Out West

On a visit out on the west side this last weekend it was good to be out in good weather. Lots of good birds to keep the interest including some young Ringed Plover, which seem late to me.

The young are very well camouflaged blending in with the landscape and difficult to see if they are not moving around. With any gulls and skuas around they need every bit of help.

We did see an otter, not very close but it did stay around for 20 mins feeding off shore.

It was interesting to see the otter swimming past Red throated divers which didn't seem too concerned

Although migrants may have been thin on the ground, Shetland always has something to offer with some great breeding birds. A couple of interesting breeding birds this year are Grey Wagtail, linnet, Chiff Chaff and Sedge warbler.

Just recently a Paddyfield warbler has turned up on Noss and a Turtle Dove at Brae, just a foretaste of a good autumn ?

Fields and roadside verges are a mass of colour at the moment, grass cutting has started and green channels have appeared. It seems that possibly a pair of Corncrake may have bred - to be confirmed, so i hope that the cutting has not affected this.

Skylarks have only just finished singing but Curlews and Oystercatcher are still noisy, passing over our house in small flocks on a regular basis