Here we are in the 4th week of July and the weather has turned and we now have a strong wind blowing and driving rain. Earlier in the week we finally got LBC (listed building consent) for the slates which we are going to use on the east side of the roof. Its been an extremely frustrating time as it's taken 8 weeks or so for a decision as to whether they were the right shade of blue-grey ! In fact they are exactly the same colour (as pointed out by one person from the council) as the existing slates, but the council employee that deals with listed buildings, decided it needed to be submitted to the committee. Had that person been up here and seen the roof, it would have been done by now and we'd be able to move on so to speak. In this time of cut-backs etc, I reckon it would have been cheaper for said person to have come up to have a look,  rather than having a meeting with several others around a table in the office in town. The end result of all this means its now probably too risky to start the roof this (what is supposed to be) summer. It would be around three weeks from now before we could start, so that would be mid August. Given what the weather has been like so far this year as a whole, it would be being a bit hopefully to guarantee four or five weeks of no rain and wind - can we ever expect that ! In late Spring, you can normally expect the odd days of wind and rain knowing that it's not (hopefully) going to last for long. This time of the year however the reverse is generally true. When we arrived here at the end of July 2008, the sun shone until early September, how I wish I could predict that now.

 On a happier note, we've just had another two visitors for just under two weeks. Our friend Liz was here for one week and my sister Carol was here for just under a week . Fortunately for them (and us) the weather was generally fine with virtually no rain and a few days of nice sunshine. They managed to get to see most of what they wanted although the odds of finding Orcas were stacked against me (and we didn't see one) but Liz did see a distant Neesick from Lamba Ness. They also had very good views of an otter down at the shore feeding (pictures later).

  The week before last, Brydon asked me to lead a walk for him on Hermaness with a group of 8 Belgians. I was a little apprehensive to start with as I was told that their English wasn't too good and I obviously don't speak any Flemish. As it turned out I needn't have worried and things went very well apart from at the start of the walk - and until we got to the cliffs - as there was a lot of low cloud. How do you show people thousands of Gannets if you can't see them because of the fog ? Thankfully by the time we reached the cliffs the fog/low cloud had blown through and we had a really nice walk............

at least there were a few Puffins around

 Looking south from the northern end of Hermaness

Muckle Flugga

  The main event on Unst this past two weeks has been the now annual Unst Fest. Unst Fest is a mixture of live music, games, competitions, a sailing regatta, Yoal races, food & drink, a carnival, heritage and traditional activities and exhibitions etc. In fact, there is so much you'd need to look at the Unst Fest website for a much, much more detailed list of events. Below are just a few pictures from one or two of the events I went to.......

The 42ft long Canadian Canoe 'Spirit Dancer'

 136 people doing the 'Palais Glide' *

'Welly Wanging' competion

Yoal Racing

(* The world record for the number of folk doing the Palais Glide, was set on Unst in 2009 with 196 participants)

  Festivities apart, we did get to see a bit of wildlife around Unst. Along with Puffins and Gannets at Hermaness, Seals at Haroldswick we had a number of Otter sightings. I had a few minutes watching a male fishing at Haroldswick and I also saw one several times across the field from out house. The best view though was of one fishing and then eating its catch down at the shore. Despite the wind not being in our favour and it knowing we were somewhere up-wind of it, it carried on, although slightly wary. However, I managed to get downwind of it and got these pictures................

and the one at Haroldswick............

and one of a Gannet at Hermaness..............

 On Wednesday (18th) my sister Carol left for home from Sumburgh, so after dropping her off and saying our goodbyes, I went up to Sumburgh Head for an hour. Due to the ongoing building work for the new centre, half of the top of the head is closed off to the public. This has resctricted the options a bit for Puffin photographs as far as I'm concerned. For instance, when the wind is blowing from a certain direction, the birds fly in a particular way etc so, there is an option for more chance of success for getting say, birds in flight. On this occasion I spent most of the time just watching them, but I did see an immature bird (last years) and also several Pufflings at their burrow entrance.........

 A yearling Puffin

A Puffling which will leave very shortly

     Robbie

  Here we are at the end of the first week of July and the weather has changed yet again and we are now back into a cool north easterly  airflow. Over the last week we've had very little wind and for several days no wind at all, unfortunately it hasn't been particularly nice. It's been very grey with low cloud or mist for much of last week which in turn has brought out the midges (or midgets as I call them) .

