in order to see a razorbill (what we used to call auk) here in Norway we usually must travel to special places where they have colonies. there is a wonderful mountainous island on the west coast called Runde that is famous for seabirds, otherwise we have to travel to the north. anyway for me it is a rare and happy occasion to be able to see them. it's a pelagic seabird that thrives in the cold water of the north Atlantic with the largest colonies around Iceland.
so you can imagine my surprise when we were in Alicante on the Mediterranean seacoast in December, sitting on a dock in the marina full of boats when we spotted this razorbill. apparently this region is the outer limit of their winter migration. there were plenty of small fish in the water so this fellow spent more time underwater than on the surface. then it suddenly disappeared out of sight but not before i got this shot in the wake of a boat that had passed by
