Greylag

I remember back in the 1980's when we visited Shetland for the first time it seemed strange to see no geese. We had to wait until the mid 1990's before we got a glimpse of a Greylag on Unst and from there its been a massive expansion with Greylags now settling in most parts of Shetland. Its not uncommon to see twenty of thirty birds with young around Clumlie in the breeding season.

Unlike the birds found in England , Shetland has genuine wild birds from Iceland, but they still cause damage and farmers in the south mainland are suffering from the amount of geese feeding in the fields. As there an no natural predators, other than perhaps the odd otter taking young or eggs left at an unattended nest, numbers are now extremely high and need controlling.

 A recent census by the Shetland Bird club revealed at least 5,000 individuals which are resident and a wintering population of over 7,250

Last year in June we also saw a Canada Goose down at Sumburgh Farm, only the second one we have seen. In South Yorks and Derbyshire numbers have been controlled for a number of years now, not be shooting but by making sure eggs are destroyed. In the 1990's I took part in a wild fowl count down at Rothervalley CP and noted that 500 birds, with some birds moving between Clumber Park , another strong hold.

 At that time only around a dozen Grey lag would be present but now these numbers have swelled to around a 100

Puffins

Puffins should soon be back on the Shetland cliffs and they are always great to see. Many Puffins were caught up in the severe storms which hit the bay of Biscay last week. Counts of Puffins on the beaches of France near the Spanish boarder found over 12,000 dead individuals amongst over 21,000 seabirds. Most of these were just about to start the long journey back to the breeding colonies in the norther of Britain. Ringed birds for Shetland were found amongst the dead birds.

Puffins have been having a very bad time in recent years and numbers have declined. This is down to the lack of sand eels, which in the 1980-2000 were caught in the 1,000's. This has now been stopped in British waters but still continues in Norway and Iceland. Its hard to believe that the sand eels are only used for cat and dog food, surly they could find some other food source and leave the eels alone. Another problem is that sand eels have changed their habits as a result of the sea warming. Now the are diving deeper as they prefer cooler waters

Very few young survive in Shetland  as a result of a food shortage and it has become a rare sight to see a Puffin coming in with a beak full of sand eels to feed young birds.. The puffin cam located on Sumburgh head is a great way to see Puffins underground, this secret life is revealed but also during the past three years that this has been in place no young have survive. Lets hope 2014 is a better year, and a year to celebrate the opening of  the new RSPB centre at Sumburgh head, this has cost more than £4.25 Million and is due to be complete in a few months.

A year ago we were watching Puffins at Sumburgh head when two Americans got out of a taxi, looked over the edge of the cliffs and commented that the penguins looked cute and got straight back in the car and drove off before we could say anything. Also due to the small size of the adult Puffins many people think they are young birds until its pointed out. Just shows you how many people get confused looking at common birds !!

We love to hear them calling, its call an easy one to remember. The colours on the beak are spectacular, but have you ever seen one open its mouth to reveal the orange inner mouth. This is how close you can get to them at Sumburgh, Noss or Hermaness

To reinforce the pair bond they do alot of beak clattering, others watch and are drawn in then they get too close and a fight starts with birds tumbling down the cliff face with wings outstretched. After this the start digging and many have dirty faces and after this its about egg laying and trying to raise young. Both adult birds are often away trying to find food. But even if they do find the odd sand eel they risk attacks by Artic Skua, Gt Skua and other gulls - its a hard life.

You can then start to understand why large numbers are being found dead, they have not found enough food to sustain them through the harsh winters, body weight is down and they are in poor condition. To try a live out at sea from about August - late February / early March must be very hard for any bird

Eider

It comes as no surprise to find that eider ducks have declined dramatically since we have been visiting Shetland. Back in 1980's when we started visiting Shetland numbers we around the 10.000 mark but declined to 6,000 by 1997. A survey in 2012 funded by the Sullom Voe Association Ltd have found that 1,00 birds have been lost over the past three years.

Eider ducks are vulnerable to inshore oil pollution, and the Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group (SOTEAG) has monitored their numbers since the oil terminal was built.The Braer oils spill in the south Mainland in 1993 and the discharges by various fishing vessels over a period of time has contributed to the decline. Add to this predication of young by Gulls, Skuas and possibly otters as well adults have been killed by Killer Whales, this has only been seen a few times (Simon King video a few years ago) but more recently observed in the Faroes where 50 birds were killed in a matter of minutes. When  birds become flightless in summer they become an easy target.

