Gannet

On the way home today, we detoured to Bempton Cliffs on the hunt for puffins. They had arrived and were dotted in amongst the razorbills (which are simply beautiful), guillemots, gannets, kittiwakes and fulmars. The cliffs were alive and we enjoyed a good couple of hours just watching the birds.

Gannets are mesmerising to watch. They aren't diving yet but will do soon once their chicks are born. You can hear them violently bang into the sea. They are quite incredible birds:

They hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:

- they have no external nostrils, they are located inside the mouth instead;

- they have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;

- their eyes are positioned far enough forward on their face to give them binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.

Gannets can dive from a height of 30 metres, achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.