This is a Guillemot, a member of the auk family and one of the most common seabirds to nest around our shores, however this was the only pair of the birds that I could photograph on Skomer, the rest were nesting too far away.
As with the puffins the male and female birds spend the winter apart, meeting up in the breeding season when they lay one egg on a rocky ledge. They don't make a nest but as in this shot they clear the space of any stones or debris that might be in the way.
When the egg hatches both parents will attend to the chick for the first three weeks or so after which the chick will go to the water where it is looked after exclusively by the male parent who will feed it and train it for the next 12 weeks. |t does not fly until it is 8 - 10 weeks old
No comments:
Post a Comment