Razorbill

Description:

All my apologies for the low quality of the unique pic in this spotting (pics of this quality I usually discard), but this Razorbill photo was my lifer, the only Razorbill we observed that day and this was the only relatively usable pic of it from that trip. Razorbill or Lesser auk, is medium sized seabird, roughly the size of wood pigeon, hardly bigger that smaller gulls. They are black with white undersides, and sport a thick black bill, decorated with some white stripes.

Habitat:

Observed close shores of rocky islands in protected natural reserve "the 7 Islands Archipelago", a set of rocky islands off northern shore of Brittany, France.

Notes:

This set of rocky islets has been a protected natural site since 1912 and classified as a Nature Reserve in 1976. Today, and so far, the Reserve is an undisputed kingdom of seabirds, and the access to these islands (actually, there are only five islands and two groups of rocks...) is very limited. You can visit the islands by the boat, while one can disembarque on foot only to one of the islands, les Moines. All others others are visited only rarely, and only by staff in charge of managing the place.