Farne Islands: Guillemots

The common guillemot (uria aalge) is the most numerous nesting bird on the Farne Islands. Up to 25,000 pairs nest on the island's cliffs every summer. Many can be seen on the boat journey out to the islands, fishing for sand eels.

Guillemots dive to 50m or more using their wings for propulsion and can take large sand eels back to their chicks.

A small percentage of the birds are the 'bridled' variety and I'll be blogging about that another day. There are at least two 'bridled guillemot' in this photo. Can you see them?

It's still fairly early in the summer but there were a few chicks around the cliffs.

This guillemot appears to be cradling a dead chick. Her mothering instinct seems strong.

The birds that breed around the British Isles are mostly of the sub-species albionis. They have a dark brown head rather than black, and a dark grey bill.