It's 'Up' time again..........

..........'Up' being Up Helly Aa

 Last night,  (17th Feb) was the first of the two Unst Up Helly Aa celebrations for 2012 - the first one being Uyeasound. Although preparations have been going on for months and months, there is one thing that no-one can control or organize and that is the weather. Last year was fine but very windy, this year was very windy and VERY WET ! Catriona was in a squad again and had been concerned all week if she would be able to take part at all as she has had a very painful back, thankfully on the night it had eased up a bit. However, as it turned out, the weather stopped them taking part in the procession as the wind and rain would have possibly destroyed their costumes etc. I must admit to wondering why on earth we were turning out to stand in the wind and rain for almost an hour (or more) and then go and sit on a hard bench for 3 hours in the village hall. I think it's because of the community spirit, the atmosphere and the spectacle that scores of people of all ages turned out. Due to the weather, the procession was cut short and only went from the galley shed down to the replica boat that gets burnt by the shore. Below are a few pictures from the evening although I don't have any from inside the hall this year. This is due to the camera getting completely misted up with condensation which didn't clear in almost three hours in the hall. I did think about going in to the gents and using the hand drier on it - only knows what reputation I would have got if I'd have been seen in there with a camera ! It would almost certainly have made next years 'Bill' - this is what one looks like, from Lerwick's in 2009 -http://www.uphellyaa.org/assets/files/2009-up-helly-aa-bill.PDF.

 The replica boat that is to be burnt later

 Waiting in the rain

 'The Galley'

 The Jarl Squad

 One of the squads

 Burning the replica galley

 The 2012 Guizer Jarl

For a more detailed account of Up Helly Aa, you can find out more here

        Robbie

  Saturday morning (11th Feb) was a cracking morning again - it won't last - so after a quick look around the pier (still a couple of Iceland's around) I headed back home to see if the family wanted to go for a walk. I'd already thought that a walk to Hermaness would be nice, but would the others agree?, thankfully they did.

  To be honest I wasn't really expecting much to be around, apart from a lot of Fulmars on the cliffs. It was a pleasant walk up the walkway to the clifftop however and despite what some may say about the new 'plastic path', it certainly makes it much easier and quicker now you don't have to 'bog trot'. It's made from recycled plastic and will last for many many years, whereas the old wooden one didn't have a long lifespan due to the local environment. Up at the cliffs, there were scores of Fulmars, both on the cliffs and soaring around them and a little further on, I could also see a number of Gannets. Also much lower down on the cliffs were scores of Guillimots on ledges. As I'd not been to the cliffs in February before, I had no idea if any Gannets would be back or in what numbers. Moving on again to the Gannets main nesting area, I was really surprised by how many were actually on the cliffs as well as the numbers that were soaring around; I can only guess as to the numbers, but it certainly ran in to the high hundreds..........

 A tiny part of the normally very large colony (Rona took this shot)

  Despite the sun shining, there was a cool breeze now coming in off of the sea, Rona had now started to get a bit chilled and also a little fed up with me watching the wheeling Gannets (Catriona and Sula had gone off earlier) so we started to head back. We hadn't gone far when I looked up and saw two birds in the sky some distance away, one mobbing the other. Raising the bins, I could see one was a Hoodie and the other was buzzard-like, then seeing the white on the inner tail  feathers I knew straight away it was a Rough-leg', great stuff. Despite the distance I took a few shots and fortunately for us, the bird came back in our direction - but quite high. It was possibly the bird Brydon had seen over at Caldbeck at the end of last year. The two that were here last winter would often go 'missing' for days without being seen and then show up again. The north west corner of Unst is, although not a huge area, quite difficult to just have a quick look as it's a several hour round trip walk to check it out, so it's almost certainly where the birds were going to last winter..................

Rough-leg' Buzzard

  Back at home, I was greeted by the familiar chuckling of Fulmars that had returned to our chimney pots. Last year, we had a number on a daily basis that would sit up there, calling and displaying for around a month before they disappeared off somewhere to breed. Another sign that winter is starting to give way to another season (but I'm not sure which one it could be) and that is there are flocks of returning Lapwings in the grass fields. During the last two nights, there has been a faint aurora but due to the strong northerly wind and some low cloud in the north I didn't spend too long looking. Looking at the forecast, we are now due wind and rain again well in to next week - like I said earlier, the sunshine wouldn't last. I suppose it's only weather and if time allows, it creates opportunities for pictures.........

