Birds To See On The Offshore Islands Of West Wales
Lapwing
Numbers declining. Distinctive long head crest and loud ‘peewit’ call. Flocks swoop and wheel as if blown by wind. Distinctive broad wings with blunt end in flight. Dark greenish with purple of blue wings, white throat and belly plus inner part of underwing. Shows white band above black tail when in flight.
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Nests in many coastal locations. Like Herring Gull but dark grey back/upper wings and very yellow legs. Wingtips darker than rest of wing. Inner two thirds of trailing edge of upperwing is white. Bill yellow with orange spot. Red ring around yellow eye. Roosts on reservoirs and lakes.
Manx Shearwater
Pelagic. Skomer, Skokholm and Ramsey It flies low over water with wings held stiffly. Dark upper and white under. It is a summer visitor and you only see it at night when coming back to nesting burrows. Legs not adapted for land so it can hardly walk.
Oystercatcher
Black and white with long, narrow orange bill. Black head and rump with white underparts. Flight shows broad angled white stripe on each wing and white rump with black tail tip. Large flocks often utter high-pitched twee-twee when in flight. They land in a big tumble and set to feeding on shore or mud.
Peregrine
Much larger than Merlin. Male: dark grey head and back with pronounced horizontal grey barring on underside and fluffy legs, yellow at ankle and feet. Nests on cliffs and likes to catch pigeons and waders on the wing. Females much bigger.
Puffin
Pelagic. Skokholm and Skomer. None on Ramsey. They are around from March to end August but you won’t necessarily see them till they have laid eggs June to mid-July.
Razorbill
Pelagic. Most on Skomer; also Skokholm, Ramsey Lots between Angle and Stackpole on South Pembs coast and Needle Rock by Dinas Head. Easy to spot: huge chunky bill with distinctive white stripe. Black and white. Rarely seen outside breeding season.
Storm Petrel
Pelagic. Skokholm mainly . Smallest seabird in British waters – a bit bigger than a sparrow! Dark plumage, white rump, showing as V shape in flight (like House Martin). It flutters near sea with feet dangling. Very square tail; white bar on underwing. Migrants pass close to headlands Sept/Oct – especially in stormy weather.