  Due to the really dull weather, I've not done much of either birding or photography but this has taken away any excuses not to do jobs around the place. Just over a week ago I did spend an hour up at Skaw as there was some nice breakers coming in and this in turn was bringing in food for feeding Common Gulls. The light was rubbish but I still took a few pictures anyway..........

Common Gulls

 Also at Skaw were several families of Eider Ducks feeding fairly close to the shore. I've learnt  that if I sit down on the beach, after their initial wariness, they will soon come back and carry on feeding - they do have a choice as they could move to either end of the beach. It seems quite harsh for the ducklings however as they are constantly being bombarded by breaking waves and going under only to bob back up like little brown corks...................

  On the migrant bird front, there's not been much about apart from a Black Kite which first appeared a couple of weeks ago on Mainland (assuming it was the same one) and then spent a few days around Unst before going to Fetlar and then back to Mainland. A sign that the year is moving on was a group of 6 Whimbrel moving around Lamba Ness. My first thoughts were they were a family party, but then was told they'd more likely be departing non-breeders :(

  One evening I was looking down towards the shore and spotted a feeding Otter, fetching my bins' and Rona (in that order) we headed down to the beach. It came out on the rocks at the far end of the beach with quite a large eel and as the wind was in our favour we managed to get quite close - much to Rona's delight.

  I can only assume that it is due to high tides at the moment, that the seals at Haroldswick are hauling out very close to the shore and, on occasions, even coming up on to the beach. Like a lot of other situations,  if you roll carefully to a stop in a car,  they'll stay put and you can have some really nice views. Doing this the other day, I was taking some photographs but hadn't noticed a car pull up behind me; as there wasn't much space for cars to pass, I decided to move on. Then as I moved off, their door opened and the driver got out and needless to say the seals also moved off...................

  Common Seals

  A similar thing happened about the same time concerning an Otter. I just happened to be driving along the north shore road when I noticed an Otter in the water. The wind was totally wrong but I decided to pull up the car just see if could see any distinguishing markings (such as the female with a big scar on her nose). The otter came out onto some rocks that are used regularly for eating prey on, sensed I was there, but wasn't too concerned. Shortly after, a car pulled up behind me and they sat there with the engine running, time to move on I thought. Driving along the road some 3 hundred yards or so, I parked again and watched the 'otter watchers'. They got out (leaving both the boot and car door open) and sat down on the shore - by this time the otter had gone several hundred yards off-shore - no surprise there then. The otter then swam back in my direction and came out of the water and in to a holt not far from where I was sitting.

  We're now seeing lots of fledgling birds around - Meadow Pipits, Wheatears, Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher etc. Most of the adults will sit and give out an alarm call from a wall or fence post and some, such as Oystercatchers and Redshanks, will fly around like something possessed telling all of the world a predator is around. While I don't like to cause too much anxiety to the birds, I will if the occasion arises take a couple of shots from the car as I pass by. Spending too long can distract the parents and its at times like this that a GBB Gull or Bonxie could drop in and take a youngster..............

,

 Curlew

 Lapwing

 Oystercatcher chick

 Oystercatcher

 Male Wheatear

  On one of the many misty days, I went up to Skaw for a quick beach walk; arriving at the end of the road, I immediately saw a Gannet siting on a rock in the burn. The bird looked in good form so I can only assume it came down in the fog during the night and couldn't get out due to the grassy banks and a net across the lower half of the bridge (which is to stop the sheep wandering up stream when the water is low). Taking a few pictures, I then lifted the net so it could swim downstream and back to sea; this it didn't find too easy due to the rocks in the stream, so I decide to help it on its way. Remembering that Gannets will 'go' for the eyes, I carefully grabbed it at the top of the neck behind its head and held its wings together with my other arm. Releasing it back in to the sea, it certainly didn't feel skinny or have any injuries, so hopefully it will survive...............

  Living within a stones throw of the seashore, we don't eat nearly enough fresh seafood (although we do get to have Salmon fairly frequently). During the last week, we've had some really low tides which has exposed the rocks just off from the beach. So, a couple of days ago, I went a collected some fresh Mussels for supper - and very nice they were too :) There are a lot of Mussel farms around Shetland and the other week when I went across to Uyea Isle, I learnt quite a bit about them. From what I gather, there's quite a lot of luck involved as they 'self seed' so to speak - the Mussel eggs are floating around in the sea and then attach themselves to what ever is suitable. It is believed that some of the Mussels here around Shetland could have originated from around the Outer Hebrides. It can take two years for farmed Mussels to be a size suitable for sale, so I reckon some of the ones we ate the other night could have been 8 or 10 years old as they were quite large. As I was eating one, I became aware of some sand or grit in my mouth, upon investigation I found a tiny white pearl between 4 and 5mm across - something I'd certainly not bargained for..................

