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Gannet - Morus Bassanus
Bempton Cliffs
The gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, having a wingspan of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft). The other two species occur in the temperate seas around southern Africa, southern Australia and New Zealand.
Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea from a height and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:
no external nostrils, they are located inside the mouth instead;
air sacs in the face and chest under the skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;
positioning of the eyes far enough forward on the face for binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.
Gannets can dive from a height of 30 metres (98 ft), achieving speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.
The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to gannet becoming a description of somebody with a voracious appetite.
Gannets are colonial breeders on islands and coasts, normally laying one chalky, blue egg. Gannets lack brood patches and they use their webbed feet to warm the eggs. It takes five years for gannets to reach maturity. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent sub-adult plumages show increasing amounts of white.
The most important nesting ground for northern gannets is the United Kingdom with about two thirds of the world's population. These live mainly in Scotland, including the Shetland Isles. The rest of the world's population is divided between Canada, Ireland, Faroe Islands and Iceland, with small numbers in France (they are often seen in the Bay of Biscay), the Channel Islands, Norway and a single colony in Germany on Heligoland. The biggest northern gannet colony is on Scotland's Bass Rock; in 2014, this colony contained some 75,000 pairs. Sulasgeir off the coast of the Isle of Lewis, St. Kilda, Grassholm in Pembrokeshire, Bempton Cliffs in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Sceilig Bheag, Ireland and Bonaventure Island, Quebec are also important northern gannet breeding sites.
Young gannets were historically used as a food source, a tradition still practised in Ness, Scotland, where they are called guga. Like examples of continued traditional whale harvesting, the modern day hunting of gannet chicks results in great controversies as to whether it should continue to be afforded exemption from the ordinary protection afforded to sea birds in UK and EU law". The Ness hunt is currently limited to 2,000 chicks per year, and dates back at least to the Iron Age. The hunt is considered to be sustainable, as between 1902 and 2003 Gannet numbers in Scotland increased dramatically from 30,000 to 180,000.
Population:
UK breeding:
220,000 nests
Lago Blanco, Tierra del Fuego, Chile
A single rose can be my garden...
A single friend, my world
(Leo Buscaglia)
found in a Wild Garden in West Wales (Ceredigion)
7 Days with Flickr #Flora
Æ’/4.0
108 mm
1/400
ISO 100
Dedicated to C.F. (ILYWAMHASAM)
If this looks generous, it wasn't. Only in calories....barely a quarter cup, a couple of inches around, it has 220 calories.
But delicious. And pink.
15/52, Pink this week, in my group Life is a Rainbow
And for Macro Mondays, Circles
And 7 Days with Flickr, Closeup
A versatile subject, $1.29 well-spent!
Squirrel baffles are awesome as long as your bird feeders are not compromised from the air :)
I did manage to plant all forty milkweed plants yesterday, even with all of the distractions that were flitting about. However, I did not trim a single thing. Today, I shall begin with the firebush that is located just outside the living room window. I knew those branches were getting a little long and the little mischievous acrobatic entertainers would discover that the swing feeder was no longer out of reach. Still, it is quite a jump followed by a balancing act to get to the feeder. This little guy deserved his bounty.
Image taken through the living room window.
A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat.
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Outfit by * S K * - Xaouyun
Hairpin by Toksik - Bloom Hairpin
Sword by INORI - Chinese Han Sword
Pavillion by DYNASTY - Peaceful Pavilion
Background by *bbqq* - Xi Xiang Wall Set
Das #Perlenei#……feine Handarbeit.
Auswahlfoto:
Für:“Looking close…on Friday!“
Thema:“A Single Egg“. am 31.03.2023.
Thanks for views,faves and comments:-))
Someone lost their Halloween mask ")
Happy Smile on Saturday
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Bokeh Lights, Cotton Gauze, Disposable Ear Plugs, Macro, Macro Mondays, Single Use
Dimension Reference: Cotton pad teh Ear Plug s rest on is 3" (i.e., 76mm) and is cropped a bit; Ear Plugs length is 1" (i.e., 25mm)
I love the area out at the end of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. I would go there all the time if I could. It's not far away but it takes the best part of an hour driving flat out at about 25-35mph most of the time. Here we are, near Branault, on the far side of Ben Hiant on the run down to Fascadale. Not many people go there which makes it all the more special.