Skomer puffin photographers told to be careful

Visitors to one of Wales's most popular bird-watching islands are being told to take care while trying to photograph its famous puffin population.

Wardens on Skomer Island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, said people are blocking burrows and treading on nests trying to take the perfect picture.

Tens of thousands of puffins nest on Skomer each year.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said some staff had been abused when trying to step in.

Rebecca Vincent from the trust said: "The majority of people are really mindful, but we do have problems, particularly if visitors stray off the paths because they can collapse burrows, potentially killing any puffins that might be inside."

"We also get a huge number of photographers and film crews on the island who may pitch up in one spot for the entire day and think that puffins are posing for them, when in reality they're actually blocking off the entrance to their burrow, maybe even stopping them feeding their chicks."

In most parts of the UK and Europe, numbers of the endangered bird are in decline, but the puffin population on Skomer has almost quadrupled in the past 30 years.

Wardens say that while visitors have a vital role to play in funding and publicising conservation work on the island, it is important they take care while photographing the wildlife.

Sarah Parmor, Skomer's visitor officer, said: "A lot of the island can look like it's just vegetation and greenery, but underneath almost all of that there are actually nests, with birds still inside them.

"It can be very easy to entirely unintentionally kill or injure one of the birds if you step off the paths around the island, even for a moment."