Shetland 15-19 June 2012

An excellent 4-day trip with Shetland Wildlife (13,12,20) and guide Jon Dunn. The first day featured a boat trip to the seabird colony on Noss (17), very impressive with 600 ft cliffs teeming with Gannets (27,28) and large numbers of Auks, also Kittiwakes (32) which have crashed in numbers in Shetland in recent years. Plenty of Black Guillemots (5) and Fulmars (30,31) also seen, with attendant Bonxies (4,21) patrolling the colony. We then headed for Unst, and the northernmost tip of Britain, Muckle Flugga (19) via 2 ferries and a crossing of Yell, the northernmost of the islands. The bay at Baltasound held a summer plumaged Great Northern Diver, a Whimbrel (3), Red-throated Divers (37,38), and best of all, before breakfast the next day, a fantastic Otter (9,10) which fished then came up into the beach in front of us to eat, amazingly hard to spot in the kelp and seaweed. Arctic Skuas (33,34) hunted gracefully over the moorlands both on Unst (where we also saw a presumably breeding Fieldfare) and on our next port-of-call, Fetlar (18), famous for the breeding Red-necked Phalaropes at Loch of Funzie, where we saw a brightly marked female. Also on Fetlar - more Red-throated Divers, Skuas and waders breeding, including Whimbrel, Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew (1),Oystercatcher (2) and drumming Snipe. Our last day on mainland gave a superb sunny calm day (15,16), with further views of Divers, Skuas, breeding waders and then as a finale the seabird colony at Sumburgh Head (24), with confiding Puffins (6,25,26), and then breeding Whooper Swans on Loch Spiggie. Other mammals seen on the trip included Grey (7) and Common Seals (8), and other birds photographed included Great-black Backed Gulls (29), Common Gulls (39), Razorbills (23), and Guillemots including a high percentage of the more northern Bridled type (22). Perhaps one of the most memorable highlights was a late evening visit to the island of Mousa, with 1000s of Storm Petrels breeding, and hearing the birds calling from within the walls of the old Pictish broch while their mates returned from the sea in the twilight of the simmer dim - the midnight glow in June, when it never gets completely dark in Shetland (11,14). Photos JM.