Gannet with Tiny Chick

Today saw another high point of my birding experience, with an outing to the Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. These precipitous hard chalk cliffs extend about 10 kilometers around the town of Bempton, rising over 100 meters in places. They are home to gannets, kittiwakes, razorbills, guillemots (murres to Americans)--the most numerous species--as well as puffins and northern fulmars, which are fewer in number.

Of the thousand-odd shots that I took (mainly of flying birds), this is my favorite: a Gannet with a newly hatched chick, still with its egg-tooth at the tip of its bill, which helps it crack the eggshell, and as yet no feathers. Note the tiny wing at its side--all this is best seen in large. This nest was at least 50 meters above the sea.

Edit (email from a friend): "The baby Gannet seems ready to argue in court with that wig on!"

I did get some good shots of all the other birds mentioned above, and I apologize particularly to those who might have preferred a puffin, cute as they are. But this image is special, and it ties in well to my gannet blip from Bass Rock--that was a birding experience from below, while today we were looking down. The cliffs curve significantly, providing several excellent vantage points from the well-maintained path along the top.