And ten shots of a Bonxie.

There were so many Great Skuas present on Fair Isle that they were never counted for the log at the end of each day. They were merely recorded as present. It would have been a difficult task to get a truly accurate count as they tended to be mobile; roaming all over the island and many spent long periods out at sea, presumably terrorising other seabirds. The boggy moorland was the most frequented habitat during the early mornings and late afternoons with birds loafing seemingly everywhere.
I came across one bird tearing a dead rabbit to pieces. It had, what appeared to be, a rabbit foetus at one point and although it picked it up and messed with it a little it did not seem to relish it much and left it on the ground. It was not a pleasant sight but there you go!

Great Skua with something nasty...prsumably a rabbit foetus

...and with dead rabbit.

As the sun sets a Bonxie looks out to sea.

Bonxie...banking!

Great Skua eating a rabbit

Ten Pictures of Fulmar

Just back after a week or so birding on Fair Isle and Shetland. I saw some great birds and had top company and I managed to take a fair old selection of photographs of a number of species. It will take a few weeks to work through them all and I thought I would work species by species. The first completed set is of Fulmar Petrel. There were at least two blue phase birds lurking about the cliffs but they were not in the mood to be photographed.

Fulmar - Fulmaris glacialis