The Wildlife of
Holy Island

 
Home
A-Z Index
Statistics

Fulmar, Gannet, Petrels and Shearwaters - The Fulmar

First seen on Wednesday 24th June 2020 at Holy Island

Fulmars usually nest on the cliffs (there are some small cliffs to the north of the island). However, a castle wall will suffice, and you can get wonderful views of them from the path to the castle entrance. Fulmars spend a lot of their time effortlessly gliding over the sea, as if posing for a photo.


 

The photo below shows a classic 'vertical' view of a Fulmar flying over the sea. They tend to fly out from the cliffs, circle around, and fly back. You can see their feet are not tucked in like most birds, but left dangling behind, and can be used as rudders. Fulmars are similar to gulls, but have a very distinctive bill. You can see this in the close-up image. It looks like it's been broken and badly stuck back together, but it's designed that way, as the tube helps expel excess salt from their bodies.