The Great Skua and the Gannet’s tail
Gannets are big birds. On the cliffs they dwarf their Guillemot neighbours. They have fearsome beaks and could easily do you severe …
Solan Goose
There’s time for a quick trip to Noup Head. Dramatic cliffs, tens of thousands of seabirds, breathtaking views over the Ocean. What’s …
Gannets and Bridled Guillemots with a side order of Seal sausages
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 …
Gannet on the water
I’m used to seeing Gannets flying at head height. Since their colonisation of Noup Head cliffs, their numbers have soared like a …
Bridled Guillemot
Visiting Noup Head on Westray is always exhilarating. It’s even more exhilarating the closer you get to the edge of the cliffs. …
Bempton birds – Gannets displaying
When two Gannets fall in love, they like to let each other know about it: I like the final one. Don’t you?
Bempton birds – when you know you’re being watched
Many birds are perfect parcels of protein. There are plenty of predatory species which would treat them as a tasty snack. This …
Bempton birds – eyelids
Blinking birds. Gannets are everywhere at Bempton Cliffs. I’m hoping to get a good look at their eyes. Gannets’ eyes are special. …
Bempton birds – the miracle of flight
The power of flight still astonishes me. If only I could be up there with the birds at RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The …
Bempton birds – staring at the sky
Gannets look astonishingly alien, don’t they? They’re not inhabitants of this world. When they display to one another they point directly at …
Bempton birds – nesting materials
A Kittiwake flies past with some grass in its beak. It looks like its nest needs reinforcements: They sometimes carry so much …
Bempton birds – violence and aggression
It’s not all mutual preening and sweetness and light at Bempton Cliffs. It’s a difficult life, perched on a ledge surrounded by …
Bempton birds – Gannets, Gannets, everywhere
Try going to Bempton and getting a photograph without a Gannet in it. Try it. Go on. Here’s a Puffin in flight; …
Bempton birds – eggs and chicks galore
There are hundreds of thousands of seabirds here at RSPB Bempton Cliffs. I particularly love the Kittiwakes. They’re such delicate, elegant gulls, …
Bempton birds – pecking and preening
It must be very frustrating to be a bird with an itch. Despite having extremely flexible necks and long-jointed feet and legs …
2018 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
My trips to Orkney in 2018 were full of wildlife surprises. I spent some time in the summer with the Black Guillemots …
Nursery
There’s a beautiful nursery down below on these precarious cliffs: Adult Gannets are tending to their chicks and grooming themselves and each …
Air Traffic Control
The RSPB say that Gannets are: “…distinctively shaped with a long neck and long pointed beak, long pointed tail, and long pointed …
An evening with the Gannets of Noup Head
I’d love to tell you all about my evening at the RSPB reserve at Noup Head on Westray but all you need …
When a Gannet lands next to us
It’s blustery at the top of the 60 metre-high cliffs on Westray’s Noup Head. We’re surrounded by Gannets flying past us when …
Good Gannets above!
Noup Head is an exciting place to be when the Gannets are flying: They are massive: When the weather conditions are just …
2017 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
2017 was a wonderful year for wildlife experiences in Orkney. In July the seabird city at Noup Head was a whirling, wheeling …
Gertrude Tanglewing
It’s been a very blustery day, it’s nearly dark and I’m just settling down for the evening when there’s an urgent message …
Gannet families
The Gannet chicks at Noup are massive. They are so big and yet so fluffy still. Their main flight feathers are still …
Gannets at Noup
I’m hanging over the edge of a 75 metre high cliff looking down at the dizzying heights below. The smell of a …
Never a dull day
The weather on Westray may be dull, but there’s never a dull day on Westray.
A white blanket of cloud shrouds the island but life continues as normal for the incredible menagerie which inhabits the shores of Westray.
Gannet
The name Gannet comes from the Old English ganot which means strong or masculine. It’s from the same Old Germanic root as …
Good Gannets above!
Have you ever wondered how Gannets manage to dive into the water at such incredible speeds and yet seem to survive without …
Gannets fly past while the sun sets at Noup Head
The evening is idyllic. Sunshine, hail, rain and a double rainbow in just five minutes. The gusty wind means the Gannets are …