It seems that eiders in Shetland have changed their habits moving closer to aquaculture sites in the inner voes. Changes in weather conditions also have an effect on where birds will shelter.

Eiders feeding on mussel lines has caused some conflict and various measures are being tried out to deter the birds.

Shetland eiders are resident and studies suggest that they are closer to the Faroese race than those in northern Scotland.

N American borealis - breeds along the SW edge of Greenland (to c.75deg. N), extensively from southern Ellesmere Is., through Baffin Island, along the NE coast of Canada to meet dresseri at c. 54 deg. N; it winters off SW Greenland and around S Newfoundland; 

dresseri - breeds and winters further south, from southern Newfoundland (54deg. N) south to Boston (c. 42deg. N); 

sedentaria breeds and winters around the rim of Hudson Bay.

Eiders breed around the coast in Shetland although a number find moorland sites such as on Mousa, Unst and the North mainland attractive. They nest in colonies and sometimes they wont move off the nest. Eider down is still collected in some parts of Scandinavia but eider downs used for sleeping are a rare thing here in the UK.

There has been several sighting in Shetland of the northern eider but there is still alot of debate as to the identification, with several seen of Moray in NE Scotland showing sails and apparently one that was ringed in Moray as a young bird also showed these signs

King Eiders are always worth seeing and we have had a few sightings in Shetland, with the Tresta King Eider giving good views back in the 1990's, but too distant for any photos. Other have been around Unst or the north mainland and more recently a week or so ago 3 King eiders were found in the Bluemull Triangle (Unst)

Duck anyone

Its been far too long since my last post but things overtake you at certain times of year and this is one. I have been very busy delivering adult education photography courses, working towards a teaching qualification and well as giving a number of illustrated talks , several of which I had to make up from scratch.

                                                                Long Tailed Duck
The weather has not been kind to anyone especially those in the south of England and also in Shetland where gales and rain seem never ending. Its difficult to get out and get any photos in those conditions so its always a good time to look back. At this time of year I always think about wildfowl, they are in breeding plumage and look immaculate.

Diving duck can be seen on a number of lochs in Shetland, Spiggie, Brow Hillwell Clickhimin etc. Over the years in Spring we have seen an increase in Tufted duck numbers with 44 on Spiggie in one flock in mid June, these will be non breeding birds. These are always nice to see and some people get them mixed up with Scaup especially the females, which look similar except for the more white around the base of the bill and no tuft, with a more rounded head. No doubting the males with a grey back rather than a black colour on the Tufted. A small number of birds breed especially in the South mainland

Goldeneye are always great to see and at this time of year have started to display, the males throwing their heads back and calling with plenty of fighting between the males. These are tree nesting birds so it would be very doubtful they would breed in Shetland, with no nesting sites. Unst is the most favored site during the year with peak numbers during October - January

Pochard numbers are always variable, a chunky duck they always rest in small flocks, the males with the brown heads and silver backs look stunning even at a distance.Birds can usually be found in May and June at Loch of Hillwell but only in small numbers

Long tailed ducks are normally found on the sea but a number do take to fresh water with Spiggie a favorite place

 During 2012 up to 700 birds were present at Belmont in Unst during early spring. Odd birds can be found usually up to Mid June.Numbers in June are certainly less now than back in the 1980-1990's

Sawbills

I like winter birding as it bring many more birds into the area. Just recently Goosanders have been seen at.Strand Loch, these are very attractive birds. The males tend to have a pink flush on their breast, while the red headed females are just as smart.

These are winter visitors to Shetland, mostly December - early spring and normally only in small numbers. Elsewhere they are a bird which is increasing in the rest of the UK, much to the annoyance of the local fishermen who see them as a threat.

The most I have seen in one spot was back in 1999 when i was involved in a wildfowl survey in Sheffield. I watched a local pond, not very big but during that winter an increasing number of Goosander found the fish too hard to resist. Initially only 20 birds were present but numbers built up during the week ending up at 137 birds. These were catching very large fish and with numbers so high the fish stock didn't last and they moved away with non present on the eighth day. In the Peak district they have started to breed on a few rivers but numbers will always depend on game keepers and persecution.

The Red Breasted Merganser is a locally scarce breeding bird found both on the sea and on lochs but in small numbers normally.Numbers may be swelled by young birds but normally a few pairs are normally found together although these are often secretive.

