A sunny day in April saw me driving from my Pembrokeshire home towards the car park at Martins Haven. I had been watching the weather for a couple of weeks and any hope of heading to Skomer had been blown out by the weather. But the day in question arrived with a glorious sunny start. I have lived in Pembrokeshire all my life and had never set foot upon Skomer Island, though I had seen the plentiful wildlife from the sea on visits on yachts. The course was purchased for me as a Birthday gift.

I met Andy at Lockley Lodge and we were soon joined by David and Karen, the other people on the course. Upon landing on Skomer we were greeted by Chris the warden and given a quick talk about the island and its wildlife. We then set of in earnest to base camp at the Wardens Lodge before heading off to the other side of the island and the promise of puffins.

No sign of puffins to start as Andy set about camera familiarisation and picture composition all with plenty of hands on teaching, this being interrupted by the arrival of the elusive puffins which sent myself, Karen and David into a frenzy of image taking.

Lunchtime arrived and it was back to the Wardens Lodge for our lunch sat in the glorious sunshine after taking pictures of the Seals basking in the sun on North Haven beach. Fortified by some food and cold drinks it was off back to look at more Puffins.

The day was a great success and the course was very informative and informal with Andy imparting his knowledge to his willing pupils. It's now a case of keep putting into practice and honing skills learned on the day.

Thanks for a great day out

Viv