Shetland wasn't exactly a photographic extravaganza, with far more actual birding taking place, but where opportunity allowed I nabbed a few shots. Usually this was when I got bored with trying to find vagrants, I left the other two to it and had a quick pap. One such occasion was on the first morning at Sumburgh head, when it became apparent that the Red-flanked Bluetail wasn't around. Not even a year tick, so I went and stood by the cliff edge and started having a go at the Fulmars as they came past. The most successful method was to pick an individual bird a long way out and hope that it came in, tracking it all the way. Many times this didn't work as, early morning, they dipped into the shaded area, ie most of the skyline, but every now and again one stayed high enough for long enough. This is my favourite, and possibly amongst my favourite I've ever taken along with a few from Loop Head last year. More depth of field would have been good, no idea why I didn't dial in f8 or f10, as there was plenty of light. There's always something to get wrong in my experience!

This was with the 1D4, the 500mm, and the 1.4x converter - 1/6400s at f5.6. Even I can manage a sharp flight shot at that speed!