{"id":6876,"date":"2026-07-16T15:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/?p=6876"},"modified":"2026-07-16T17:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:47:05","slug":"puffin-ringing-on-skokholm-island-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrischalkart.com\/painting_blog\/puffin-ringing-on-skokholm-island-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Puffin ringing on Skokholm Island 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the begining of the month (July 2026) we spent 4 days on Skokholm island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, helping ring pufflings and adult puffins. Pufflings, probably the best name for a juvenile anything in the entire animal kingdon, look nothing like the adult birds, as you’ll see in the photographs below. Skokholm Island is a bird observatory and the ringing of seabirds here is part of a long term scientific monitoring programme tracking population trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puffling, baby puffin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ringers catching puffins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Puffin<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Slightly older puffling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Howard’s End hide on Skokholm, my favourite<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Razorbill on the rocks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wife’s lucky socks worked<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"View<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six-spot burnet moth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Puffin ringers hard at work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"People<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skokholm puffins just being themselves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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