Gannets and Bridled Guillemots with a side order of Seal sausages
Clamour. That’s the best word to describe it.
![Noup Head - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-47-725x483.jpg)
That’s if you’re talking about sound. Pungent would probably the thing that comes to mind if you have a different balance between the senses.
This pair of Gannets are greeting one another with much beak rubbing.
![Noup Head - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-28-1-725x483.jpg)
Here there’s a bridled Guillemot.
![Bridled Guillemot - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-37-1-483x725.jpg)
That eye stripe is sublime. This one appears to have oil on its plumage which may well give it problems. Apart from being toxic, it affects the water-proofing of the plumage and may lead to heat-loss.
Here’s a pristine one:
![Bridled Guillemot - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-50-725x483.jpg)
The Gannets are close this afternoon.
![Gannet - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-32-1-725x483.jpg)
This one gives me a wary look at I teeter on the cliffs.
![Gannet - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-19-1-725x408.jpg)
On the rocks below is a Grey Seal haul.
![Grey Seals - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-76-725x483.jpg)
They lie like fat sausages on a grill.
![Grey Seals - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-81-725x483.jpg)
They know I’m here even though I’m a long, long way away, so I retreat and leave them in peace.
![Grey Seals - Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Westray-The-Hall-of-Einar-85-725x725.jpg)
It must be exhausting swimming when you could be lying in the sun. And lying in the sun is just what I’m going to do now, like a sausage in a blanket.