Common Guillemots

Fishing

I love chugging out of Brixham on board the Kelly’s Hero. Brixham is still an active port, and it’s a pleasure to …

The coast of Westray is a great place to see the skeletons of birds. In particular, there are skulls littered across the …

This is a Common Guillemot in its non-breeding plumage. Some of them, however, are getting frisky. This one is in breeding plumage …

How do you land on a narrow ledge, high above the sea, in a stiff wind, which is already full of other …

Seeing the power of a Common Guillemot as it takes off is awe-inspiring. They have surprisingly short, narrow wings for a bird …

There’s a Common Guillemot on the waves. It’s having a little spruce up. Nesting in a colony is a great idea if …

Common Guillemots are free-diving pursuit divers. Their diet is fish, and the fish which are alive in today’s ocean are the descendants …

There are Common Guillemots, Uria aalge, flying in front of the cliffs at Noup Head on Westray. It’s a breezy day and the …

I love being on ferries and small boats. It’s not something I do very often, so when my son Gabriel suggested a …

There’s a Common Guillemot in Brixham, just off the breakwater. It takes a while to get a shot of one. I have …

There’s a low flying Guillemot coming past the bottom of the cliffs. It’s a great aerodynamic shape, although perhaps I should say …

Here’s a Guillemot flying past me on the west Westray coast. It’s a grey day, but the rain has cleared and there’s …

Clamour. That’s the best word to describe it. That’s if you’re talking about sound. Pungent would probably the thing that comes to …

Visiting Noup Head on Westray is always exhilarating. It’s even more exhilarating the closer you get to the edge of the cliffs. …

Many birds are perfect parcels of protein. There are plenty of predatory species which would treat them as a tasty snack. This …

There are hundreds of thousands of seabirds here at RSPB Bempton Cliffs. I particularly love the Kittiwakes. They’re such delicate, elegant gulls, …

It must be very frustrating to be a bird with an itch. Despite having extremely flexible necks and long-jointed feet and legs …

Looking back at my photographs from Westray in 2017 I’m struck by this beautiful Bridled Guillemot. It’s a Guillemot, Uria aalge, but …

Guillemots are known as Aaks in Orkney. This Aak egg has been raided from the cliffs at Noup Head and eaten.