Gannets

[Tringa]

Just been watching about 15 gannets fishing in Loch Gairloch and was trying to think where they roost for the night.

They are regular and common visitors to the loch in the spring and summer and I know they migrate to the Atlantic shores of north Africa during the winter, but where do they go at night at this time of year?

The nearest islands to here are the Shiants, but information suggests they are not used by gannets. St Kilda has thousands of gannets, but that seems a long way (I reckon it is at least 100 miles from here) to come to feed.

Does anyone know where they go at night?

[Jenny W]

Gannets and indeed many species of seabird, most notable things like Petrels and Shearwaters (and Albatrosses - not in UK though apart from the odd lost Black-Browed!) will feed great distances from their breeding grounds, often hundreds of miles, so your birds could well be from St. Kilda.

When I was working on Shetland a few years ago Gannets were one of the few species that were not suffering so much from lack of food (the well publicised sand-eel crisis) as they were travelling further than most species to find food.

[ron1863]

Tringa if you Google, Gannets and Gairloch there area few articles on sightings of St Kilda Gannets travelling to the Gairloch to feed.

[solus]

Yes, Gannets will travel great distances from breeding to feeding grounds but will, in common with many other seabirds, roost at sea. Think about Shearwaters and Petrels, both really clumsy on land but unable to lay eggs on water: for most of the year they are at sea, miles out in the ocean where they are best adapted to live. As are the auks (Guillemots, Razorbills, Puffins) which breed on our shores.