Pigeon Guillemots

I make an annual pilgrimage to Westport to see the Common Loons up close and personal. I always hope to see the Brown Pelicans while I’m there. I even drive down the road to Tokeland to see the Marbled Godwits. Strangely enough, I never anticipate seeing Pigeon Guillemots there, but my best shots of them have been taken at Westport, and I’m always thrilled when they show up while I’m taking photos of the loons.

This time was certainly no exception. This Pigeon Guillemot came so close to the dock that I almost fell off the other side backing up to get it in the picture frame.

This one wasn’t quite as close, but it seemed intent on catching my attention.

The most interesting sequence of the day, though, came while I was photographing this bird and another bird suddenly flew in and came up to the other bird.

Unfortunately, I’m not nearly expert enough on Guillemots to know what exactly was going on, but they definitely gave the impression that the were having some kind of conversation with the bird that flew in having the first say so.

They seemed to look at each other as they floated side by side,

then the first bird seemed to reply to the one that had landed.

For it moment it looked like they were going touch beaks, but, if they did, it was blocked from the camera.

Birds communicate with each other all the time, but this seemed closer to a casual “conversation” than anything I’ve ever observed. Of course since it’s Spring, perhaps it was part of Guillemot courting.

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