Grutness

Down at Grutness the other day and although it was overcast and cold there was quiet a lot of birds around

On the beach Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling, Redshank Purple Sandpiper and Oystercatcher, with a large flock of mostly Dunlin with a few Ringed Plover coming onto the beach from the east.

Its always nice to see Long Tailed Duck and on this occasion the males displayed, calling and throwing their heads back with females close by.

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White Winged Gulls

White winged Gulls certainly arrived in good numbers last Monday with Glaucous Gull (42) & Iceland gull (3) . January and February are always the best months to see these gulls in Shetland, most of Monday's Gull occurred on Unst but the North end of Lerwick is also a good place.

                                                                                          Glaucous Gulls in Scalloway

With northerly winds and snow on Thursday and Friday the white winged gulls moved to the South mainland and Glaucous (4) and Iceland (2) gulls appeared at Sandwick, with others at Grutness, Boddam, Scatness and  Quendale.

                                                                                               Iceland gull Sandwick

With ice all over the place on Saturday we stayed local and decided on a walk down to Leebotton. While only one Glaucous was present a flock of Redwing (30) was new in and feeding along the coastal path and in the grounds of Sandlodge.

On the jetty Ringed Plover (36) Turnstone (28) Purple Sandpiper (6) Redshank (6) dodged the waves. Waders in Sandlodge grounds included a further Turnstone (18) Redshank (10) Starling (50) Blackbird (16) Rock Pipit (8) and a couple of wren.

A few Eider, Mallard and Shag could be seen further out in the bay and the odd Gannet and Kittiwake GT BB, Herring and Common Gull passed by.

Elsewhere, the Killdeer is still down in Sandwick, while a flock of 6 Bean geese turned up near Quendale and a pair of Scaup at Scatness

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