Guillemots are spring and summer visitors to the Southern Hebrides and by far the biggest gathering of one species is the colony of guillemots at Harp Rock on Lunga in the Treshnish Isles.
Guillemots nest and breed on extremely narrow ledges on the sheer cliffs and huge numbers, as many as 5000, are crammed together onto this inaccessible rock rearing their chicks (jumplings). When they are ready, the jumplings leave the nest and are looked after by the males for 4-6 weeks.
One outstanding ability guillemots have is they can dive to incredible depths in search of food, a trait they share with razorbills. One has been recorded at a depth of almost 90 metres at the base of an oil rig in the North Sea.https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.63899b173766ee6f8a729a72b542b0fb.en.html#dnt=false&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2F185.216.77.122%2F%7Estaffatours%2Fblog%2F2015%2Fguillemots-in-the-southern-hebrides%2F&size=m&text=Guillemots%20%7C%20Interesting%20Facts%20About%20Guillemots%20%7C%20Staffa%20Tours&time=1619439885200&type=share&url=http%3A%2F%2F185.216.77.122%2F%7Estaffatours%2Fblog%2F2015%2Fguillemots-in-the-southern-hebrides%2F
The National Trust for Scotland has informed us that they will be continuing their improvement work on Staffa through until April 22nd therefore, there will be no landings before this date. We will still be conducting our trips, weather permitting, and will happily showcase all that Staffa has to offer from the boat. This allows us more time dedicated to views of Fingal’s Cave, marine sights, wildlife, and, of course, the ever-popular puffins often viewed on our tours.
Landings on the Treshnish Isles remain unaffected and will continue to spend over 2 hours ashore and more if weather permits.