A fairly common terrestrial carnivore and insectivore of up to 1.2 m in length. Superficially similar (but unrelated) to monitor lizards, with a low skull, large eyes and a slender form.
Naturalist Robert Atkinson embarked on a survey of Hebridean Islands in the mid-1930s to survey and count the Leach's fork-tailed petrel. He landed on St Kilda in July 1938, which had been evacuated in 1930. Atkinson captured the transition and re-wilding of the island during his search for the rare petrel, going into vacant cottages and buildings. This gentle photograph captures a small wren resting in the warm light of a window in the old School House.
