I headed over to Rottingdean today to see how the fulmars were getting on. They've now occupied most of the cliff face, and their cackling calls can easily be heard above the sound of the sea. Every now and then people stop and look up to see where the sound is coming from, and then puzzle about what kind of gull it is. Fulmars are not gulls, they're part of the petrel family (along with the albatross).
Unlike gulls, fulmars have straight wings, and they tend to fly along the cliffs rather than over them.
They also have tube-noses, which protude above their bill. They spend long periods at sea and are able to drink sea water. They extrude the excess salt through their nose. 
But generally the easiest way to spot them is that they nest in nooks and crannies on the cliff edge…
One other characteristic is that they are very poor walkers, often stumbling as they land… that is, when they land. Most of the time they circle in to a suitable resting point and then veer away at the last moment before trying again. I watched this one do several circuits before it managed a safe touch down.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
17 Comments
I could spent ALOT of time there!
Luv that one looking right at you.
They can drink sea water? :eyes:
Wonderful shots.
WOW!! Beautiful pictures! So nice with the cliffs and the nesting places in the shot too.
Robin, thanks!
Andy, thanks! It's a great spot… needs a long lens as they are quite a way up the cliff but it's a very easy spot to work from. Now to get one spitting!
Lois, I love their nest sites, especially where there are the cliff-side plants growing around them. It looks so perfectly domestic!
Erwin, thanks!
Darko, they sure can. They spend lots of time out in the north atlantic so they have little choice but to drink from the sea. They have another trick which is to spit stomach oils at any predators!
Very nice photos. 😀
Thanks Mark!
I just cannot believe that I've never seen fulmars on my all visits to Rottingdean! Perhaps it never occured to me to look for them 😮
Great photos, and magnificent birds! :up:
Adele, they're around most of the late winter months and into spring early summer, but there are so many gulls that it's easy not to notice them! I tend to hear the nesting ones before I see them, but their flight is quite distinctive.
lol how funny to think that when I was marvelling at fulmars in Kent, along the coast in Sussex you were doing the same! They are marvellous birds and you have got some great photos of them 🙂
Neil, I could watch them for hours. You got some great shots :up:
So could I! and thanks 🙂
Beautiful Pict