Fascinating Fulmars

 Fulmars are one of the British birds that have steadily increased in recent years and Hunstanton cliffs certainly support this with many more birds there this visit than previous. Adults spend a large portion of their lives at sea, returning in November  to set up territories.  Eggs are laid in May. In July, the parents depart to resume their oceanic wandering, leaving the chick to fend for itself.  By early September, the youngster will be ready to follow in the wake of its parents.  Young birds spend the first four or five years of their lives at sea, and do not reach maturity until they are eight or nine years old but they may live for up to forty years.  Here a few shots from Saturday's visit.

Flight Shots at Hunstanton

 I spent some time on Saturday at Hunstanton trying to get flight shots of the various birds there especially the Fulmars. The light level was low with the cloudy conditions so high ISO and difficult to get high enough shutterspeeds  but it did allow detail in the whites and certainl;y gave the camera a task to pick up the birds against backgrounds

Birds at Hunstanton

Some shoreline birds from my visit on July 8th on a mostly overcast afternoon. I was trying to capture movement and flight as flocks of waders etc moved through when the tide receded and exposed the mussel-bed-feeding grounds. I also attempted to capture the Fulmars and Swifts that nest in the cliffs - not a great success rate!!

Hunstanton Birds

I spent Friday morning on Hunstanton Beach, watching and attempting to photograph some of the birds including the colony of 

Fulmars that nest on the cliff in the company of Swifts. As the tide went out the rocks were visited by Oyster Catchers, Cormorant, Curlew, Redshank and various Gulls including Mediterranean with the eye ring and pure white plumage.

Fulmars and Gulls at Hunstanton

Our last day in Norfolk brought beautiful weather and the Fulmars on the cliffs were well illuminated including a fluffy chick.We arrived at Hunstanton a couple of hours after High Tide (and a very high one too) so the various gulls and waders were coming back to the shoreline to feed as the waters receded. Here Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gull and Common Gull.