Northern Gannet

Description:

Gannet colony.

Notes:

Love is in the air on a superb sunny morning within this Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) colony at Great Saltee Island, Ireland. Here we see a couple in a courtship ritual of fencing with their beaks. This photo also demonstrates how vital individual space is within the colony, as you see here you’re required to be exactly far enough away from your neighbors as not to be within pecking distance!