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| Dingle hatbours outskirts. |
Last Saturday (2nd) while out searching for a Harbour Porpoise carcass around Dingle harbour that had been reported only a day before, I noticed a familiar sight just outside the mouth of the harbour, that of falling shard-like birds as they plunged into the Atlantic trough.
Continuing my search further South from the town of Dingle itself (while losing hope of finding this particular Porpoise) I began to climb the Eastern cliffs that guard the harbours only entrance. To my right lay a relatively calm patch of Atlantic surf compared to the churning body of the adjacent Dingle bay which was feeling the full wrath of the North Eastern Atlantic. In this area of calm three boats emerged from the sheltered harbour on a mission: to find Fungie.
Fungie is an adult solitary Bottlenose dolphin who has made this harbour his home since the eighties and as such he has become a source of revenue for a collection of boat bearing residents. Two of the boats I could see before me were packed with tourists while the smallest (a dinghy) was a private boat. All they wanted was to catch sight of this resident dolphin.
After about five minutes I spotted him as his back sliced through the surface at speed, he was closer to my side of this narrow body of water than there's! Once spotted the boats began they're pursuit and I merely moved on.
Approaching a prominent point along the increasingly rising cliffs I spotted the seabirds I had witnessed earlier at a greater distance, now slightly closer, the gannets really put on a natural spectacle.
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| A Gannet searching for a fish supper! |
Gannets are our largest ocean going seabirds with a six-foot wingspan coloured largely with snow white weathers, a golden crown and with black wingtips. At close range their bluish beak can also be distinguished. They are superbly adapted to enter the sea from a height after spotting fish from the air as they have thickened skulls and even an airbag like system present within their chest to protect the internal organs from the strain that hitting a wall of water at around 100kmph at times!
Occasionally one would dive close by to which I would have to reassess my efforts in capturing this bird transform into a six-foot dart aiming to snag a fish supper under the surface. After some time and effort capturing mediocre shots from afar I decided to move on to a spot which seemed to attract various gannets to dive closer to shore much more consistently.
On rounding the next corner however I encountered yet another seabird at much closer quarters!
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| A Fulmar gliding within millimeters of the cliff face. |
Fulmars were the clifftop kings of this corner cove and they showed little fear of me while gliding around on a combination of thermals and oceanic wind, even when they were literally withing a few feet of me. The fulmar resemble a gull to a point but they can be distinguished easily enough due to their square head and most crucially tubenose laying along the top of they're beak. The latter feature allows this bird to desalinate sea water in order to provide itself with drinking water while out at sea, it also identifies this bird as a relative of the albatross! The benefits of being a light weight bird really were on show as various fulmars swooped sometimes precariously close to the cliffs but the cons however, were apparent too. When a bird decided to land the updraft from the seas surface provided a stiff resistance to this individuals plans which were often abandoned to reattempt a landing which if successful was usually a very awkward affair.
After awhile I decided I had taken enough photos of these charismatic birds and moved on to the larger cluster of gannets diving nearby, who had split into two groups now. The new one was directly in front of where I had positioned myself last time! I quickly descended to take advantage of the birds close proximity but they decided to disperse so I returned to my original plan.
Upon reaching the highest part of the cliffs I was met by some hundred or so gannets either lounging on the surface in rafts or actively foraging, some very close to the cliffs. I duly began tracking birds close to the cliffs all the while keeping an eye out for any potential divers (which is not as easy as you'd think) after a few minutes I captured the final moments of a dive as I had intended. The gannets dive is something everyone should have up high on the bucket list, it begins and ends in seconds transpiring in one medium going into another and returning to the former. The gannet begins this process by gliding over the the sea, largely at height. Upon spotting fish below the surface it banks sharply on whatever side it chooses and starts to descend at speed,
moments before entering the water it folds both its wings straight back along its bodies length usually crossing its black wingtips to form an X,
Then it hits the water and becomes a water bird at depth having lead a tail of bubbles in its wake as it descended here it uses its folded wings to propel it to its prey. Once caught within the gannets beak the prey item is swallowed whole and the gannet makes a fast-paced ascent to the surface where it usually launches itself skyward after a running start.
I was fortunate to observe this behavior so close to land last weekend but these birds do on occasion feed close to shore and you won't have too much trouble spotting this large seabird plunge headfirst into the Atlantic should it occur while your seaside!
