John O’Groats is the end of the road north in Scotland, and faces the Orkney Islands across a wild piece of the North Sea where the current is so strong it can move 1.5 ton boulders across the sea floor.
John O’Groats Hotel, Scotland and sculpture portraying the power of the sea at this location. I’m not sure if those are 1.5 ton boulders, but they are quite big.
We visited Duncansby Head, a group of steep sea cliffs with the usual complement of breeding sea birds: shags and cormorants, guillemots, fulmars, and puffins (well, there might have been a few of those).
Duncansby Head sea stacks, the triangular rocks are iconic structures of this place.
The most abundant birds in view were the fulmars, a medium-sized white bird that resembles a sea gull, but in fact is related to albatross and petrels rather than shorebirds like Gulls and terns.
Sea stacks at Duncansby Head are steep cliffs, with niches carved out by erosion, just perfect for nesting sites.
Fulmars on ledges at Duncansby Head
Fulmars come to land only to breed. The rest of the year they are on the wing or in the water at sea, completely pelagic in habit, feeding on small crustaceans, marine worms, fish, etc. They hold food in a fore-chamber of the stomach where digestion of fat is very slow, and might regurgitate the oily contents when disturbed (by humans or a predator). The stomach contents are quite noxious.
Like their albatross relatives, Fulmars fly with a stiff (straight) wing, which makes gliding effortless, since they can lock the upper and forearm together at the elbow joint to make one continuous gliding surface. The structure above the bill is an enlarged nasal passage, used for breathing as well as salt excretion. They don’t drink water, but can obtain all the water they need from their diet and drinking sea water, excreting excess salt through the “tube nose”.
The birding crew at Duncansby Head, with leaders Ruth Miller and Alan Davies of Birdwatching Trips (http://www.birdwatchingtrips.co.uk/bird-blog) on the left, and the four intrepid bird watchers on the right. (I’m in the middle next to Alan)
Back Yard Biology 
Thank you, Sue, for going to John O’Groats & peering down over the cliffs edges for me & also reporting back with such wonderful photos. I remember once taking ” A Walk through Britain” from Lands End to John O’ Groats with John Hillaby, a biologist & science correspondent for The Guardian & The NYTimes, the whole 1100 miles cozy & warm in my armchair & lamp glow. Books (& now blogs) are splendid for stay-at-home wanderlust.
Thanks for your comment. This is such a diverse and fascinating area. Of course it just makes you want to return and see more of what you missed the first time.
That tube nose is quite an interesting feature!
I should have also mentioned that these “tube-nosed” birds (and their close relatives) have enhanced olfaction ability associated with those nasal baffles, which may be useful in locating their prey at sea or in locating nesting areas. So, it’s a multipurpose organ.