Waterfalls of Stars: Ten Years on Skomer Island

Product Information

I was mesmerised from start to finish, as nothing seems to happen but yet everything does: the seasons change, the wildlife comes and goes, challenges are overcome, friendships are forged and their relationship grows stronger.

Martin Griffiths is well known nationally and internationally as a distinguished astronomer involved with the Dark Sky initiative especially as Director of the Brecon Beacons Observatory. Take the book in your hand and it is like setting off across the choppy sound in a small boat to Skomer. We have always known the stars in our skies by the names traditionally given to them from Greek mythology: Martin Griffiths reveals the equally traditional names they have long held from the annals of Welsh lore, names like Blodeuwedd and Rhiannon for the Andromeda constellation, Ceffyl-Dwr and the Mount of Rhiannon for the Pegasus constellation, Sarn Gwydion for the Milky Way galaxy — and also from the fourth branch of the Mabinogion, Llew Llaw Gyffes represents Perseus, and Arianrhod is the Welsh name for the constellation Coronae Borealis. From the novelty of Celtic names for the stars in our skies to the adventurous wild Welsh island life—-these two books will take you far away from the boredom of an urban winter.The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. With great sensitivity, and humour, Rosanne Alexander relates their experiences on Skomer, including her observations of the island’s wildlife and landscape.

These birds use Skomer as a home, or as a spring board to other places, a breeding ground, or possibly, even a holiday destination. It is an important breeding ground for many birds, and shearwaters, puffins and kittiwakes and the seals become a source of pleasure and companionship. I must confess to being completely star-struck by this seminal work; join me in looking to the heavens with new knowledge and a proprietorial interest. I think it would have benefitted from some more editing - I felt that some of the writing about seals and storms became repetitive.We would like your consent to use cookies that allow us to give you a personalised experience and advertise to you elsewhere on the internet. I suppose I am biased in my view of the book, since it’s about a part of the world I know well it meant I connected strongly to the book.

At times it seems the winter’s can be harsh and grizzly, almost unpleasant payments for the sweeter months of summer and spring. When he finds out about the advertisement for a warden-job at Skomer, his life’s dream, he persuades Rosanne to go with him as the job requires a couple to apply. There are Wordsworthian instances where the dark island reveals its huge form which sometimes frightens the author. Waterfalls of Stars is Rosanne Alexander’s love letter to Skomer Island, the nature reserve where she spent ten years as a warden. Thrown on their own resources they had also to deal with catastrophes like the devastation of the island s seal colony following an oil spill.

It was impossible to enter the water there without feeling the breath snag in the back of my throat and thinking ‘never again’, but its appearance was so limpidly enticing that I fell victim to its temptations again and again. In many ways then, this book is the testament of living in direct connection with nature in all of its faucets; often harsh and dangerous, at other times absolutely magical. For armchair adventurers, Rosanne Alexander's account of a decade on Skomer, a wildlife haven off the coast of West Wales, is as bracing as a lungful of salt sea air.

Grateful that it came into my life and opened up a whole new world for me here in the other side of the world.There are many sections that are entirely given over to narrating what is happening on the island in terms of wildlife, from the seabirds nesting to the seal pups separating from their mothers to the goat they adopt making mischief or the rabbits making their way through their plantation. The middle section could have been slightly condensed to make the book 100 pages shorter, but the descriptions of wildlife and the island, though notiably written by someone less experienced in writing, is also notably written by someone with an intense love and understanding of wildlife, particularly birds and seals. It portrays a relationship with nature enthralling in its immediacy and engages readers as she cares for Skomer's bird and seal colonies while exploring her own character during periods of isolation from the mainland. This was the first of many challenges Rosanne and Mike faced during their ten years on the nature reserve, from coping with periods of isolation when they were the island’s only inhabitants, to dwindling food supplies during the winter when rough weather made provisioning from the mainland impossible.