Gannet colony - Syltefjordstauran, Varanger (Norway)

The photo gallery of Gannet you can find at: https://www.marekjackowski.net/p69357... Syltefjordstauran is a steep cliff face located on the noth-east coast od Varanger (Nowray). Syltefjordstauran holds one of the northernmost colonies of Northern Gannet in the world. Gannets are seabirds, closely related to boobies. They hunt fish by diving into the sea from a height and catching their prey underwater. Gannets can dive from a height of 30 m (98 ft), achieving speeds of 100 km per hour (62 mph). They catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds. Gannets nest in tightly packed colonies on cliffs. They compete for prime nesting sites. Nest (built mostly by male) is pile of grass, seaweed, dirt, feathers, compacted and held together by droppings, used by same pair for years and gradually building up to tall mound. They are brooding a single bluish, chalky egg for six or seven weeks in a nest of seaweed or mud. Only one young raised per year. Incubation is by both sexes, 42-46 days. Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. It takes five years for gannets to reach maturity. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent sub-adult plumages show increasing amounts of white. Northern Gannets are One of the largest seabirds of the North Atlantic. Syltefjordstauran cliff is a beautifull place to observ them nesting. Copyright © Marek Jackowski, 2019 - 2025. All Rights Reserved.