The Auks of Gaspé
July 11th, 2009
Auks are the north-hemisphere analogue to penguins--except that auks can fly, although not too well! Like penguins, their favorite place to be is in the ocean, where they chase after fish underwater. Gaspé peninsula is a great place to see them.
The first three photos are of Black Guillemots, which were the easiest of the auks to photograph. They often swam right next to the pier.
Colors unedited--guillemot feet are quite the feet!
The Razorbills had a habit of catching fish that looked way too big for them, then sitting there, looking around as if to say, "now what?" This one finally flew off with it still flopping in his beak.
Common Murres were the most difficult of the three auk species to photograph. They never came anywhere near shore. Michael managed to get this one out on open ocean during a whale-watching tour:
The other way to see Common Murres, in abundance, is to find a colony. Generally the only way to do that is by boat, since they breed on sea cliffs. Here's a snapshot. I'm not going to bother providing a thumbnail as really the only way to see them is at full-size--the link is to a 1680x1050 image. You can also see a few nesting kittiwakes in this picture.
July 11th, 2009
Auks are the north-hemisphere analogue to penguins--except that auks can fly, although not too well! Like penguins, their favorite place to be is in the ocean, where they chase after fish underwater. Gaspé peninsula is a great place to see them.
The first three photos are of Black Guillemots, which were the easiest of the auks to photograph. They often swam right next to the pier.
Colors unedited--guillemot feet are quite the feet!
The Razorbills had a habit of catching fish that looked way too big for them, then sitting there, looking around as if to say, "now what?" This one finally flew off with it still flopping in his beak.
Common Murres were the most difficult of the three auk species to photograph. They never came anywhere near shore. Michael managed to get this one out on open ocean during a whale-watching tour:
The other way to see Common Murres, in abundance, is to find a colony. Generally the only way to do that is by boat, since they breed on sea cliffs. Here's a snapshot. I'm not going to bother providing a thumbnail as really the only way to see them is at full-size--the link is to a 1680x1050 image. You can also see a few nesting kittiwakes in this picture.
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