Humpback Whales

I was driving passed Mail beach looking out to sea and thinking it would be a good time to see some whales as it was so calm. Passing the first lay-by i noticed a surge coming towards the coast and immediately thought, Whale. I just caught a glimpse as i passed the lay-by- a  Humpback.

I headed straight home to collect my telephoto lens then headed back to the lay-by in the rain. By now a couple of cars had pulled up and , looking at not just one, but three Humpback whales a family party, along with two Risso's dolphin

One of the Humpback's seem to be working an area close to Cunningsburgh while a pair, a mother and calf headed towards us.

As they came closer they were spouting air regularly as they moved faster herding fish into position. They then started to blow bubbles ( Bubble netting) to confuse the fish while circling around them

and then diving coming up underneath them with an open mouth taking in a large number of fish. There has been a lot of herring recently, but they also feed on Mackerel & Sandeels

They did this a couple of times with the two Risso's dolphin close by taking advantage of the concentration of fish.

They slowly moved south towards Sandwick so i made a dash for the top lay-by where only two cars were parked. This area quickly filled up with about 30 people watching this great show.

Again they circled blowing bubbles then fed and towards the end showed their dorsal fins several times before heading further out and south.

Big Bubbles

From photos taken in November last year it appears that these two are the same animals that appeared at Levenwick so hopefully it may become an annual appearance. Shetland is one of three places, the others are the northern Irish sea and western Scotland

They tend to grow 11- 15 m in length, with the pectoral flippers distinctive, being extremely long and mostly white on both sides.

The dorsal fin, located two thirds along the back and is usually short and stubby.

The overall colour of the Humpback is grey, its head, is  broad and covered in fleshy tubercules.

When it dives the body arches steeply prior to a deep dive, exposing the rough edged tail- stock, the fluke is a good identification point

the blow is distinctive, a mushroom shape

Humpback's have become regulars in Shetland waters since the 1990's and tend to occur later in the year late October - January.

I read an interesting story in National Geographic that Humpbacks interfere with Orca killings and move in to protect other species

Siberian Stonechat

A rare Siberian Stonechat turned up in Scalloway and was showing well but i found out too late the first day.

As i work in Scalloway i decided to make an afternoon visit in glorious sunshine and calm conditions the following day

Two other birders were on site and had seen it briefly. After a short search the bird turned up in a weedy area at the top of a drive.

It showed well for a good 5 mins before heading towards the gardens. A male Bullfinch was also seen here , another uncommon bird.

Last year i had good views but no photos of a Siberian Stonechat at Swinister Burn, Sandwick so it was good to get some photos in good weather.

Its range covers East - Western Siberia, with the subspecies ` Maura' breeding over most of the range, often separated into two subspecies, the easternmost one called stejnegeri . This one is thought to be this subspecies, it was ringed a few hours before i photographed it with DNA taken.

The race variegata is basically similar to the respective plumages of maura but it shows a considerable amount of white on the inner part of the tail. This Stonechat stayed for four days

This is the sixth Siberian bird i have seen in Shetland, the others Siberian Rubythroat, Siberian Snow Bunting (Fetlar) Siberian Chiffchaff ( Unst, Sandwick) Siberian Accentor (Dunrossness), Siberian Oystercatcher(Sandwick)

Birding in the sun

A sunny ,warm, windless day arrived earlier in the week and i was off work so headed down the south mainland.

Stopping off at the beach at Grutness a group of south birders congregated trying to find the White Rumped Sandpiper that had turned up late yesterday. Not seen today and neither was the Pallas's warbler from the garden.

Twite

Up at Sumburgh Head a flock of around Brambling (50) Twite (28) House sparrow (34) filled the rose bushes, a Merlin came over and spooked the lot and the flew up together. Lots of Gannet diving into the sea below the cliffs while a flock of Raven (14) came passed calling.

Brambling

Blackbirds started to appear on the east side and a flock of Skylark (28) headed out to sea going south. A couple of Robin were found around the lighthouse.

Down at the quarry the Redstart was still present and a few Goldcrest but little else , while the Barnacle flock opposite had reduced to 28 birds

Goldcrest

Back at Grutness garden another Redstart put in an appearance with Chiffchaff(2) and Robin (3) but no Pallas's Warbler. News came in that a Shorelark was present down at the point, so i headed down with a couple of others

Its been a while since i saw my last Shorelark which gave good views in Norfolk, this bird would be my first for Shetland.

Shorelark

It showed briefly before flying south, calling. Then arrived back in the same place and began feeding. It gave some distant views before i left going over to West Voe for another look at the Booted Warbler. It wasn't present at the spot i saw it yesterday.

Hoddie Crow

Later i found out that it gave excellent view in the park (Field) near the cattle shelter.

 Chiffchaff

On the way back i called in a Clumlie where a Ring Necked duck had been reported yesterday. All the duck including three Scaup and 15 tufted were all over the far side with most of them asleep  the Ringed Necked was still present but too distant to photograph being on the far bank.

 Scaup

A flock over at least Fieldfare (30) and Redwing (20) flew off the moorland and into a grassy area flushing a couple of Snipe.

Teal in early morning light at Boddam

By the end of the week it was  heavy rain all day so i decided to bird from the car and called in first at Clumlie where a female Ringed Necked Duck, Scaup (3) Pochard , Goldeneye (2) and Tufted (16) showed in the distance and a short while later i was watching another female Ringed Necked duck over at Spiggie,with the Pied Billed Grebe showing to the east of the fishermans hut at the north end.

Good numbers of Swan have arrived with Whooper (175) Mute (6) on Spiggie and Whooper(4) at Clumlie. Lots of Redwing and a few hundred Fieldfare, falls of Brambling in the south mainland with 50 coming in off the sea and three Great Grey Shrikes