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Winter whites
It has been a pretty grim winter in Shetland so far, with almost continual gales, plenty of rain, and a distinct lack of calm, cold,...
Feb 16, 20221 min read
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Covid-19 - archive
Much as we would all rather forget Covid-19 and the associated devastation caused by it, I thought I would store the Covid updates from...
Dec 31, 20214 min read
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
Whilst standing outside our house at Bakkasetter during the evening of 17th September 2020, I noticed a bird with a bounding flight...
Sep 23, 20201 min read
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Spring 2020 - lockdown birds
It is unlikely that anybody will remember spring 2020 with any great affection. Wild Shetland Tours, in line with the tourism industry as...
Jul 31, 20202 min read
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More Two-barred Crossbills
After the massive influx of Two-barred Crossbills in the summer of 2019 (see here), it seemed very unlikely that there would be more...
Jul 4, 20201 min read
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Nutty crossbills
During late June 2020, we were fortunate to have three Common Crossbills take up temporary residence in our garden at Bakkasetter, in...
Jun 30, 20201 min read
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Booted Warbler
The highlight of the spring as far as birds were concerned, for me anyway, was the appearance of a Booted Warbler in our garden at...
Jun 1, 20201 min read
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Waxwings
There was a small arrival of Waxwings into Shetland during October and the early part of November. This species is always eagerly awaited...
Nov 2, 20191 min read
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2019 moths
Moth recording is a big interest of mine. For those who are unaware of this pastime, it involves basically having a big wooden box with a...
Oct 1, 20192 min read
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A grand day out
A massive westerly storm had passed through Shetland over the weekend of September 14th/15th 2019, which looked ideal for bringing...
Sep 16, 20192 min read
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Citrine Wagtail
Whilst guiding a day-trip on 2nd September 2019, and after visiting Eshaness, we called in at Hillswick to look for Otters before heading...
Sep 2, 20193 min read
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Two-barred Crossbills
The summer of 2019 will long be remembered by Shetland's birdwatchers due to the enormous influx of the usually very rare Two-barred...
Sep 1, 20191 min read
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Otters
We've had lots of nice encounters with Otters over the spring and summer, on Mainland, Yell and Unst in particular. The individual below...
Jul 31, 20191 min read
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A lost Puffin
During the night of 29th/30th July 2019 I went outside to check the garden moth trap as usual, and was a little surprised to see a...
Jul 30, 20191 min read
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Dolphins
Whilst guiding on 18th July 2019, we were fortunate to discover a large pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins off the east coast of Yell....
Jul 18, 20191 min read
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Butterflies
Shetland has a very small butterfly list; only 13 species have reliably been recorded in the islands! Of these, eight are classified as...
Jun 23, 20191 min read
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Great Knot
In a magnificent spring packed full of scarce and rare migrant birds in Shetland, what was probably the highlight was the appearance of a...
Jun 5, 20191 min read
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Firecrest
May 15th was a gloriously sunny day in Shetland. Just prior to heading out guiding for the day I was putting the recycling out and heard...
May 15, 20191 min read
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Fair Isle
I was lucky enough to spend three days in late April guiding on Fair Isle, my favourite island in Shetland. The weather was beautiful,...
May 1, 20191 min read
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Tengmalm's Owl
The big bird news in Shetland recently has been the discovery of a Tengmalm's Owl in the west mainland. It was first seen by Jackie and...
Feb 22, 20191 min read
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