Thalassarche steadi

It's a bit crap of a photo, I know, but just such a cool pose: the White-Capped Albatross in flight. I took a walk around a prominent head past the town center of Oban this afternoon. There weren't very many birds about, just some Tui skwarking in the trees and the European finches hopping around in the bushes. At one point though I came out onto a lookout point high above the bay and there just below me was this mollymawk, winging its way back and forth over the water. At times it came very close and even without binoculars I could make out its identifying features: the markings on the underside of its wings, the bill color, and that devilish brow cutting across its glossy white head. Whenever it would finish gliding in one direction, it would position itself vertically like this and sweep back the other way. From this perspective, perhaps better than any other, you can see just how leggy (wingy?) the wings are compared to its body.

It occurred to me, watching it whip around silently and with such captivating grace over the waves, that it may be the albatrosses I miss the most when I go home. I thought it would surely be the penguins, whom I will doubtlessly yearn for once I'm back in the northern hemisphere, but something about the albatross makes me feel like I've never been more fortunate in my whole life than to be in the presence of one at that very moment. It's uncanny, the feeling of fulfillment these ocean-bound birds provoke in me. It's also something of a star-crossed love, given my body's violent intolerance of the sea.

A sharper shot on Flickr.