I was bound for the
Murray's Isles which house a cormorant colony on their rocky crest.
From their lofty perch the cormorants can watch for...
...passing shoals of fish.
Then a leisurely flap of ...
..their wings and they are off on a fishing trip...
...to feed their hungry chicks. However, one adult always remains at the nest to protect the chicks as hungry herring gulls also nest in close proximity to the cormorants and are quick to swoop down on an undefended egg or chick. The cormorants' prime nest sites sit atop rocky pillars and by late summer...
...the rocks are caked in their white guano. Photographs can neither capture the sounds or the smell of a sea bird colony. The cormorants are bigger than the...
...the gulls but the gulls are patient, waiting for any opportunity to raid...
...a cormorant's nest.
The gulls are also breeding and...
...their chicks hop about the rocks in large groups before...
...they are fledged and take their...
...first flight down to the sea where they bob about in perfect camouflage.
This adult was keeping her beady eye on her chick and saw me off the premises.
