June 20, 2022

On fulmars

To our right, a jagged path down to the Crowns Engine Houses, standing after nearly 200 years mere yards from the Atlantic.

To our left, rising above us, the disused arsenic calciner chimney peered through hesitant rain.

And in front of us, slicing through the air above a roiling sea, a gull-like bird, identity betrayed by stiff wings and smooth neck. Average lifespan 44 years; related to albatross; amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern. Rarely onshore.

Fulmar. The word rose unprompted from my throat. I'd never seen one before. But I knew it, somehow.