A meadow pipit perched on ferns on Skomer Island
Skomer (Welsh: Ynys Sgomer) is an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire in southwestern Wales. It is well known for its wildlife: around half the world's population of Manx shearwaters nest on the island, the Atlantic puffin colony is the largest in southern Britain, and the Skomer vole (a subspecies of the bank vole) is unique to the island. It is also known for its archeological interest: stone circles, standing stone and remains of prehistoric houses. Skomer is a national nature reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area. Much of the island has also been designated an ancient monument. It is surrounded by a marine nature reserve and is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. There is now a hostel on the island so visitors can remain on Skomer after day trippers have taken the boat home. The meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis) is a small passerine bird which breeds in much of the northern half of Europe and also northwestern Asia, from southeastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; there is also an isolated population in the Caucasus Mountains. It is migratory over most of its range, wintering in southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, but is resident in Ireland, Great Britain, and neighbouring areas of western Europe. However, even here, many birds move to the coast or lowlands in winter. This is a widespread and often abundant small pipit, –15 cm long and 15–22 g weight. It is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and buff below, with darker streaking on most of its plumage; the tail is brown, with narrow white side edges. It has a thin bill and pale pinkish-yellow legs; the hind claw is notably long, longer than the rest of the hind toe. The call is a weak tsi-tsi. The simple repetitive song is given in a short song flight.
Size: 2127px × 3191px
Location: Skomer Island Pembrokeshire Wales UK Europe
Photo credit: © Philip Jones / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: anthus, birds, europe, ferns, island, meadow, natural, nature, pembrokeshire, pipit, pratensis, pt, skomer, summer, uk, vertical, wales, west, world
