It really is a great place.
I have only been there twice but it has to be one of my favourite places in the world.
I’ts not any any one thing. You can see seabird colonies easier in Howth for example. You can find ‘nicer’ islands where you can swim and sunbathe with less disturbance and with good beaches. There are much bigger seabird colonies in the UK and even in Ireland, No it is the brilliant combination of super birds, good climate, off-shore location and the immediate belief that you are somewhere special.
The island is known for its sea-birds but its remoteness makes it a happy habitat for many small birds and of course, birds of Prey. Also being so southerly, it is a good spot for migrating birds.
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The ‘normal’ seabirds are here, clinging on to the cliffs like goats on mountain ledges. Razorbills with their heavy looking beaks on tiny cliff ledges and Kittiwakes – sort 0f black legged sea-gulls – on whatever bit of grass they can find on the sheer cliffs.
Just to look at them is exhilerating.
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Guillemots, auks, like the Razorbill, are also common.
This one is a ‘Bridled’ Guillemot, named after the monacle like stripe and circle on each eye.
Fulmars are here, often in the best nest sites. Like many other species here, they are hardly seen during most of the year, flying far out to sea, but they come to the cliffs to nest during the summer.
They look like Gulls but the tube on their bills relate them to the Albatrosses.
They have near complete mastery of the wind and fly with stiff wings.
The wind plays a big part in birds’ lives here, as at all cliff sites. Birds have to master landing on sharp edged rocks and just imagine launching yourself off a tiny ledge over rough sea far below the theacherous cliffs.
Birds use every bit of surface area to effect uplift when taking off, like this Razorbill with wings, tail and feet used to the maximum.
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Food is also key, both from a successful feeding and rearing point of view, as well as in formal rituals such as courting. The favoureed meal is Sand Eels and the availability of this food source generally dictates the success of the nesters each year.
Recently there has been a decline in Sand Eel numbers, believed to be due to climate change but also possibly due to over-fishing. Birds have been trying to make-do with other food but initial results look poor and the number of nests around our cliffs seems to have decreased.
Apart from the Black Guillemot, all our resident auks nest here. I seem to remember Black Guillemots nesting on cliffs when I was young, although that was a while ago. In any case they now seem to be more often seen in harbours and river mouths and they even nest and are commonly seen in the centre of Dublin.
Cormorants and Shags both have colonies of ragged nests. Other common birds here include Chiffchaffs, Wheatear, Reed Buntings, Rock Pipits and Choughs, while there are many Grey Seals around the coast.
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Above the Cliffs, Great and Lesser Black-backed Gulls nest.
The Great Black-backs are the perennial marauders and poachers and have a great view of unattended nests and babies from their high vantage points.
But the Saltees are best known for 2 bird species.
The first is quite obvious when you approach.
Huge numbers of Gannets whirl in the air and dive straight down from a height for fish in the sea and 2 spots – one sea stack and one headland – are almost obscured in summer by Gannets and Gannet nests.
The nests are packed in, spaced to leave only enough room to avoid neighbouring beaks!
Apart from the noise and constant motion, the other noticable feature is the strong smell!
Overhaed there is constant activity with birds landing, taking off or over-flying looking for their patch, their nest or their chick.
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It is hard not to be impressed by this magnificent bird, even from a distance. Up close and personal, it is even more impressive.
Firstly it is big – the wings are nearly 2 metres wide and flying over you there is no mistaking who is the master!
Secondly, it looks great; white with black wing tips and a lovely pale yelow colour on the head.
Finally it seems to be built for speed or more precisely, for reducing air and water drag. Both ends, head and tail, are tapered and the eyes are recessed, making it perfect for diving through the air at spped, with wings swept back and cutting through the water to catch fish.
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Just like an airport, the wind direction determines the prevailing runway and a stream of Gannets follow each other into the air or back into the colony.
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Is that a streamlined beak and head or what?
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The nest is a simple mound of seaweed and vegeatation and there is usually only 1 egg which is hatched after about 6 weeks.
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The chicks start out as white balls of fluff but gradually turn black as the skin shows through.
They are fed for about 8 weeks before leaving to turn into white adults after a couple of years.
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The other speciality here is the cutest and reason enough on its own, to come here
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Puffins nest in burrows at the top of the cliffs. They are very small, only around 30 cms head to tail and their wings seem too small to carry their puffy bodies. But when they fly, the wings extend more than you expect and seem to whirr to keep them airborne.
Sea Parrots or Clowns they may be called but when you see them in their home habitat, it’s all other birds that look silly!
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If there were no birds here this would be a special place.
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With huge numbers of birds it is one of the places you just have to visit.
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But with all that and Gannets and Puffins and a magical persona, its a little piece of heaven!
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There are some places in the world that are beyond the normal - the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef …
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There be monsters there!
and Red-billed 
Tropicbirds.
Galapagos Sea Lions, which populate many of the beaches, patrol the shore-line and even ‘loll about’ on benches in the few island towns!
Other mammals include the unhurried Galapagos Giant Tortoise, found on some higher grounds.
