About Shearwater Spectacular
Please wear warm clothing, hats and gloves!
Whiz along the sea to the Pembrokeshire Islands of Skomer and Skokholm.
The sun is just setting, the Manx Shearwaters are rafting ready to reach their nests under cover of darkness. Manx Shearwaters are extremely noisy in their colonies after dark, the darker the night the more noisy they become.
Nature at its best - bring your camera.
Manx Shearwaters nest in burrows and only come to, or leave the island at dusk. They are beautifully adapted to living at sea, with long narrow wings, and feet placed far back on its body for efficient swimming. This makes it difficult for them on land, they cannot walk properly and they shuffle along on the bellies making them easy prey for predators.
There are an estimated 120,000 breeding pairs on Skomer and a further 35,000 on Skokholm. The Shearwaters are a recent addition to the islands they nest in small numbers on other islands such as Westmann Islands, Iceland, in the Faroes in northern and western Britain and Ireland.
Young Manx Shearwaters go to sea, at night, without their parents, and immediately head for winter quarters off the coast of southern Brazil and Argentina. Studies on Skomer and Skokholm show that some of the young make this 6,000 - 7,000 mile journey in less than 2 weeks. It is not known what the birds do the following summer. When the birds are 2 they return to colonies, they are instinctively drawn near to where they were born. Some Shearwaters do not breed until they are at least six years old.
The best way to view these amazing birds is on the Seabird Spectacular
