Flying with the moon
Gough Island frequently feels like a world of its own – but the dark hours on Gough are in a league of their own.
For starters there’s simply how dark it is: a deep quality to the night, probably since the nearest source of light pollution is about 2 500 km away. Stars are often startlingly vivid and densely packed – even for those of us used to isolated places. The moon hangs low and close and, once it’s waxed past halfway, seems ridiculously bright.
Then there’s the noise. The seabird symphony starts at dusk and, with minor peaks and ebbs over the course of the night, settles down just before the skies lighten in the morning. It’s the incredible multilayered sound of several million birds going about their business.
The birds seem to like it best when there’s a nice dense fog (or at the very least, some good rain and a bit of wind and cloud for cover). At least, that’s when the cacaphony is at its loudest.
As a result, it’s surprisingly hard to take a photo of birds flying across the moon – surprising indeed on an island with some 20 million-odd seabirds!
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