On Tuesday Galloway reserves staff and several volunteers went out to monitor the breeding sea bird colony on Ailsa Craig this is something that is done each year. This year I was luck to witness something I have read about in Bryan Nelson's books and scientific papers but never witnessed the furosity that these enigmatic birds fight with. I have seen small scale disputes when I studied them at RSPB Bempton but never like this so have attached two photos that might be of interest the second shows the injuries that can be inflicted by these disputes.

this link will take you to Bryan Nelson's freely availabe paper on the North Atlantic Gannet. http://poyserbooks.com/images/The_Gannet_9781408138588.pdf

 

the other Photogragh shows an injured bird that seem to be an onlooker.