Angry Old Skua

While monitoring the nesting skuas we came across this bold one, standing defensively by it's nest. Some of the island birds have been ringed - that very lightweight metal band on the left leg. As well as recording the nest's location and contents (two small chicks) I noted down the ring's unique number and, checking through the records back on base, discovered it had been put on when the bird was a chick... in 1984! This is about the maximum age this species reach so we're investigating whether this is a longevity record.