5.2 - Grassholm Island
Grassholm Island - "Ynys Gwales".
Name based on old norse for Grass Island .
A small flat topped island , 8 miles west of Skomer Island .
Wales most distant Island .
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An RSPB Reserve since 1948 / no access .
Boat Trips around the Island - from Martins Haven.
Check Website of www.dale-sailing.co.uk
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A basalt Rock / home to the largest Gannet Colony in the North Atlantic.
About 39,000 breeding pairs .
At a distance the colony appears like a patch of snow on top of the Island .
In 1890 there were 500,000 puffins on the Island !
Also some Guillemots , Kittiwakes , Seals !
There are Gannets around Grassholm from February until October.
Gannets travel as far south in the winter as South Africa. The older birds will stay in European waters.
They can also fly daily to the waters of northern Spain.
Gannets make their nests out of seaweed, grass and feathers. They lay one to two eggs a year , between April and May and incubate them for 44 days and the chicks fledge at 90 days.