Black Guillemot
I’m on a day trip to the Mainland. That’s the mainland of Orkney.
In the harbour at Scapa there’s a bird paddling for all it’s worth towards us. It’s a Black Guillemot. I didn’t recognise it at first because it’s in winter plumage.
It’s heading for the steps to the dock. It gets there and climbs up onto a step. It looks tired from swimming. I’m not surprised given how much effort it was making doing all that paddling.
Normally I’d find it difficult to get close to a Black Guillemot. I’d have to spend a few hours in camouflage. They’re always careful to avoid giving the position of their nest away:
Here, I’m just standing above it looking over the railings at it.
It’s going to take me quite a while to get used to their new-to-me plumage.