Short break in the Shetlands 20th

Short break in the Shetlands 20th - 23rd May 2022

May 23, 2022

A few days back at work and then I was off to the Shetlands. Train to Aberdeen and then the Northlink Ferry to Sumburgh.

Again, timing seemed to be not on my side, but then that's the risk of short breaks, that you have fewer rolls of the dice. I was a day late for a little fall of Bluethroats, but undeterred, I set about exploring the local area with the wheels supplied by my friend Stanley, a Lerwick resident.

The Long-tailed Skua had returned to Boddam but we missed it at our first attempt, and I was satisfied with some common birds. The Twite looked subtly splendid in their breeding plumage.

Arctic Tern

Whooper Swan

Twite

Rock Dove

Back in Lerwick in the afternoon, a Black Guillemot was swimming close to the harbour walkway. It proceeded to walk up the steps and was joined by a second bird and they engaged in some sort of ritual dance, but never did the business and both birds slipped back into the water. Maybe they were saving the main event for later.

Black Guillemot

The next three days were pleasant but lacked that star bird, which I had hoped to drop on, during my birding breaks on Scilly or Shetland. However, an Osprey on 22nd was a bonus and performed well, and caught a fish at Sae Water near Voe.

Osprey

A third visit to Boddam was third time lucky and I saw the Long-tailed Skua at point blank range from the car, but it shot off before I could get my camera on it. The Skuas here, especially the Bonxies are being ravaged by avian influenza. Surely the Long-tailed Skua would escape this fate. Alas, my only photo of the bird is it sitting serenely, by the loch shortly before it was taken into care and thence succumbing to this dreadful virus.