Stay on this stunning island for free... if you're willing to count puffins

Volunteers are being sought to live for free on a small island off the Pembrokeshire coast to count puffins and other wildlife.

Skomer Island is a 1.13 sq mile (2.92 sq km) seabird island managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW).

Successful applicants will get to spend several months on Skomer over spring, summer or autumn as part of conservation efforts.

The island's visitor officer Rob Knott said its at-risk puffins were "absolutely iconic birds" and counting them was "quite a job".

While the roles are unpaid, free accommodation and travel expenses to and from the island within the UK will be provided by WTSWW, plus a bursary ranging from £200 to £400.

Knott said the counting operation involved splitting the island into sections and going around about two hours before sunset when a larger number of puffins were on land.

"We get our clickers out and we count all the ones on the land, then the sea and the ones in the air as well," he added.

Puffins are listed as vulnerable to extinction on the global International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

The fact they are on the list "is wrong for so many reasons, not least, because they used to be absolutely thriving, so we're doing what we can to try and improve those numbers", Knott added.

Three long-term volunteer positions and a seabird monitoring volunteer role are currently being advertised on the island, which is a national nature reserve.

The WTSWW carries out a seabird count on the island every year, monitoring how many birds return in the spring to breed.

Last year, it reported that a record number of 43,626 puffins had been recorded on the island, despite global populations declining rapidly.

The WTSWW linked the population growth "to the abundance of food in the wider area, meaning there is plenty of fish for chicks" and the absence of predators like rats and foxes on the island.

Skomer is also home to 350,000 breeding pairs of Manx shearwaters and thousands of guillemots and razorbills.

The job advert said: "In spring, the focus is on our breeding seabirds - so that'll mean puffin counts and assisting with boat counts of seabird species.

"In summer, the focus moves to chick productivity, whilst in autumn the focus of our work is on grey seal monitoring and some of our other species, including Skomer voles, reptiles, cetaceans and moths."

The volunteers will work on the island for about three months at a time between the end of March through to the end of September, while the seabird monitoring officer will work from 23 May to 23 June.

Volunteer duties could also include boat counts of seabird species and checking on chick productivity or grey seal monitoring, depending on the time of year.

They will also help with the day-to-day running of the island and welcoming its 25,000 visitors a year, the WTSWW said.

The Marine Conservation Society said the waters around Skomer and the Marloes peninsula constitute Wales' only marine conservation zone.