Easter Weekend migrants in Shetland

With the winds coming from the east for the last few days things were always looking good for weekend migrants. The wind though has been strong for the past 10 days so has an effect on using a long lens.

We headed down to West Voe first, the tide was in allowing a couple of Gt Northern Divers to come in closer to the shore than normal. Just a bit further out a nice flock of 55 Long Tailed duck and several Shag.

A small flock of Gulls, Herring, Common, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Gt BB and a single Iceland gull in adult plumage kept flying further into the bay. A Couple of new arrived Gt Skua passed over making the gull rise .

From my vantage point, close to a small garden , three Chiffchaff flittered about in the bushes along with a couple of Robin, a wren and several House Sparrow.

Gt Northern Diver which appeared to have a hook in its beak

Nearer the sandy beach, a Wheatear was feeding along with a couple of Rock Pipit. A flock of Turnstone (26) blended in with the seaweed washed up on the shoreline. Just leaving the area when a Sand Martin and a couple of Swallow came in from the sea.

Feeding along with the cattle, a Song Thrush and Redwing, Pied wagtail, Starlings, House Sparrow, several Skylark and Meadow Pipit.

At Sumburgh Hotel gardens which is in the process of being renovated, a couple of Willow warbler and Three Robin, and later in the afternoon a Black Redstart put in a flighty performance.

Lapwings displayed with at least two on nests and Curlew, Snipe, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Mallard found around the pool.

At Grutness, the bay held little except for a couple of LT Duck and Black Guillemot but beside the pool Turnstone(9) Ringed Plover (2) ,Oystercatcher (12) and lots of common Gull rested and bathed.

The garden produce  Robin(3) Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff (2) Wren and further along the road, at the first quarry Chiffchaff(2) Robin and Pied Wagtail

The larger second quarry has little vegetation at the moment as sheep have been allowed in over the winter and some digging has taken place at the backend near the cliff face. Here Robin(3), Blackbird (3) Wren and Twite stayed mainly at the back of the quarry.

Willow warbler

At Quendale it was good to see the Black Throated Diver as it joined 4 Gt Northern Divers. Around the Mill and Dam it was all about Chiffchaffs with 5 birds including 2 singing. A Robin , several Blackbirds and Twite (12) joined in and Swallows flew around the dam. A flock of Oystercatcher (28), Rock Dove (16) Raven (12) and a few Curlew and Redshank found food on a plough field

Elsewhere, a Black Kite appeared in Unst having left Fair Isle the day before along with a Gt Grey Shrike and a White Tailed Eagle was seen again at Tingwall. A few Yellowhammer , Pintail and Garganey and Long Eared Owls further north in the mainland

Fulmar

#Shetland, #Shetland migrants, #Shetland birds, #Black Redstart, #Iceland gull

A Black & White Shetland Christmas

There has not been that many good birds of note recently, except a White Tailed Eagle which has been seen a few times up on the hill at Sandwick.  My local patch, Sandsayre at Sandwick, has turned up three good birds in the past two weeks

Iceland Gull

The Iceland gull was present three days and only in the morning. It was always seen in a flock of gulls just off shore

Black Redstart

This very nice male Black Redstart stayed four days and spent all the time down on the beach or around the rocky outcrop to the north. It easily found enough insects to survive and was present after Storm Deirdre .

Today a Little Gull was present but too far away to take any photos

Purple Sandpiper

Around 30 Purple Sandpiper, 15 Turnstone, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 snipe and a couple of Curlew at Sandsayre

Mountain Hares in the North Mainland

Its always good to find Mountain Hares and during winter they are easily found on the moors , sitting out in their white coats. When we lived in Sheffield we had the only English colony near Ladybower in Derbyshire.

This individual allowed a close approach, first photographed from the car then approached on foot to within 30 feet

Not always in full view, three more sat further up the hill with only their heads showing

To everyone that reads this blog have a happy Christmas and I look forward to posting another blog very soon

Pied Billed & Spiggie birds

With the weather good this weekend we headed south to Spiggie an RSPB reserve. This is a large area with a road leading down the western shore. In Winter it is good for Duck, Waders ,swans and on this occasion we had 39 Whooper swans

The Pied Billed Grebe had now moved to the northern part of the Loch and tended to favour an area of reeds quiet a distance from a viewing spot.

It has been seen catching large fish but only small ones caught today. This bird has been in Shetland since early November 2017 and on the whole is fairly easy to see, although distant most of the time.

If any cars or walkers pass, it moves well away from the reeds , so you need to spend a bit of time to get reasonable views. This American visitor, a first for Shetland seems well settled so we hope it staying well into spring.

                                                                                                 Iceland Gull

Apart from the grebe and Whoopers, Two Grey Heron could be seen flying about and lots of Graylag Geese passed over, disturbed by a Peregrine Falcon.

In addition to the Iceland Gull, three Glaucous Gulls could be seen with other gulls but tended to keep well away from the edge. Flocks of Curlew, Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher moved about and sometime disturbed Snipe and Fieldfare

Duck present included, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler, Shelduck (4) and Goldeneye