There were plenty of these nesting on Papa Stronsay, normally cliff nesting, a lack of cliffs means they were just using the grass in front of the dry stone walls.
If you wish to see the rest of todays shots just click on the link below..........
Great shot of an interesting bird...I'm sure that beak design services a specific purpose but I don't quite see what it is. Looks a bit like the Swiss army knife of beaks; maid up of a number of different tools.
@gardencat Thank you Joanne, they are from a family of sea birds sometimes called Tubenoses. They have a salt gland just above the top of that top black tube bit of beak, its job is to help them get rid of excessive salt from their bodies. The excess salt drains out as a highly concentrated saline solution from the black tube.
