Skomer Island, late shearwater evening

Took the overnight stay on Skomer mostly to be there after the day-trippers left. The Manx Shearwaters come back to their burrows after dark in numbers that are hard to believe unless you’ve heard them — a rising, cackling roar starting about half an hour after sunset. I didn’t try to photograph them in the dark; the ethics feel off with flashes around nesting birds. Daytime had plenty of other work.

The puffins were mostly gone by then but the gannets were still cycling past the cliffs. Got my boots soaked on the Wick cliff trail and considered it fair payment.