Matt Eade's Blog: June (Part 2)

Sunday 27 June 2021

June (Part 2) - Shetland

I arrived on Shetland as co-leader on Tuesday 15th with my Naturetrek group and the tour leader. It was to be an action-packed week with myriad highlights, with the top highlights in no particular order below:

A visit to Noss for the seabird colony
A nocturnal visit to Mousa Broch for the Storm Petrels
An evening twitch for the stunning Long-tailed Skua and calling Corncrake
Watching two Otters fishing
Seeing Dave & Brenda which included a guided tour of their place
Watching the Snowy Owl and albino Great Northern Diver on Unst with Dave
Visiting Fetlar and watching the Red-necked Phalaropes
A brief Minke Whale and a pod of Risso's Dolphins on Fetlar
Going to Hermaness for the seabird colony
The daily balmy weather conditions

Two of the above, Mousa Broch and Hermaness, have been places I've been wanting to visit since I was a youngster, so all very poignant and even better to be there as a leader!

I did also manage to escape from the group of an evening; as it stays very light well into the evening, I was able to take advantage of some excellent birds relatively local to both accommodations, in Lerwick and on Unst. The first excursion was to twitch the long-staying adult Long-tailed Skua, which I only saw in flight at 10.30pm, but it was still exceptional. Nearby, a Corncrake was going for it at the same location where I found a Great Reed Warbler back in 2012.

The abundance of breeding waders and divers was another major attraction as was the continued feeling that just around the corner a rarity may be waiting to be found. Fingers crossed I can make it up to the islands in October, and having visited Fetlar, this island is now on my hitlist.