Westing

  Robbie

  Well it's been a funny old week weather wise, some days it's been blowing a real hooly, others it has felt like the first days of an early spring. So much so, that I have had my coat off a couple of times as the temperature was a balmy 5 or 6 degrees and even driving with the car window down ! - it's amazing what you get used to. On one of the calm, still days, I went along to the pier on the off chance either the Little Auk or Little Gull were still around - and they were still there. The Little Auk was just on its way out of the harbour (it seemed to have a routine, heading out in to the sound by mid morning) and the Little Gull was also heading off to the east end. I decided to return home and have another look later on.

  Going back to the pier early afternoon, the Little Gull was back and was feeding nicely just off the pier. Little Gulls aren't particularly rare in Shetland but it's still a nice one to see.

Little Auk about to dive

1st winter Little Gull

  The Iceland Gull numbers here on Unst has now dropped dramatically and on this day there were only 3 around the pier.......

Iceland Gull

  As I was saying earlier, some days it felt like Spring wasn't too far away (in fact it's still several months away) however, the Shalders (Oystercatcher) are starting to return and the Maalies (Fulmar) are back on the cliffs and also congregating out on the water.  Up at Lamba Ness, the numbers of passing Maalies and Gannets has increased enormously and it'll only be a couple of weeks before the first Gannets appear back at Hermaness. Unfortunately for the birds, there is still plenty of time for the weather to turn colder again - and probably will - but so far this winter we've been lucky or unlucky (depending on how you look at it) not to have had any proper snow.  (looking at the Met Office local forecast, it says we are due some on Tuesday -14th)

  I now feel as though we are in a sort of limbo, it could stay mild and start an early Spring or it could also go cold and, like last year, delay spring until May. I noticed this morning (10th Feb) that the Red Currant bush in our garden is starting to show green in the buds and the Daffodils are about 3 inches above ground - but there's still a long way to go !

Rock Pipit at Lamba Ness

From Lamba Ness looking south west (taken with the camera phone)

Skaw beach

  Robbie

  Today  (January 29th)  is our anniversary so to speak, exactly a year ago we put down some firm roots here on Unst and moved in to Ordaal. I could do a review of the year here but that might be a bit boring to some; so, all I will say is that it's been a very good year. Time for a celebratory dram !

  This last week I spent 3 days working installing a new kitchen for a couple on the island which was a nice change and also as on one of the days it was rather foul outside. The day before (Tuesday), I had to go to Yell so, as I had a bit of time to spare, I went via Fetlar ! The 11.50am ferry goes to Fetlar and then on to Yell - after a 40 minutes stop at Fetlar for the ferry crews lunch break. Brydon had suggested that if I wanted to try for the Whitebilled Diver that is wintering in Bluemull Sound, then it I should get that ferry as it is only a short time to hang about before the ferry departs again. Well, I did get to see the diver albeit at some distance...........

BIG crop !

  ........... and here's what it should look like - taken in Cornwall in March 2007.............

White-billed Diver

  Well like I said, I was working last week so didn't do much photography which as it turned out was a pity as, unbeknown to me, there had been one heck of a swell coming in from the south east on Wednesday night. I had to go over to Haroldswick on Thursday and then saw the result, the shore road had been blocked by stones and rocks thrown up by the sea and was in the process of being cleared by the council JCB. At Norwick there were some huge breakers coming in but alas I didn't have time to stop for long. Up on the top of the beach (which is normally a good 10 or 12 feet above high tide) it was covered in rocks and even a piece of concrete which was about 18 x 10 x 4 inches in size, now that would make a mess of the car !

  On Friday I got 'the call' from Brydon, unfortunately I was unable to phone him back for an hour and then discovered he'd had two Little Auks down at the pier, hopefully they'll be there tomorrow.

  Going over to the pier around 10am, I was delighted to find a 1st winter Little Gull and also a fly past of a Little Auk. When I say flypast, it was at eye level lest than 15ft from me as I sat in the car, what a cracker. Unfortunately it flew off out in to the sound - maybe I could get it on the garden list ? - yes I did. Returning back to the pier again later, I spent a while watching the gulls again and also two Shags that fished just off the pier. By watching the birds behaviour, I managed to get the timing just right for when they dived - if not the placing in the frame...............

  They are all the same bird, I've just cropped them differently. From 'launch' to 'landing' was about a second. I also took quite a few more pictures of the gulls amongst which were two Glaucous Gulls.........

