As cool as the Arctic
The Arctic Terns on Westray are a curious bunch. If you start to care about them it can be an emotional rollercoaster. You’ll see an entire colony collapse and be abandoned with no chicks raised. A favourite site for a colony can disappear and all those fond memories of experiencing them there can seem just like a distant dream. Another colony can raise just three chicks and then you can only be sure there was one which safely fledged. What happened to the other two overnight? Did a predator take them? A remaining chick can be fed by all the adults in the colony until it can stand to be fed no more.
And then they can find another site, join together to nest colonially, fight off any intruders, like the hungry Black-Backed Gulls or the entirely innocent straying Fulmars, and raise dozens of youngsters.
I’m glad to see they’re bringing in the right kinds of fish this year. Last year they were bringing in Pipefish and large Lumpsuckers:
Luckily I can park the car next to this colony and take photographs standing behind my open door. They’re not bothered by my presence.
I wonder if they’ll be here next year or all move somewhere else?
More Arctic Terns
The beauty of Arctic Terns The Arctic Terns at the Bay of Tuquoy have had success with their breeding colony this year. It's been a… read more
A perfect hat-trick A perfect hat-trick in football is when you score three goals, one with your left foot, one with your right… read more
Not long out of the egg Arctic Terns are colonial nesting birds. I'm sure of that fact. I've spent 18 years exploring Westray and seeing their… read more
An emotional state The Arctic Terns on Westray are bringing a succession of fish in to their youngsters. The beach is crowded with… read more
Beautiful conflict Aikerness is the most northerly part of Westray, where the wild waves crash and the wind blows uninterrupted by walls… read more
Air to light Two years ago I took a photograph I love. It is of an Arctic Tern hovering, using a long exposure… read more
Arctic Tern feeding A memory of last summer with the Arctic Terns of Westray. There were so few chicks in this colony that… read more
An Arctic Tern colony There's an Arctic Tern colony on Westray which is next to a road with a couple of parking spaces. It's… read more
An Arctic Tern with a Lumpfish Lumpfish grow to be large fish, sometimes washed up on the beaches of Westray. To see them as tiny fish,… read more