Being a regular autumn visitor to Shetland I'd always wanted to visit in late spring and with a friend of mine Theo de Clermont working as a wildlife guide there until September it was a perfect opportunity. I arrived on the early morning Loganair flight from Aberdeen on Thursday, departing on my return flight on the afternoon of Tuesday 18th. I'm happy to report that both flights were on time!
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| Loganair ATR from Aberdeen |
"Although the title of this post is "Shetland in Spring," you'd be forgiven for thinking this was more like mid-February. With daytime temperatures struggling to rise into double figures, a biting northerly wind, and some hefty and prolonged rain showers, this was anything but spring." In fact, my annual autumn visit in the first week of October has consistently produced far better conditions.
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| Esha Ness lighthouse ~ Situated on the Northmavine peninsula in the north-west of the mainland |
While Theo worked for the first few days, I spent my time investigating the northern half of the mainland up as far as Esha Nesss in the northwest. However, news came through on the 15th of two
Blyth's Reed Warblers down south at Virkie Pools, so I made the effort. I spent an hour in the company of a dozen others listening to the birds singing, which was a first for me, and then eventually I managed to photograph the bird as it finally presented itself. Another Shetland first.
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| Blyth's Reed Warbler at Virkie |
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| Blyth's Reed Warbler |
In the following days, Theo and I spent most of our time on the mainland with an excursion to Fetlar on Sunday, the 15th. To get to Fetlar from Shetland’s mainland you need to drive north to Toft, take the ferry across Yell Sound to Ulsta and then drive across Yell; you then need to take the ferry across the Bluemull Sound to Hamars Ness in Fetlar. It's a pleasant crossing of around 40 minutes.
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| Distant photo of Whooper Swans cygnets, which I've never witnessed before. |
Although we didn't come across many rare finds during my stay, after what has been a great spring here for rarities, I did get to see Swallows, Terns, Phalaropes, Skuas, as well as Whooper Swans and Red-throated Diver young, both new to me for Shetland.
What follows is a pictorial of my visit. **ALL photos were taken from the roadside at a comfortable distance and although sometimes aware of a presence the birds were not disturbed in any way!
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| Red-necked Phalarope on Shetland Mainland from the car window! |
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| Mating Red-necked Phalaropes - Shetland Mainland |
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| Red-necked Phalarope - Fetlar |
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| Great Skua (Bonxie) - Devasted by Avian Flu on Shetland these 'Pirates of the seas' can still be found in smaller numbers around the Islands. |
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| Dark Phase Arctic Skua - Only comes to land to breed & can be aggressive towards intruders! |
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| Seeing mating Arctic Skuas is such a rare treat - Unfortunately, the UK breeding population has declined by 70% between 2000 and 2019, particularly in north and west Scotland. |
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| Female light phase Arctic Skua |
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| Ringed Plover - A regular breeding species on Shetland |
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| Snipe - During my stay, many were seen and heard winnowing over the marshlands. |
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| A smart-looking Golden Plover their plaintive flat whistle heard frequently over the moorlands. |
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| Whimbrel - Only found breeding in Scotland. The good news is that the Shetland and Orkney breeding population has been slowly increasing. |
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| Red Grouse - The Red Grouse is a common and widespread resident bird in Scotland. Its favoured habitat is typically open upland heather moors at an altitude of between 350-700m. It is found across most parts of Scotland, including Orkney, Shetland and most of the Outer Hebrides. |
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| Plenty of Northern Wheatear to be found around Shetland. |
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| Red-breasted Merganser from the car window while having lunch at Hillswick. |
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| Red-throated Diver with a couple of youngsters tucked under her wing. |
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| Red-throated Diver - On our return journey we were lucky enough to see the two youngsters on the small loch and then watched as the birds headed back up the bank with surprising ease. |
A few more images of the visit...
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| Great Skua |
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| Great Skua |
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| Fulmar |
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| Red-throated Diver |
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| Oystercatcher |
Despite the lack of finds it was a very enjoyable visit, with many highlights and I'm already looking forward to my annual visit in October. Many thanks to Theo for looking after me so well and introducing me to new areas of the Shetlands, he's also a very good cook!
