Friday 19 July 2013

Gulls on Steroids

My blog, my blog, why have you forsaken me? OK it doesn't work (I update it not the other way around) but nonetheless there's been something of a hiatus from posting. Something about AS levels, I wasn't really listening. So I'm back, i've got some photies (i've been in Scotland, that's how they say it round there) and here's a post. I was going to do some more Mull stuff, but I can't be bothered trying to remember so i'll go with something more recent...

Of late i've been something of a vagrant, i've wandered over Manchestor and the UK generally in search of, well, nothing really. But spent a belting three days up in Scotland, the details of which I will regail the discerning reader with in due time, but for now some pure, unadulterated action from my most favourite inshore small island in Sutherland: Handa!

So imagine a really sunnny coupl'a days (hard isn't it? Perhaps try looking out the window for inspiration), then the day you head over to an exposed island it all goes decidedly rainy. Well that's what happened to our Handa trip, we arrived on the island and soon the sky was doing its best to turn Handa into a quagmire and me into a photographer with a broken camera. This Wheatear seemed to sum up my mood rather well...

Wheatear- Wet Wet Wet

...but luckily rain is something we Manks are used to, so I carried on regardless with the day. The cliffs were teeming as usual, as a photographer the gauntlet is always thrown down over getting close to birds, but at distance and with so many subjects it makes sense to take a step back and include the whole vista...

Guillemots- Meet the Neighbours

...but what Handa is renowned for are the Great Skuas, or Bonxies. The UK holds over 50% of the global population of these birds, and they're invariably found around smaller birds due to their piratical habits. They will force birds to sick up or drop any catch they might make then eat it, so as one can imagine they're not the prettiest of birds to look at...

Bonxie- Flying High

...but there is beauty in design, they are superbly evil looking cretures...

Bonxie- Portrait of Menace

...more elegant are their cousins, the scarcer Arctic Skuas. If boxies are born thugs I like to think that Arctic Skuas are assassins...

Arctic Skua- Undercarriage Down

Arctic Skua- Up in the Air

...but as the day brightened we set off with the wardens to inspect nests. This was particularly exciting with the Bonxies who are 'territorial' to say the least, here's my uncle Mark making his blog debut shortly before avoiding a clobbering...

Bonxie- Target Locked

...when you see them this close you can appreciate their aerial mastery...

Handa and Dipper 020_2

...But we also got to see the rather adorable chicks. These are very young, no more than a week old, and still possessing an egg-tooth. So this was an incredibly special encounter, just as the sun came out too...

Bonxie- Give it a Year...

Boxie- The Innocent One

...and as we left the island we saw the final speciality, the Arctic Tern...

Arctic Tern- Heading Skyward

So an ace day in all, and some pretty special encounters. This is birding at its best, perhaps over the next month I can show you some more photos from the last 2 months! :)