Black guillemot, Hilbre Island

I didn't realise that oystercatchers were such shrinking violets, I always considered them quite noisy and bold, even aggressive, but today on Hilbre I watched a goose stepping, diminutive, black guillemot terrorise a whole flock of them! 

The bird has for some reason attached itself to the oystercatcher flock and is not shy of asserting itself. When they are on the rocks it roosts with them and flies with them like they are the best of pals, but if it needs to move because of the approaching tide or some other disturbance, it scatters its new friends in all directions by walking towards them, chest puffed out, head held low and flapping it's wings at them to reveal the white under wing and white upper wing patches. It's a bizarre thing to watch. Apparently the last long staying bird, which was around 30 years ago, behaved in a similar way.

Their diets are obviously very different, oystercatchers remove molluscs from their shells, black guillemots dive in the sea for fish, so it must go off by itself at times, but not once today did I see it fishing. It seems healthy enough though, in full breeding plumage with slightly pale primary feathers which seem to indicate that it's a 2nd summer bird and not a full adult. 

Black guillemots are an almost annual visitor to Hilbre but usually they are just fly pasts so difficult to connect with. The nearest breeding that I know of is on the Great Orme which is around 40km west as the black guillemot flies. This was a Merseyside tick for me bringing my total to 280 species. 

Black guillemot with an immature male eider.

Gannet, the only one of the day.

Just a handful of Sandwich terns today.

There are at least a couple of pairs of rock pipits on Hilbre these days.

This is the only sea-holly plant on Hilbre, growing next to the Hilbre speciality, rock sea-lavender.

Grey seals on the West Hoyle bank.

It was a glorious day to be on Hilbre and a really nice chilled out experience. I stayed on the rocky headland left of old lifeboat launch for about three hours watching the black guillemot until I had to leave because of the approaching tide.