Sunday 7 April 2019

Cliff riches and auk extra

It's been a few weeks since we've had time to visit the seabird colony on the nearby cliffs. Since our last trip, a few local Facebook groups had mentioned auks returning all around Orkney's coastline, so yesterday we were hopeful that we would see a change!


Still plenty of Fulmar action, but also, as can be seen from this close-up image...


Guillemots!

Shags were busy nest-building...


often with what ever was to hand (beak?).


A bemused-looking Rock Dove.


And did I mention the plethora of Fulmars?


On the way back home, we took a moment to look across the Bay of Semolie...


which necessitated a quick scramble down the cliffs to recover a balloon.


Once down on the shore, it became obvious that, despite last weekend's Orkney-wide annual beach clean, it is a huge and ongoing task to remove marine litter from the environment.

3 comments:

Coastal Ripples said...

Wonderful. Lovely to see your northern feathered friends. B

Imperfect and Tense said...

In the coming months, I'm hoping to be able to capture closer images of these bird species and a few more too.

Spadger said...

Love the pictures Mr W. Particularly the rock dove. I think that's because they are often ignored due to their domesticated cousins and yet your image the bird looks lovely and I'm appreciating its the real deal!