With their whimsical and inelegant head plumes and waxy red beaks, crested auklets are not exactly graceful, but they do have considerable goofy charm.   These birds were resting on the cliffs -- or flying past -- on St. Paul Island, one of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.

• Canon 1D Mk. II, 500 mm IS lens + 1.4X or 2X converters, fill-in flash on sitting birds (2005)