Stunning picture shows nesting gannet at Bempton Cliffs on Yorkshire coast
About half a million seabirds have gathered at the RSPB’s Bempton Cliffs reserve, including the only mainland breeding colony of Northern gannets in England.
More than 11,000 pairs of gannets, which can weigh up to 3.6kg and have a 180cm wingspan, mass on the chalk cliffs to breed and raise their chicks.
The pairs reunite with in the spring and perform affectionate greeting rituals.
Gannets return to the Yorkshire coast cliffs due to the supply of oily North Sea fish, in particular herring and mackerel, and as the site is relatively safe from mammalian predators.
Known for folding back their wings to dive and capturing prey using a serrated beak from a height of about 30m, gannets hit the water at up to 60mph.
The speed of the dive can take gannets some 15 metres under water.
The impact is cushioned by gannets having an extensive network of air-sacs between their muscles and skin.
Ornithologists say gannets’ reputation for being greedy is unfair, with adults travelling up to 200 miles from its colony in search of fish.