Shetland, 20th to 25th June 2021

After several failed attempts at a summer trip to Shetland, it was with much anticipation that Malc, Phil and I headed to Glasgow airport for the evening flight to Sumburgh. The prospect of Orca and breeding waders and seabirds was an exciting one, the UK's own Arctic north.  

The trip was smooth enough, well aside from Malc leaving his photo ID at home and news of a Short-toed Eagle on one of our survey sites, and we were met by a newly newly bespectacled Andy Carroll at the airport and went to the Sumburgh Hotel for dinner after pausing in the car park to watch Arctic Terns and Twite on a sunny evening, chatting to a full suite of clan Pointon. After dinner we headed to our digs at the Sumburgh Lighthouse, a spectacular location. Seabirds abounded, with masses of Puffins naturally the stars.

The ever-endearing Atlantic Puffin. Can you ever get bored of them?

We were up and out early on the first day; I spent an hour or so from 4am enjoying the seabird spectacle around our digs before breakfast. As well as the auks, Kittiwakes called and Fulmars soared. Bonxies patrolled both colour phases of Arctic Skua soared. On land there were sinking Shetland Wrens and Starlings amongst the lighthouse buildings.

We soon headed north to Loch Clumlie. Strangely we found neither of the target birds here, but still enjoyed the breeding Red-throated divers and bathing Arctic Terns.  It was bright but a cold north wind made it hard going, and after an hour or so headed north again, stopping at South Nesting Bay where we failed to see the elusive White-billed Diver in a short stop. Our destination was Unst. By the time the we had arrived the wind had eased slightly, so we set off in search of the recently reported female Snowy Owl but again no avail, same with the nearby Rose-coloured Starling. One of those days so far, but still enjoyable to see so many breeding waders and soak up being on these spectacular islands. Our luck slowly started to change - the famous pure albino Great-northern Diver showed (at great distance sadly) and we heard singing Marsh Warblers at Kirk. Opting to search again for the owl, three of us chose to walk the ridge of Muckle Heogh, meeting Andy back at the far end. The owl appeared to have left the area, but the walk was really enjoyable, with breeding Whimbrels, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover and a couple of stunning Arctic Skuas for company.

Whimbrel. A regular spring passage species back home, but it's always interesting to see a different aspect of a familiar species' lifecycle - the first I've ever seen on breeding grounds.

Dunlin. I was surprised to hear that they are locally known as 'plover's apostles' as they apparently associate strongly with breeding Golden Plover. Every day is a learning day.

We retraced our steps and our target failures as we made the long journey south (via the famed chippy in Brae). Beers and sleep.

Day 2. Still too bloody windy. Back to Clumlie where we immediately saw Red-necked Phalaropes and up to five of these charismatic birds showed really well. After an hour or so the summering adult Long-tailed Skua finally appeared, making a couple of close fly-pasts before settling, but frustratingly in the distance. An absolute corker of a bird though. We didn’t have time to linger as we were due in Lerwick for the Shetland Seabird Tours Noss boat, run by friends Phil Harris and Becca Nason. The trip was far better than I’d anticipated, in fact one of the highlights of tour time on Shetland. Viewing the seabird city from a boat puts a wonderfully different perspective on the experience, and the Bonxies taking mackerel from Phil's hand were entertaining. But the Gannets were the stars - using a tube to drop mackerel underwater drives the birds to plunge dive all around, even splashing us as they went in. Awesome!

Female Red-necked Phalarope. Tiny Arctic waders that spend the winter in the Pacific Ocean off the Galapogos. That's an astounding journey of at least 10,000km for a sparrow-sized bird. Unusually, females are brighter than males as the species is polyandrous, i.e. the female mates with multiple mates and lays eggs but does not assist in the raising of the young.

Long-tailed Skua; a species which nests only in the high Arctic and not in the UK. This is the only UK summering bird, now in it's third season in the Clumlie area (both photos by Hugh Harrop). 

After the boat we decided to give the resident  Snowy Owl of Ronas Hill a go. This is a wild part of Mainland, and the drive up became increasingly slow and remote. Phil had told us of the best areas to search, but few seemed to ever connect. To have any chance we would need to undertake a long walk, and Andy had already decided to remain with the car and listen to the Euros. We managed to persuade our hire car up the steep track to the mast, and from there the massive scale of the search area was all too apparent. We started to ready ourselves with layers and water, but Malc spotted a distant white blob on the hillside. Surely not? Scopes out and before you know it Andy was doing a jig - the famously tough-to-see male Snowy Owl had surrendered immediately. Incredible luck! We were joined by a couple of other birders from the boat before walking up the hill for closer views. It was impossible to get close, but the scope views were superb. This is how a Snowy Owl should be seen, in a place that feels like  the edge of the earth. It was my third UK Snowy, and I saw two in the US years, but it’s not a species you tire of. Phil and I tracked further for closer views and it was a thoroughly enjoyable hour or so. Aside from a couple of Golden Plover and Bonxies, the only other signs of life up there were three Mountain Hares. We called in at Rerwick again on the way back, but this time the calling Corncrake was obliging, at least vocally.

Best image I could manage!

Alan Lewis' better image, taken last autumn.

The next and final town full days were hampered by fog then heavy rain, but we still managed to enjoy the birds and good views of a couple of Otters, soaking in the breeding auks, terns, phalaropes (again) and other waders, Whooper Swans and general proliferation of northern wildlife.  News of a Green Warbler on Fair Isle briefly added excitement until we realised it was impossible to get there in the conditions. Orca had been a main target but none were reliably seen during our stay, and the more regular pod was down on Orkney. But despite some frustrations, I thoroughly enjoyed Shetland in summer and will definitely be returning. In fact I can't wait!