A 'small military' of falcons and hawks have been introduced in to protect a Scots recycling centre from pesky seagulls.
The six birds of prey have been stationed at SUEZ Recycling and Restoration plant at Longman Industrial Property in Inverness to discourage gulls from constructing nests.
Menacing seagulls are identified to swoop on unsuspecting guests and workers and seek for meals among the many garbage.
Employees feared the gulls would look to make use of the massive buildings close by for nesting websites.
Seagulls have an innate concern of birds of prey so the recycling plant drafted in an area falconer who has three hawks and three falcons to maintain watch.
The six birds might be seen lined up at their posts with their wings held behind their backs as they preserve a glance out for any chancers.
Throughout the day they fly over the world frequently in a bid to "educate" the seagulls that that is an unsafe space for them to fly and nest.
Based on the plant supervisor, the birds have now "grow to be one thing of a star attraction" with locals.
Richard Hinchcliffe, Regional Supervisor, SUEZ recycling and restoration UK defined: "We make use of specialist handlers to offer fowl management throughout a lot of our websites, together with our waste switch station in Inverness. You could possibly say now we have a small military of birds-of-prey lining up for responsibility every morning.
"In Inverness we work with an area falconer who has three hawks and three falcons. They've grow to be one thing of a star attraction with the locals as he repeatedly has them resting on perches on the website boundary fence.
"It's a very efficient and environmentally pleasant approach to scare away the seagulls - who're well-known scavengers.
"By flying them over the world frequently it teaches the seagulls that that is an unsafe space for them to fly and nest.
"A number of birds-of-prey are used all through a typical day, primarily to maintain the seagulls guessing as to what's coming subsequent and to share the workload round. By having a number of ‘on-duty’ at anyone time additionally ensures the welfare of those relatively particular birds."
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