 

.............. but we won't be getting rich on this though !

      Robbie

'Simmer Dim'

  Last week I had my good friend Martin staying here with us and thankfully we had good weather and, more importantly, good views of many of the breeding birds here on Unst. It's always a bit of a worry when friends visit (especially birders) as often they will have a list - even if it's only in their head - of species they want to see. On this occasion all I was concerned about was the weather as I knew that Martins 'list' would be of the waders that breed here. It really is a special place and I feel very lucky to be able to stand on the front doorstep late in the evening, just as the sun is going down around ten o'clock and hear numerous waders calling. Redshank, Lapwing, Snipe, Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover are all nesting within half a mile of the house - magical. We looked carefully at the forecast and fortunately the day we went to Fetlar we had a fine, sunny day. We were also lucky to have Phalaropes on show (after a wait) as for the last couple of years they've not been showing well...................

Red-necked Phalarope

 Turnstone

 Oystercatcher

Juvenile Rock Pipit

  Living in a place as I do now that has an abundance of wildlife and plenty of visitors coming to see it, it is quite interesting to 'people watch' so to speak and by that I mean how different people go about it. I'm sure that most folk will have read various guide books on where to go, what to see and in many of them, how to go about seeing the various creatures. Looking for Otters is a classic example. Every book, magazine and leaflet will tell you to keep a low profile (avoid a silhouette), wear subtle natural colours and watch the wind direction. Despite this, almost daily I see people standing on the foreshore in bright clothes obviously looking for otters and probably go home disappointed. A couple of nights ago I was taking a bath and was looking north across Baltasound, I could clearly see three figures standing on the shore looking around and they were a mile away, even with an otters poor eyesight, they'd have a slim chance of seeing one. 

  It's one thing that general holiday makers may not have the appropriate clothing, but if you were to go on an organized tour that's a different kettle of fish all together. A couple of weeks ago I'd been to do an airport drop off and had stopped off near to Grutness (where the Fair Isle ferry goes from). Down on the beach were a group of eight folk with cameras kneeling down in a line abreast pursuing some feeding Sanderling and one of them had a bright white coat on ! Thinking about it, maybe the guy in the white coat had got it right and the others in camo' gear had got it wrong ? - after all, they were on a bright white sandy beach :) . In situations like this, I know of one specialist tour group here that actually provides the group with sensible coats if needed, that is certainly a group I'd go with. A while ago I heard a story of a reputable tour company that does bird tours worldwide. On meeting at the airport before the trip, the leader asked one member of the group if the bright coat they had on was the only one they had. When they replied it was, it was suggested they went in to the airport shop and buy another or they wouldn't be going on the trip ! Brilliant.

   During this last week, I've had a couple of mornings out, one was up to Hermaness and on along to an area to the south I'd not been to before called Tonga. It's a cracking piece of coastline which really does have a wild feel about it. It also has more Bonxies than I've seen anywhere else. Even along the cliff top, they were pretty aggressive and constantly dive-bombed me as I walked........

Bonxie

Looking north to Muckle Flugga from Tonga

  A couple of weeks ago a dead Sperm Whale had been seen in the water below the cliffs and despite looking at the time I didn't see it. This time however - after being pointed in the right direction by Stacey the warden - I saw it in the water just below the point where the boardwalk ends at the clifftop. By now it was just a floating blubbery mess that was being feasted on by gulls and Fulmars................

 

 While up at Hermaness, I also had some quality time in the company of a very confiding Dunlin that was feeding in one of the pools by the boardwalk. It proved a point that often if you lay down and stay quiet and still, birds will come to you........

Male Dunlin

20th June

  This morning I'd arranged to get dropped off again on Uyea Isle just south of Uyeasound; I was paying another visit as part of a bird survey I was doing there for the owner and the RSPB. Getting to the pier at 7.15am, it was a cracking morning, clear sky, fairly light wind and bright sunshine. The survey involves walking around the island and recording most of the birds and what they are doing etc. and then putting that on a large scale map. Uyea is a lovely island with great views all around with a mixture of natural and man made sights in every direction. During my 6 hour visit, apart from the birds I also saw several Porpoise, and a brief view of an otter as I dozed in the sunshine while waiting for my lift back........

