Tystie takeoff

When I first saw a Black Guillemot hanging about on the cliffs with a fish, I was worried. Was I stopping it from going to its chick, hidden in rocks just inland? I needn’t have worried. Black Guillemots (or Tysties as they are known here) love to display their fish for all to see. They spend an age sitting on the cliff edges together, and there’s clearly an important social aspect to displaying fish for them.

Occasionally an Arctic Skua will come patrolling along, cock its head as it looks down at the Tystie with the fish, and then drop a shoulder and dive at them. Tysties usually escape by throwing themselves off the cliff and flying as fast as they can into the water and diving underneath the waves.

This one, however, had a more serene existence. It sat sunbathing and displaying its beautiful red Butterfish for over half an hour before deciding the time was right to fly to its nest. It’s fabulous to get a small insight into their strange lives.