“As the shortest day of the year rapidly approaches, the dark and the cold drive many animals who do not migrate into a state of hibernation, estivation, dormancy, or torpor. Many of us human vertebrates feel the urge for late mornings, afternoon naps, or occasional hunkering down.
While other animals may be resting, hundreds of thousands of Pigeon Guillemots remain on the coastal waters of the North Pacific Ocean—fully alive amid rain, sleet, snow, wind, and whitecaps. The sun has moved these guillemots through the year and returned them to a place where they garner their energy for survival. The guillemots are not migrating, not molting, not breeding.
They are on their wintering grounds, in their pale plumage.
They are diving and foraging for food, resting and roosting on the water.
They are paddling around and flying short distances over the water.
They are in their place, sheltering in place, being sheltered only by the feathers on their bodies.
They are waiting—but not waiting.
They are biding their time, free from our attention, knowledge, and passion.
The Pigeon Guillemots are simply being—being the seabirds they are, as the earth and seas spin, carrying us together into a new year.”
from The Bird with the Flaming Red Feet (Mountaineers Books, April 2026)
Calligraphy of Pigeon Guillemot Vocal Sonogram by Sally Penley