Mussel 'farm'

Porpoise

Pale phase Arctic Skua

  Salmon cages

  As it was both a beautiful day and almost mid-'summer', I later decided to head for a sunset (a Simmer Dim') at Lamba Ness. Leaving home at around 8pm, I headed around the north side of Balta Sound and came across a number of Hoodies foraging for mussels under the exposed seaweed. Some, like this one however were just sitting, seemingly taking in a few of the last rays of the day......

 

Hooded Crow

 Heading on over to Lamba Ness, there were a large number of rabbits also sitting out in the late evening sunshine, some running for cover as I drove up but many like these two young ones, just sat and watched me................

 As it was quite a while before sundown, I went down a rocky ridged peninsular called North Coos at the north east corner of the head.On nights like this when the sea state is slight, it's possible to get quite low down at the end and have good views of passing Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills as they head around north Unst to Saxavord and Hermaness. As there was little wind, it was relatively easy to pan the camera on the tripod as they flew past..........

 At around 10.15pm, the sun started to get close to the horizon so I moved my position to a better vantage point. By 10.45pm the sun had sank below the horizon but the sky was still incredibly light.......

Lamba Ness 22.35pm June 20th

(and with the camera phone)

  I really wanted to stay until sunrise which would be under 5 hrs away, however, due to having to take Sula to Lerwick for her Grade 2 fiddle exam, I thought it wise to try and get a few hours sleep; so leaving at around 11.20pm, I headed for home. Back home, I really didn't want to turn in so I walked the short distance down to the shore and took a few pictures over Balta Sound..........

 11.50pm looking north

11.55pm looking east

 Today (25th June) the last of our visiting friends left to start his journey south. I have known Ian for 20 (if not more) years and haven't seen him for 15 of them -  and it only seems like yesterday since we last met all those years ago. Over the last 4 weeks we've had visitors for 3 of them so it's been quite busy. We now have a break of around two weeks before the next visitors arrive (one being my sister Carol) who I'm also really looking forward to seeing again. 

  Our recent new arrivals - 4 chickens - have settled in nicely and are producing eggs. The cats took a while to get used to them and to learn that 'no' they couldn't chase them. It was funny watching the cats stalk the chickens, getting really close and then as the hens turned around to look, the cats running for their lives. We had been wondering why we were only getting eggs every other day or so, well today I discovered why - one of the chickens brooding 14 eggs !

    Robbie

Transition of Venus

  Well here we are in to the second week of June and I'm wondering what happened to spring. I would think over the whole of the spring period, we've only had around two weeks of what I would call spring-like weather. Despite that, the birds have been breeding and I'm now seeing lots of young birds around such as Lapwing, Redshank, Starling etc. The spring migration seems to have been quite average but none the less fairly enjoyable.

 The main event for me hasn't been the Queens Jubilee or the forthcoming Olympics in London, (the 'torch' is in Lerwick today) but the transition of Venus across the Sun. I was very lucky to see it back in 2004 when we lived down in the Cotswolds and had my fingers crossed for a clear sky this time.

  My alarm went off at just before 3am (having only got to bed just before midnight) and by 3.20am I was at the end of Lamba Ness just in time to see the sun start lifting up above the horizon. I quickly set up the camera on the tripod to get some pics......................

Lamba Ness 3.30am June 6th 2012

  It wasn't my intention to use the SLR to photograph the moment as I was concerned (rightly or wrongly) what effect the sun would have on the cameras sensor that had the equivalent of a 1120mm lens (in 35mm terms) attached to it. So what I did was to use the same method I used in 2004 and that was to use my birding telescope. I then projected the suns image on to a piece of card supported on a second tripod; all of this was covered by coats etc to block out any other light. It all worked fine but due to the wind, it made taking any pictures difficult so I headed back home.

  Setting it all up again at the back of the house where it had a bit of shelter from the north east wind I also had something better to throw over it all - my bag hide. To take the picture I used the 7D with my 24-105mm lens, 1/1000th sec at f5.6, 1600 ISO,  handheld.

 I have to admit that as I watched it move across the card, it did prove to be a thought provoking moment in how quickly time slips by ...........................

Baltasound 6th June 2012 5.20am

    Robbie