Northern Gannet Morus bassanus colony, Noss, Shetland
Taking a boat-trip (weather allowing!) to see the spectacular gannetry at Noss is an essential part of any visit to Shetland, and it is an intrinsic component of Shetland Wildlife's holidays. There are plenty of other seabirds present there too, but this film concentrates on the many Northern Gannets Morus bassanus that adorn the cliffs, and follow the boats in the hope of being fed. This activity can be viewed from such a close distance that powerful telephoto lenses may be too powerful, and they may need to be complemented by lenses with shorter focal distances, including wide-angle, if photographers wish to portray all aspects of their behaviour. However, a single lens operating over a wide range will suffice for capturing these birds on video or as still photographs. There may be a need to manually compensate when filming or photographing white birds against dark backgrounds (or vice versa) though, and this can be tricky when taking video as the subject gets close as the light-metering will be affected. Following a short series of still photographs, this film starts off by showing some of the Gannets on the cliffs where they nest, and it then switches to illustrating them plunge-diving as they attempt to reach the bait before any rivals can beat them to it. The angle of the dives is therefore often shallower than it might be if they were diving at high speed from height to a greater depth. These noisy aerobatic displays are simply fabulous to watch!
