SKOMER IS WHERE THE HEART IS

I can’t believe it has taken me 50 years to visit Skomer Island – what a Welsh “rarebit”!

The little island, set off the Pembrokeshire coast, is home to over half the world’s population of Manx shearwaters and the adorable Atlantic puffin as well as lots of other wildlife wonders.

I fell head over heels in love with the puffins straight away and just adored the way that they appear to look so puzzled and perplexed about life!

They are incredibly busy and hardworking, gathering sticks for their underground nests, whilst people “oohed and aahed” and snapped away like the paparazzi at a Royal Wedding (see what I did there?)

In a few weeks you will be able to watch them returning to their nests with their beaks full of little fish for their young.

The island is riddled with burrows; a honeycomb labyrinth housing rabbits, puffins and the Manx shearwaters.

It really is incredible.

There are tens of thousands of rabbits on the island as they enjoy the same freedom from ground predators like foxes and rats, and are cheerfully exploited to keep the undergrowth down.

Puffins wouldn’t nest under thick undergrowth and would therefore leave the island. Whilst many think the rabbits dig the burrows for the puffins, the sea birds are actually capable of digging their own homes – another reason I adore them, along with the fact that they are loyal, mating for life and even returning to the same burrow each year to nest!