Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
As I have broadband this year I will do a daily summary for anyone interested. A more professional effort will presumably be available from Mike McKee in due course, but between the two it should cover about five weeks in total and may be useful in charting the daily ups and downs of basing yourself here rather than day tripping as part of a wider itinery.
Day 1 - 13th September
Logistics to Sumburgh - up at 4am, drove to Edinburgh and flew in arriving late morning.
A brief look around the airport before the bus arrived produced a few species, including Bonxie, but no obvious migrants. The Good Shepherd was just leaving Grutness, presumably with a few birders on board.
Looked for the Pallid Harrier from the bus more in hope than expectation, didn't see anything other than common birds and a few Ravens.
The Skerries ferry leaves from Lerwick on Tuesday and Thursday and takes a couple of hours. In seven spring and autumn trips previously I have seen a good variety of wildlife but never any passage seabirds of note.
I was talking to a resident who is a birder, Peter Flint, when I saw a concentrated group of Gannets plunging in Bressay Sound and suggested there might be dolphins associating. Sure enough at least a couple of White-sided Dolphins were feeding, presumably more, but the Gannets melted away and I lost the dolphins before a more accurate count was possible.
Things got even better as we drew alongside Skerries as a Minke Whale breached really close to the boat. This was the second I had seen on this route, but this one was breathtakingly close. A fantastic experience.
As I came off the ferry Edwin Tait, who used to ring on Skerries, was around and told me it was very quiet. Sure enough the only definite migrant on the eastern island (Bruray) was a Willow Warbler, and crossing the bridge the east part of the western island (Housay) was also very quiet.
The iris bed on Housay is perhaps the best site on the island for migrants, but in the circumstances I wasn't expecting anything. It was a pleasant surprise then that the first bird I saw there was a Yellow-browed Warbler, only the second migrant of the day. This showed very well on and off for the next half an hour or so.
A few other migrants were seen in this area before dusk including 2 Whinchats, 2 Blackcap, a Chiff Chaff and a fine male Brambling. On the shoreline a Common Sandpiper was also a migrant.
So, in many ways, an excellent start to the trip.
Day 1 - 13th September
Logistics to Sumburgh - up at 4am, drove to Edinburgh and flew in arriving late morning.
A brief look around the airport before the bus arrived produced a few species, including Bonxie, but no obvious migrants. The Good Shepherd was just leaving Grutness, presumably with a few birders on board.
Looked for the Pallid Harrier from the bus more in hope than expectation, didn't see anything other than common birds and a few Ravens.
The Skerries ferry leaves from Lerwick on Tuesday and Thursday and takes a couple of hours. In seven spring and autumn trips previously I have seen a good variety of wildlife but never any passage seabirds of note.
I was talking to a resident who is a birder, Peter Flint, when I saw a concentrated group of Gannets plunging in Bressay Sound and suggested there might be dolphins associating. Sure enough at least a couple of White-sided Dolphins were feeding, presumably more, but the Gannets melted away and I lost the dolphins before a more accurate count was possible.
Things got even better as we drew alongside Skerries as a Minke Whale breached really close to the boat. This was the second I had seen on this route, but this one was breathtakingly close. A fantastic experience.
As I came off the ferry Edwin Tait, who used to ring on Skerries, was around and told me it was very quiet. Sure enough the only definite migrant on the eastern island (Bruray) was a Willow Warbler, and crossing the bridge the east part of the western island (Housay) was also very quiet.
The iris bed on Housay is perhaps the best site on the island for migrants, but in the circumstances I wasn't expecting anything. It was a pleasant surprise then that the first bird I saw there was a Yellow-browed Warbler, only the second migrant of the day. This showed very well on and off for the next half an hour or so.
A few other migrants were seen in this area before dusk including 2 Whinchats, 2 Blackcap, a Chiff Chaff and a fine male Brambling. On the shoreline a Common Sandpiper was also a migrant.
So, in many ways, an excellent start to the trip.