(Click on the photographs to enlarge them)
First three hours were gone in a blink. It is the magic of Puffins. I was on my way to the Cat Cliff on the Southern end of the island – the land of the Northern Gannets.
Great Saltee island ascends from 3-5m high shore on the mainland side to 20-30m high cliffs on its south-eastern side. The Southern Summit rises to an altitude of 58m.
I was walking along a stone wall, and after it ended the path took steep up through the waist-high ferns.
On the summit I made a stop to take a picture. It was still foggy.
A Great black backed gull was standing on a rock. I came closer. It is a large bird, a predator attacking and killing even the far larger animals and birds, and I didn’t want to take a risk. Yet, I didn’t notice the chicks until they ran and hid themselves, and only then I knew I was in trouble. The last thing I needed was to be struck by a gull! I turned back and walked away as fast as I could without running in panic, while the gull’s partner repeatedly flew over my head diving low enough to touch my hair. With its wingspan of 150-170cm the attacking gull was as good as a small aircraft.
I caught up with the other photographers and we headed to the Cat Cliff barely visible in the mist.
There was another gull – a male with no chicks around ( we will see them later).
To get to the Cat Cliff takes an effort, but it was a fun climb because of the many species of the sea birds and their young we met on our way. Look at these Razorbills with their soft fluffy bellies.
A young Common shag looks from under the rock…
…and makes a careful step with his clumsy webbed foot.
An adult bird is different, all shiny and beautiful.
This is the place. A small colony of Gannets are settled on the left from the Cat Cliff. We don’t go there – it is a steep cliff and very little room for a tripod.
This is the Cat Cliff itself.
I sat there enjoying the sight, and took this panorama. Unfortunately there is no sky because of the thick fog.
We came very close to the nesting birds, but they didn’t mind. They have lived a long life, and have seen it all…
In my previous posts, there are more facts and more different photographs. If you are interested, you can go back and read these post – I have reblogged them.
Here you can listen to the gannet call. Multiply it by couple of thousand 🙂
The sky is crawling with Gannets.
After landing the birds perform a “dance”.
Sometimes they bring some weeds.
Under every rock there is a chick. I have no idea what bird they belong to.
This one looks different.
And finally I see them – the chicks of the Great black backed gull I photographed in the flight. Their mother is standing next to them and looking at me with the menacing red eye. They are so tiny and innocent, but the fact is that three more killers will join the party soon. Sorry for the Puffins…
Look at this tiny wing 🙂
Who can find the chicks in this photograph in 10 seconds? 🙂
On the way back the sky cleared for a few minutes and I took another picture of the island.
We also got to see the seals.
The boat was coming in an hour. I started getting nervous. This photograph of a tiny rock that stuck between the big rocks forever shows exactly how I felt.
We went down to the Boulder Beach and sat there looking in the mist. Our motorboats finally came, the inflatable boats took us six at a time on board, and off we went again. Lucky me. The wind was not that strong, and I had never left the deck this time, all soaked in seawater but perfectly well and happy.
Thank you for reading about my adventures!
Have a great weekend!
Making memories 
Absolutely stunning! That would be an artist’s paradise!
Thank you for stopping by! The place is stunning indeed.
I loved the fluffy white feathers, the views through your lens of the natural wonders and the chicks. So sweet 🙂
Thank you for your kind comment! I am not a wildlife photographer, and my pictures sure miss a lot, but the same as it is with the humans – I love my models 🙂
Amazing nature and wildlife! Great images – oh I love the seal image so much, he looked at your camera lens 🙂 posing for the photographer 😀
Thank you Indah! At that time there were three seals, but they say the place is crawling with them some times. I took the picture from a high cliff, but I am certain they saw me and posed 🙂
More beautiful images Inese, this is a magical place.
Thank you Andrea! I wish I could go there more often!
Amazing place. And you have taken some fantastic photos of the birds 🙂 x
Thank you so much! 🙂
Wow! Quite an adventure, indeed! Beautiful photographs highlighting the scenery and the wildlife. Magnificent. What a ragged, rugged coast! 🙂
Thank you Linda! 🙂 The island is a gem!
Beautiful photographs.
Thank you for stopping by!
Thank you for your kind comment!
Just some astonishing sights you show us.
I have to comment on this you know me, that eagle? Well she or he does have great balance, just on the point of that rock looking down a cliff and she didn´t blink. They should put her on a circus….with me!
Nice post´s as always
Thank you friend! Glad you are back to the active duty on WordPress 🙂
Gorgeous but a scary experience too. It must be amazing to be there. Thanks for taking us on your trip!
Thank you for taking the trip Olga! 🙂
Inese – more great images and I love you take the time to learn about the birds and their nature. Their habitat is so different from my part of the world. Wonderful set of blogs!
Thank you! When you learn something beforehand it makes such a difference. Knowing that Puffins live 20 years, for example, changed my perspective and helped my photography 🙂
More wonderful pictures. Scary gull incident; scary cliff.
Thank you! Did you see the wing span in the picture? 🙂
The cliffs are steep and high, but when you spot a feeding puffin… There is no way you give up 🙂
Wing span spotted
Another amazing follow on post!!!!
Thank you for reading! It is the last post from my recent trip. Hopefully I will go to the Island again next year.
Inese – You’ve outdone yourself this time around. The photos are stunning. You really do transport us to another time and place. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words, Sheri! Glad you loved the Island. Have a peaceful weekend!
Inese
Wow. What an amazing trip. Great images. Cheers =)
Thank you! 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed both parts of this series, Inese, thank you so much. It was informative, inspiring, and beautiful; and your photos are truly awesome. Most of these birds are difficult if not impossible to see on mainlands, which makes the photos that much more delightful. 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! It is true that the sea birds prefer remote islands because of their nesting habits, and even there they stay only for a short period of time spending most of their life in the water. I am delighted to have the opportunity 🙂 Thank you again!
Gorgeousness!
Thank you! 🙂
Lovely collection of photos…and the chicks and razorbills…indeed all the birds do look very cute. Nice one!
Vijay
Thank you Vijay!
And it was a marvelous adventure, indeed! Thank you so much for sharing it with us, Inese. I was especially taken with the baby birds, but all the photos were fantastic. Huge hugs!
Thank you Teagan! I have many photographs of the birds and this time I wanted to find something special. The baby birds are special 🙂
Hugs!!!
What an adventure!
Thank you! It could be worse 🙂 I have read that these gulls have killed at least two people in the UK.
Sounds like a Hitchcock movie! Scary!
Daddy gull attacked me at least 4-5 times even that I was far away from his chicks – I wouldn’t even see them if they didn’t start popping up from between the rocks. Wouldn’t kill me on his own though, just embarrass 🙂
I’d have been squealing like a little girl for sure!
I was afraid to make things worse. I pretended having no idea about him trying to rip my head off. Who knows, may be my screams would only encourage him…
Sooooooo beautiful!
Thank you! 🙂