Robert's Ramblings

Ireland has some of the most significant gannet nesting colonies in Europe. I have visited a few of them now, including Little Skellig (Sceilig Bheag), the Bull Rock (An Tarbh) and now Great Saltee (An Sailte Mór).

We came here for the puffins, but as Great Saltee has Ireland’s third largest gannet colony we simply had to spend some time with them too.

The juxtaposition of both seabirds making this island their home could not be more profound. Gannets are magnificent birds. Aloof, majestic, graceful and such a wonderful counterpoint to their comical neighbours.

It was early in the season so there were no chicks yet, but nest building was well underway. There is little more than bare rock where a gannet builds its nest, so grass, twigs and dry seaweed are collected and cemented into shape with droppings.

This gannet, one of many we watched, flies in with a beak full of seaweed destined for the nesting ground. A simple moment perhaps, but one that captures something of the endless work going on all around us.


#gannet #northernGannet #greatSaltee #salteeIslands #ireland #irishWildlife #seabirds #birdPhotography #wildlifePhotography #naturePhotography #nestBuilding #coastalIreland #wildIreland #seaBirds #nestBuilder

I imagine myself at the poker table. I’m holding a pair of queens. On the table there is a third queen along with a jack, a nine, an eight and a two. Given this strong position I make a substantial bet.

The puffin looks right at me and raises all-in.

Do I call or do I fold? What is there to read in that enigmatic face? Simplicity, sadness, apathy? Certainly not cunning or malice. Is the puffin bluffing? Are my three queens winners, or does the bird have the straight?

With a painful sigh I fold, leave my lot with the puffin and head home.

Never gamble with puffins.


#puffins #headshot #poker #pokerface #bluffing #portait #salteeIslands #Ireland

For most of our time in the water the blue sharks moved around us near the surface, sometimes close enough to make eye contact before gliding effortlessly away again. The experience changed completely when I held my breath and dived down deep.

Away from the surface the sharks became lost in a blue-green world with no reference and seemed less interested in me, perhaps even keeping their distance. As I started for the surface and looked up into the light, the blue of the shark was replaced by a magnificent sunburst and that unmistakable silhouette.

I was struck by just how graceful it was, completely at home in a place where I was the privileged visitor. Another amazing moment from an amazing day.


#blueShark #prionaceGlauca #sharks #underwaterPhotography #marineLife #Ireland #Kerry #atlanticOcean #freediving #snorkelling #diving #sunburst #silhouette

Ireland has been very good to me. I’ve made wonderful friends, gone on amazing trips, experienced the culture and settled into our little part of the country we call home away from home. The western Irish coastline in particular, with its rugged inaccessibility, spectacular waterfalls tumbling into the ocean, and of course the diving, makes being here such an adventure.

There is one place however that is very special to me for reasons spanning years and experiences, a little island off the southwest coast of Kerry called Skellig Michael.

In 2017, we brought our dearest Australian friends to Ireland with us and together we discovered Skellig Michael while exploring the Wild Atlantic Way. In 2024, having been here only a few months, I got a call from Mike, the nephew of a friend who I’d never met, inviting me to come for a dive. That weekend I was taken beneath the waters of Skellig Michael for my first dive in Ireland.

I have been out here many times now and feel so at home in the ocean beneath those towering cliffs, or capturing a gannet’s-eye view from above. From the waterline I often find myself looking up at the ancient structures perched on top and imagining how crazy we would have seemed to the monks of St Fionan who once called this Atlantic sanctuary their home.


#skelligMichael #kerry #wildAtlanticWay #ireland #irishCoast #atlanticOcean #aerialPhotography #dronePhotography #landscape #seascape #adventure #travel