Male Long Tailed Ducks

Long Tailed Ducks are one of my favourite birds especially when seen in winter plumage. They look so dapper yet coming into breeding plumage they have more or less a dark brown colour, pink beak and white spectacles.

These are small sea ducks and in Shetland they have a good distribution in the south mainland. Usually found in small flocks they start to gather in late March, especially in West Voe when around 200 birds can be seen.

They tend to move north into Bluemull sound where around 1000 birds can sometime be found. Back in the 1980's you could usually find a few birds summering around the isles but they now seem to be a lot rarer June - August

More photos at www.amazingshetland.co.uk

Gt Northern Diver

Gt Northern Divers are present in Shetland all year round, with larger numbers in winter. As spring draws near numbers build up, especially in Quendale bay with over 40 birds present most years

In the south mainland Quendale, Grutness, Sandwick are all good places to find these divers

Red Throated diver disappear during the height of the winter months returning in March. These first appear on the sea before dispersing to breeding lochs around Shetland in spring

Only the occasional White Billed and Black Throated diver appear in winter and on one occasion a Pacific Diver showed in Grutness bay one spring.

The Killdeer is still present in Sandwick while a good number of Iceland Gull and a few Glaucous Gulls are still around the islands

                                                                                      Shag
http://www.amazingshetland.co.uk

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