Swan combat

I was down at the north end of Spiggie Loch the other day watching 10 swans, two of which were Mute. Two families of Whooper (5) (3) including two adults in each party.

The Mute Swans fed at the north shore, meanwhile the 8 Whooper swans flew in from the south and immediately came under attack from the male Mute Swan.

After about a minute the party of 5 Whooper Swans flew off to the far east side of the loch. The other party of 3 moved away from the Mute swans calling and then flew off south about 400 yards.

They started feeding quietly, meanwhile the pair of the Mute Swan flew towards them landing a good 30 yards away then moved closer on the water. The male raised its wing and lowered its head showing aggressive behaviour towards the Whoopers

The female Mute also showed this behaviour but not as aggressive. Within about 10 yards the male Mute started to run across the water at the Whoopers which scattered.

With wings outstretched and neck lowered  it charged one of the adult Whoopers, which ran off.

After about a couple of minutes the Mutes retreated leaving a peaceful scene, the whoopers moving in the opposite direction but glancing back. The Mutes flying back to the north shoreline, which may eventually become a breeding site.

There are slightly more Breeding pairs of Whooper Swans (10 Pairs) then Mute Swans (8 pairs) in Shetland with the odd bird of either species summering

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Pied Billed Grebe

Back down at Spiggie the Pied Billed Grebe was still showing at the north end although it was still very nervous. I first spotted the bird midway in a flooded part of the loch which was virtually surrounded by vegetation.

It quickly moved away diving and catching a couple of fish before disappearing into vegetation on the far bank. It was now in breeding plumage and looking a smart bird compared with our first view in November last year.

The black band across its bill very prominent. These birds are normally long stayers so may well stay throughout the breeding season. It will however become more difficult to see when the vegetation grows.

A lot of waders called with Curlew, Snipe, Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher in the marsh and Ringed Plover, Turnstone and a single Purple Sandpiper on Peerie Spiggie beach. Skylark and  Meadow Pipit called overhead.

Around the inlet at least 4 Chiffchaff and a Blackcap was located, while a Swallow came over disappearing fast.

A couple of fields had been ploughed the first time I had seen this done at this end of Spiggie and these attracted Rock Dove, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Starling, Skylark, Common Gull, BH Gull, Raven and Hoddie Crow.

Birds seem to be making a landing as they met thick fog on the east side and two fields in particular producing 20 and 30 Blackbirds Min. Elsewhere over 100 Brambling landed on Burra, the highest number of Hawfinch seen in spring and a few Waxwing . Rare birds turned up on Unst with Woodchat Shrike (Found dead today), Gt White Egret, Black Redstart, White Tailed Eagle and a Red Kite in the south mainland.

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