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| 'Follow that Crow' by 1-99 Ghost, Anvil Records, Brighton, late-90s? |
From the look of things it appears this Fulmar has got beef with some damn crow! Perhaps, given that Fulmars nest on exposed cliffs around the UK, this bird was the unfortunate victim of corvid egg-predation and hasn't taken it too well? I dunno, maybe I'm thinking about this too much. In reality, seabird colonies afford decent protection from predators. Cliffs are virtually impossible for any mammal to scale and avian threats are often greeted with determined mobbing. I remember watching a large number of nesting kittiwakes mob a passing Raven at Seaford last year - an impressive sight (and no missiles were used). Fulmars have an additional weapon in that they can spray a sticky oil, generated in their stomachs, at an attacker. But, as with many seabirds, the principal threat to Fulmars is likley to be nest failure arising from climatic changes and the availability of food. Although less specialist feeders than Kittiwakes, offal makes up a significant portion of the Fulmar diet. It remains to be seen how they will be affected by certain changes to the commerical fishing industry in the UK. I'm sure the mysterious 1-99 Ghost had all this in mind when putting the sleeve together.
In keeping with this sinister image of avian retribution are these three tracks that crawled out of Brighton some time in the late 90s perhaps. The a-side, 'Follow that Crow', is a tense, instrumental slab of misery funk...a banjo riff repeated over a drum loop, some indecipherable wails occasionally making it through the post-triphop haze. Flipping over we get a double dose of weirdness with 'Animal Fat' ("The woman are boss-eyed, goggle-eyed...the men are drinking an-i-mal fat") and 'Roses'. The latter is a 50 second sound collage of folky strumming accompanying an answerphone message left by a concerned builder who seems to have lost his ladder. Turn it up! Like The Fall at their best (or worst) I can't help but think this is a heroically stupid but strangely brilliant record.
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| Fulmar pair, Newhaven cliffs, 11/2/12 FULMAR FUN FACT: Although they look like 'regular' gulls, Fulmars actually belong to the same group as petrels and albatrosses. Their strange 'tube noses' or tubular nostrils help them regulate salt intake, a useful adaptation given they spend much of their lives at sea. |
Please feel free to send me any of your Birds on 45 suggestions
This record is on long-term loan from the stereo sanctity collection (Cheers Ben)
I was trying to ID fulmars on the ferry on the Irish sea but absolutely hopeless. I hoped they were fulmars because it was so far out at sea... sea birds are a nightmare for the novice.
ReplyDeleteAny tips would be a great help!
Oh they are a nightmare (I'm still learning!) but I think that just makes them all the more fascinating to watch.
DeleteGiven your location, there's a very good chance they were Fulmars. At distance the best thing to look at is the wings - 'stiff' and straight, like planks! (as opposed to the 'm' shape of gulls). The flight pattern is generally a bit different too, almost a Sparrowhawk-esque 'flap, flap, glide'. Finally, the upper wing is a 'scruffy' grey all-over with much paler underwings. This often shows up quite well.
Thanks for your comment Daniel - hope this helps!
Pete