1st winter Glauc'

  Passing by the pier again later, I dropped in to see if the Little Auk had returned, it had but by now the light had dropped off considerably - 3200 ISO sort of lighting ! I still took a number of 'record' shots...................

Little Auk

  It wasn't all birds however and I was glad to be able to watch the mum and full grown cub at the bottom of the field, as they fed on a large fish out on some rocks called Longa Taing which get exposed at low tide. The wind wasn't in my favour and in spite of being 150yds away she could obviously sense someone was around..............

        Robbie

'Mirrie Dancers'

 For most of last week and into the weekend, the Iceland Gulls have been the interest around Baltasound. I spent a bit more time along at the pier watching the interaction  between them and  the Fulmars and hoped to get a few images of the friction between them. It was usually the Fulmars that would see off the Icey's if they got too close or were feeding in a good spot.  It seems as though there had been some fish heads etc discarded off the end of the pier and it was pieces of flesh that was drifting up to the surface and also fish oil which the Fulmars seemed pretty keen on...........

 On Saturday while I was there, the 'northside' mum and full grown cub were feeding just off the pier, I did think that maybe another Iceland' might become a meal but on this occasion they caught a large crab and disappeared off with that. On one journey along the shore road I saw an otter coming down a field towards the sea. I grabbed a few shots for the record but the light was pretty poor (2500 ISO) so the images were pretty 'noisy'........................

..... Why did the otter cross the road ?

.................... to get to the other tide of course !

  On Saturday evening, there had been a prediction for the 'Mirrie Dancers' (Northern Lights) but when I looked out in the late evening there was just a slight green glow through the clouds. Looking at several websites (Spacew and Spaceweather) they were predicting an aurora for last night (22nd Jan) - and luckily it was a relatively clear night. So, keeping and eye on Spacew on my Ipod, I saw it starting to build up just after 7.30pm. It wasn't quite as good as the September one, but still great to see. This time, instead of leaving the camera set up to do time-lapse, I took single photos and moved around outside. I don't know how it seems to work out, but, for most of the better auroras I've seen here, Catriona is either away or has had to go out. This means I can't really leave the kids at home alone while I go out looking for suitable locations (I've got a number of ideas in my head which hopefully I can try out at some stage)....................

'Mirrie Dancers' Ordaal, Jan 22nd 2012

 I'm sure you'll notice the 'converging verticals' on the house which is normally a 'no no' in landscape photography, but in this case I ignored the rules to get as much of the sky in as possible. Taken with 7D, 10-20 wideangle, tripod etc. ISO800, 30 seconds @f4. Earlier on this evening (23rd) it even made the news on Radio Scotland as they were viewable from quite far south (certainly the Borders or even further south) and over the next few days, it's thought there could be even more - clear skies please...............

  Robbie

Icey' Days

Well it seems that the temporary Iceland Gull population on Unst has decided the pier in Baltasound is a good place to be. Over the last few days the numbers there have steadily risen to at least 13 today. As well as the 'Iceys' there have been a couple of Glaucous Gulls around, one immature and one adult that Brydon found down in Uyeasound............

Adult Glaucous Gull

  Back in Baltasound, I was doing a regular run along the shore road to the skip (which was convenient) so I called past the pier during each trip to count the gulls. As well as the Icelands' there were also a few Herring Gulls along with Fulmar, Kittiwake, Great-blackbacked and Shag. Below are a few pics from the last couple of days. Unfortunately, sometimes the light was too bright and blew the whites on the birds making exposures difficult..................

 2nd winter Iceland

 Adult Iceland

Fulmar

 Shag

 Shag

Grey Heron

  Today (18th Jan) was a different day again, a strong south westerly wind and driving sleet and snow showers that made it difficult to get pictures on the exposed pier. Most of what I did take were from the car but with the relatively low light and the constant rocking of the car by the wind, the results were poor. There was a lot going on with constant skirmishes between the gulls and also with them stealing food from the fishing Shags. Even with 2000 ISO it still resulted in too much movement in the pictures or too much noise in the images, so I'll make no excuses for the pictures below  :) ...........

During one of the sleet/hail/snow storms

  When I'm thinking of leaving a site where I've been watching something, I'll often think ' I'll just give it 10 more minutes' or whatever, I did today and I was glad I did. I then saw down to my left in the water, an Iceland' frantically flapping its wings in the water. At first I thought it was having a fight with another one, but then quickly realized it had been grabbed by an otter. Quickly getting out of the car I managed to get a few pictures before it climbed out of the water and into a hole in the breakwater.................

Otter with Iceland Gull

      Robbie