Its not uncommon to find birds present in Lerwick, especially on the south side where i have found birds close into the coast. The largest numbers occur in winter with over 150 birds near Whiteness in December 2012

Both birds are diving ducks, taking fish, even large ones. The other saw bill is another winter visitor this time from Scandinavia - the Smew. The male is extremely smart inits black and white plumage, this is a smaller bird than the other two. At certain locations the gather in small groups, the highest number has been 7 birds at Tophill Low a few years ago but around Sheffield we only get the occasional bird. Anglers and Pugney Country parks in Wakefield are often reliable sites. Most of the Smew turning up in Shetland are females or Redheads , but in December  2012 a male turned up at the Loch of Clickhimin whee it stayed several days

Marsh Harriers

I have just been looking back through this years notes and again picked up on a superb day on Fetlar. With a couple of bus tours led by Martin Gardner and Gary Bell and a few other cars on the ferry we soon lost them as we decided to go direct to Loch of Funzie. Typically over the last couple of years the Red Necked Phalaropes were not coming out to play, so instead we turned our attention to the Three Red Throated Divers over the far side of the Loch. An Artic Skua was constantly dive bombing them so they must have brought back food, perhaps a sand eel.

Moving on a Whimbrel landed close by and call, which drew our attention to 5 snow buntings feeding opposite the lay by, as it turned out these were Siberian Snow buntings (Later identified by Martin Gardner), a number of Dunlin also fed in the same area with a couple of Golden Plover.

After some great views we made our way over to the hide on the mires of Funzie, just in time as it started to rain. Not much on except a number of Snipe so after a good scan around we made our way back to the car and down to the Brough Lodge in the hope of seeing an Otter. I just got out of the car to get my Telephoto lens out and saw a large bird of Prey coming in off the sea in the fog. As it approached it could be clearly seen as a male Marsh Harrier, it passed straight over head and then close to the lodge was mobbed by Hoddie Crows. After evading them it moved off North to be lost in the mist and although both tour mini buses came round the corner at that time they failed to see it. Good job I managed to get a few photos, shown in an earlier blog

This is not the first time we have seen Marsh Harriers in Shetland during our spring visits, on two other occasions we also saw individual birds at Loch of Spiggie. Birds of prey of any kind are not common in Shetland as only Merlin breed with the occasional Peregrine. Most birds in Shetland arrive in May , 2012 didn't prove very good but back in 2011 several May birds were present in Unst, Fetlar and the mid- mainland. This bird is still a very scarce bird in the northern isles.

I remember when Marsh Harriers was down to only 1 pair of breeding birds, in Suffolk back in 1971, but thankfully they have recovered to such an extent that you can see them at most reed bed sites. One of the best near to us is at Goole, Blacktoft Sands where in winter around 30 birds gather to roost, a great sight. Another good spot is in the Camargue when back in 1990 we saw 33 birds in the air at once as we scanned left to right.

There seems to be plenty of food in the reed beds, and several times we have seen them catch rats, even doing a handover in mid air which was a superb sight.

Little Egrets

It still seem odd seeing Little Egrets  in Shetland where they seem out of place, well for now. There has been a massive expansion of Little Egrets in the UK. They bred in Britain for the first time in 1996 and never looked back, the BTO has estimated a massive 16, 350% increase since then. Its good to see that some birds are on the up.

Its very easy to recognise with its all white plumage and yellow feet. It can be found beside water, marshy areas and even on the coast. It is very numerous in France and we have seen many all over but especially in the Camargue where massive heroines occur. At one site over 250 pairs could be seen along with other herons such as Night Heron, Grey heron and Cattle egrets. Very noisy but will live in my memory for along time.

The most I have seen in one place in England is down at Frampton Marsh where 28 could be seen together, more local to Sheffield birds are often seen at Old Moor Wetlands (RSPB), Rothervalley Country Park, Potteric Carr at Doncaster and odd birds elsewhere.

In Shetland we first came across one bird at Loch of Spiggie many years ago, but Shetland has a habit of turning up Mediterranean species. I doubt whether they would breed in Shetland as they nest in trees, which are rarer than the birds. You never know though, you could find them at Kergord or Halligarth (Unst) in 20 or so year time, keep your eyes open they are hard to miss

The other week one bird turned up in Unst, they can be found any time April - December and have been seen over 20 times in the isles.