2022 highlights of a wilder Orkney life (part 2)
August in Orkney can be quieter than May, June or July when it comes to bird life. In 2022, August was hectic …
Gannetry
There’s a Northern Gannet colony at Noup Head on Westray. Whenever there’s a breeze in the right direction the Gannets appear at …
Dive! Dive! Dive!
A joyous trip to Brixham breakwater was rewarded with a procession of diving Northern Gannets. Marvellous, aren’t they?
2021 highlights of a wilder Orkney life
I had a wonderful time on Westray in Orkney in 2021. The Puffins returned to breed and provided constant entertainment with their …
Wet Gannet, shaking
This Gannet was very wet after a dive. As it flew past it decided to shake itself dry. I suspect it’s the …
Greta Gannet
We’re watching the Gannets at Noup Head when the Puffin Whisperer gets very excited. She’s seen one with an egg. The adult …
Noup in the mist
Noup Head lighthouse isn’t visible until we’re almost on top of it. There’s dew on the grass and on the purple flowers …
A precarious life on the edge of a precipice
Who would have guessed that Gannet chicks could be so cute close up? Their white downy feathers are not quite as brilliant …
Bonxies on a boat
Great Skuas, Stercorarius skua, are known as Bonxies in Orkney. Their flashing go-faster white wing-stripes are a familiar sight as they patrol …
Gannet missile technology
As I child I read a book called Magic of the Senses by Vitus B. Droscher, a popular science exploration of the …
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 …