I had booked my visit to Shetland a little later than usual due to work and social commitments and so leading up to my departure on 11th I had been studying the weather charts on windy.com, it wasn’t looking great, a dominance of westerlies but for my weekend visit the winds were going north, north-east and east as a low pressure system moved east over north Scotland and into the Baltic regions with an east and then more north-east airflow coming off its northern edge. Some east in the system was encouraging but this was localised with the east flow only extending as far as Norway and the north Baltic area. Still, this was Shetland and there was always optimism.
My 07:05 flight from Heathrow to Aberdeen left on time and I arrived in Aberdeen at 08:10 I had a short wait until my 09:45 flight to Sumburgh which landed at 10:50. After collecting my car from Bolts Car Hire I drove straight to Grutness where I birded the beach and out to the obelisk on the headland. In the bay were Black Guillemot, a single Red-throated Diver and good numbers of Common Gull while on the headland I picked up my first Rock Dove, Twite, Merlin and a small flock of four Snow Bunting.
Snow Bunting - Grutness, Mainland Shetland
Snow Bunting - Grutness, Mainland Shetland
I then headed up to Garths Ness, beyond Quendale where a Short-toed Lark had been present since 4th October, I was told to sit in the car beside a patch of mud and the bird comes into this, I sat and waited but nothing and so I went for a short stroll around this beautiful headland. There were lots of Meadow Pipit in the grassland, Raven, a couple of Goldcrest around the ruined buildings and a Song Thrush on the cliffs. I eventually flushed the Short-toed Lark from the grassland and had brief flight views only. I then birded around the Quendale Mill area where a Common Chiffchaff, Siberian Chiffchaff, Blackcap and a Yellow-browed Warbler were the highlights. I was starting to flag and so went to the local store for snacks and a coffee.
Yellow-browed Warbler - Quendale, Mainland Shetland
Yellow-browed Warbler - Quendale, Mainland Shetland
I then headed to South Voe and birded the gardens around the Croft Museum where a Barred Warbler had been present. I scoured the gardens, which in places were dense, and had Chiffchaff, six Blackcap and a Merlin over. I decided to head off and as I drove south out of the village a couple of Whinchat beside the road made me stop, a movement below them and there low down in the dock was the Barred Warbler. I watched the bird for five minutes before it headed out across the fields towards the mill.
Merlin - South Voe, Mainland Shetland
Blackcap - South Voe, Mainland Shetland
Barred Warbler - South Voe, Mainland Shetland
Barred Warbler - South Voe, Mainland Shetland
South Voe and the Croft Museum - Mainland Shetland
The light was beginning to fade and so I made one last stop at Netherton where 50 Redwing and 8 Fieldfare were the highlights. Two Harbour Porpoise were very close in shore at the bay. I headed for the hotel for a much needed cold beer and an early night.
Netherton, Sotuh Mainland
View from my room in the Lerwick Hotel
