducanu’s match. She began well lost the first set and retired after 3 games due to medical problem which was rather a shame. We do hope the rain dies out overnight as forecast.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and also the puffin cam which is set up by one of the puffin burrows on Skomer. Our dread is that having arrived a little early this year, the puffins might leave before we arrive or that the weather is so bad, that either the boat isn’t running or it’s so wet and miserable we have a horrible day! Well the day has dawned and I think we might be in luck. The puffins are still there as we have seen them this morning already …
As for the weather, we woke to sunshine and enjoyed our breakfast on the patio but the forecast is rain later so we’ll just have to see how soon and for how long!
We are well prepared with fleeces, waterproofs and even umbrellas, as well as suncream. Needless to say our rucksacks also have cameras, spare batteries, binoculars and a packed lunch.
We drove down to Martin’s Haven and parked in the National Trust car park free with our membership. We checked in for our trip and climbed the headland to get a view of a Skomer in the distance, before going to the jetty to board our 11.30 boat.
It was only a 15 minute crossing, and I hadn’t given it much thought in advance, but boy did I feel ill! The boat went up and down across the waves and so did my tummy. Other passengers were exclaiming at the puffins flying overhead, but I sat with my eyes firmly shut until we docked. We immediately saw puffins on the cliff either side of the steps. There were loads of them, everywhere!
We gathered for a welcome talk which helped orientate us and the warden explained how important it was to remain on the path as there are burrows close by which can easily cave in if walked over. She encouraged us to follow the circular trail round the island and said if we were lucky we might see porpoises or seals.
The landing area is one of the two main puffin nesting areas and we lingered taking a few pictures before heading towards the centre of the island. The island is very pretty with lots of red campion in flower and gulls and other birds constantly swooping overhead.
The path took us north to the cliff path and it became considerably windier as we followed it anti-clockwise round the island, but we didn’t spot either porpoises or seals, but we did glimpse an oystercatcher …
So let me share a few puffin facts …
• Puffins are small auks in the bird genus Fratercula, meaning little brother in Latin due to their black and white plumage which resembles monks robes but it is their colourful bill which has earned them the nickname ‘sea parrots’. As for the word puffin, this refers to the fatty cured meat of young shearwater birds, called Manks puffin, once a delicacy, who also nest on Skomer, although we didn’t see one.
• Puffins weigh about 500 grams and are usually about 18cm tall.
• Puffins are strong flyers. They can beat their wings up to 400 times a minute and move through the air at 88km an hour.
• Puffins can dive for up to a minute, although they generally stay underwater for about thirty seconds. When in the water, they can dive as deep as sixty metres and their short wings have adapted a flying technique underwater to swim.
• Puffins are carnivores, living off small fish such as herring, hake and sand eels. They are one of just a few birds that have the ability to hold several fish in their bills at one time and their rough tongues allow them to have a firm grasp on 10-12 fish during one foraging trip.
• There are 580,000 pairs of Atlantic puffin living in the UK. They arrive in spring and settle on islands and cliff tops around our coast to breed. They usually stay with the same mate throughout their life, and can live to up 25 years in the wild. The male puffin build his burrow in rocky cliffs, or on the solid ground between rocks around three feet under the ground. The female lays a single egg, and both parents incubate the egg and feed the chick or puffling. The chicks fledge at night then spend the first few years of their lives at sea, returning to breed about five years later.
When we got to The Wick the puffin burrows were either side of the path with clumps of sea campion in between.
We were amazed at how fearless the puffins were and spent quite a while watching them waddling back and forth, peering into burrows …
… resting in burrows …
… sitting around …
… occasionally flapping their wings …
… or taking off.
We only saw two birds with sand eels in their mouth and Chris was lucky to get this photo as he was so far away.
This chap was busy collecting nesting material …
… and I’m not sure if this pair are chatting or shouting at each other!
We thought we might spot the odd puffling, poking its head out of a burrow but we didn’t. We would have noticed because they have grey faces and beaks.
Also, we wondered what the orange blob was at the corner of their beak, but now realise it’s just where the beak hinges open.
We were lucky the rain held off as long as it did, but about 2.30 we were bombarded by a squall of drizzle propelled by the wind and our legs and trousers were soon drenched although our jackets kept our bodies dry.
We decided we had probably got enough photos and instead of completing the entire circuit, decided to take the path to the visitor centre in the middle and once away from the cliff we were soon out of the rain and we dried out a little. We found a little shelter to eat our picnic, then continued back to boat jetty as we knew we would have a final chance to watch the puffins before our boat left at 4.00.
The crossing back was slightly smoother … but not a lot!
We visited the shop for souvenir mugs and a tea towel before driving back to Monk Haven to dry out, get warm and drink tea.
We had dinner at The Griffin in Dale, a seafront pub with a great seafood menu.
I had a fillet of hake served with red pepper and chorizo sauce and a glass of Merlot while Chris had veg curry, chips and beer! The step counter says we walked 5.9 miles, but we had also been on our feet all day, not to mention the buffeting wind so it’s little surprise we were soon ready to call it a day. One last job – a photo count – I took 200 which pales into insignificance against Chris’s 600 – nearly all featuring puffins so we had our work cut out to choose and edit when we got home.
It was a great day out, and just like any day trip in the UK when you have to plan ahead, you just have to get on with it, whatever the weather. Fortunately a bit of wind and rain didn’t seem to bother the puffins at all.
And since you just can’t have enough puffin pics, here are a few more, after all, they were the stars of the day!
Off Travelling Together 