Toft

We have been wanting to go to Toft in the north mainland for a while, but the weather has been against us, hwoever Saturday couldn't have been better. Sunny still weather all day

Grey Seals greeted us as we approached the pier

 It was the otters we came up to photograph, ferry terminals are a great place to see them and Toft is no exception. It was looking good, we arrived just after high tide and the ferry has just left heading north to Yell.

 After around 45 mins i noticed one quiet distant, feeding. After 5 mins it started to head towards the pier and I moved closer when it dived. It then started to call loudly to another Otter which i assume came out of the holt among the boulders

After a while calling, one came out and walked towards a metal bridge and curled up and started to go to sleep. I was moving round into a position to get a better photo with the Otter still sleeping, i was also down wind so not to disturb the animal when the ferry arrived back with safety warnings blaring out , this alerted the otter and it quickly slipped back into the sea.

                                                               Turnstone

 There was plenty of bird activity wit a flock of 178 curlew constantly flying back and forth, sometime joined by Turnstone (44) Redshank (18)

 A good sized flock of around 250 starling flew round

 A few Kittiwake joined Herring and GT BB gulls as the ferry arrived back

Over on the far bank a flock of Greylag (86) and a Brent Goose fed. The following day i managed to find a Barnacle goose in Sandwick and the Stonechat arrived back in the same spot as last week. The Killdeer is still in the same field which it settled into 4 months ago and has now started to display to Ringed Plovers.

After giving illustrated talks to two WI groups and the RVS i have further ones come up soon, down at the RVS at Hoswick this Thursday and the Shetland Photographic Club a week on Wednesday

If you want to come on the next Intermediate Photography course, which covers Wildlife, Close Up, Landscapes, Urban, Creative and Indoor Portraits in Scalloway starting 5 June 2017 then contact Shetland Adult Education

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Check out my other blogs

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shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Stonechat

Stonechat our first  Shetland spring migrant, this time in our garden. This appeared yesterday and stayed until just after 2pm this afternoon. This was after one was found on Whalsay the day before

Last year it was again a Stonechat , when we found one at Sumburgh farm.

This one allowed close approach

With daisies appearing its getting more like spring, even the weather is warmer.

Some geese are returning north with Barnacle and Whitefront seen and the Killdeer is still present in the same field as usual at Sandwick

We have been getting regular visits from Rock Pipit

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Female Long tailed duck

The number of Long Tailed Ducks are now starting to build up in several bays and it will be interesting to see what numbers are present before they finally move off to their breeding grounds further north.

Female Long Tailed Duck

The Killdeer is still present at Sandwick but little else, just hope for a better Spring migration this year.