Farne Away III

The first time I landed on Inner Farne I was blown away.  I'd seen film of skuas dive-bombing people encroaching on their territory, but to have this happen multiple times as the terns came shrieking in was unexpected.  As you walk up the boardwalk from the jetty you have to focus on your feet to avoid stepping on the chicks wandering off the grass as their parents hover above with food.  That first impression is something like this....

The more bold terns sit on people's hats and shout away.  That's not so bad, the most you have to worry about is some new decoration of your hat .....

But the real problem are the ones that don't land.  Look closely at those bills. 

Sharp.   Very sharp.  At the time it just feels like a hard tap, but this visit, despite my baseball cap Kay counted 15 bleeding punctures on my balding scalp.
The wind direction didn't really work with the light this time, so I struggled to get the shots I really wanted, but a few passable ones were in amongst the near misses.  And how cute are those little ones?

As always you can see bigger versions of these pics by clicking on them or going to my web albums.