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Revision as of 13:20, 8 August 2007

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Overview

Sumburgh Head lies at the extreme southern tip of Mainland Shetland and has cliffs with breeding seabirds, boulder-strewn beaches and clifftop grassland. This is one of the best birding sites on Mainland Shetland with a well-deserved reputation for turning up rarities among the migrants. It is also a good seawatching point during passage periods.

Birds

Notable Species

Breeding seabirds on Sumburgh Head include Shag and Northern Fulmar, Kittiwake, Common Guillemot and Black Guillemot, Razorbill and Atlantic Puffin. Offshore in late summer there is a large congregation of moulting Common Eider and scarcer seabirds such as Sooty Shearwater and Long-tailed Skua may be seen during seawatches. Regularly seen from Sumburgh Head are divers, European Storm-petrel, Long-tailed Duck and Little Auk.

Checklist

Birds you can see here include:

Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Northern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater, European Storm Petrel, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Shag, Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Common Shelduck, Common Teal, Mallard, Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Peregrine Falcon, Corn Crake, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Turnstone, Great Skua, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Long-tailed Skua, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Little Auk, Atlantic Puffin, Rock Dove, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Shetland Wren, Bluethroat, Northern Wheatear, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Icterine Warbler, Barred Warbler, Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Red-backed Shrike, Hooded Crow, Northern Raven, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Twite, Common Rosefinch, Snow Bunting, Reed Bunting

Other Wildlife

Sumburgh Head is excellent for viewing cetaceans with Common Porpoise Phocoena phocoena, White-beaked Dolphin Lageonrhynchus albirostris and Risso's Dolphin Grampus griseus, Killer Whale Orcinus orca, Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata and Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae all possible.

Site Information

History and Use

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Areas of Interest

The scrub and bushes around the lighthouse and the two disused quarries along the approach road are among the best areas to search for passerine migrants. Another is the garden of the Sumburgh Hotel where an almost rivalled list of rarities has been recorded over the years. Amongst the commoner species of warbler have been Blyth's Reed Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler and Greenish Warbler as well as Citrine Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Thrush Nightingale and Black-throated Thrush.

The farm to the east of the hotel is also good for migrants with regular Bluethroat, Barred Warbler and Red-backed Shrike as well as rarities. The inlet of West Voe of Sumburgh has wintering Great Northern Diver, Little Auk and various seaduck.

Access and Facilities

There is an airport at Sumburgh, alternatively take the A970 southwards from Lerwick. There is a car-park near the lighthouse

Contact Details

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Other Nearby Sites

Just to the north is the Pool of Virkie, a sheltered inlet of the sea with exposed sand and mudflats that attracts good numbers of waders. Development has recently reduced its appeal to birds but it is still worth checking. Quendale Bay lies on the western side of the peninsula opposite Pool of Virkie and is a good area for wintering divers and seaduck. About 3km to the north of Quendale Bay is the Loch of Hillwell which has wintering waterfowl in variety and numbers and occasionally Corncrake is recorded here.

External Links

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Content and images originally posted by Steve