Hello
When a reserve has conservation designations,such as SSSIs, certain aspects of management require government consent. I was discussing the management of Loch of Spiggie RSPB reserve over the phone with ourl local Scottish Natural Heritage Area Officer, when he announced that little auks were passing his window! The SNH office has views across Lerwick Harbour over to the island of Bressay, and they've seen a few unusual birds (and whales) over the last few years, as well as the more common Shetland residents.
I stopped off to look at West Voe whilst returning to the office this afternoon and bumped into one of our volunteers, Gary. To my surprise, he pointed out a couple of little auks feeding close to the shore. Little auks are colonial birds, breeding in high Arctic regions and I haven't seen them on many occassions. Most of the population breed in Greenland and Svalbard and disperse in the winter. Their Shetland name is Rotchie, which I think comes from Norse meaning "sea rat," which isn't entirely a great association is it? They only surfaced for seconds at a time, so I had to be quick with the binnoculars. If you happen to be at Sumburgh Head, or indeed any coastal area in Shetland, it may be worth looking out for little auks (that said, there are the occasional odd records of them turning up inland or on lochs).
No matter where you are in the UK, you can take part in this weekends national event - the Big Garden Birdwatch. Last year, more than 300 people took part in Shetland, which is superb! If you are participating, can you take extra time to decide whether you are looking at a rock dove or feral pigeon? Feral pigeon is listed in the top five most common birds in Shetland's gardens, but I imagine that most are rock doves. Look for the white rump and complete wingbars and enter records on-line or by post. Why not encourage your neighbours to have a go too? All the records help us understand what is going on with our garden birds, and influences conservation efforts.
Have a good weekend - oooh, and go online to watch the Lerwick Up Helly Aa on Tuesday. Our friends at Promote Shetland will be streaming the whole fire festival at www.shetland.org - it's pretty ambitious but I bet it wil be amazing!
They're back!
Today is the first day of 2012 that I have seen guillemots at Sumburgh Head. What a joy to see them, but also to hear their "ha hah haaaring" rising upwards.
Believe it or not, this photograph contains hundreds of guillemots covering the stack and the cliffs (dotted here and there are fulmars). From the Seabird 2000 counts, it is estimated that Shetland has around 16.5% of the British breeding population (that equates to 175,000 individuals from Fair Isle to Unst), Sumburgh Head being one of the best known big colonies (along with Fair Isle, Foula, Noss, Eshaness and Hermaness).
If you cannot make it to Sumburgh Head in person, why not take a look at the webcam, which our friends at Promote Shetland have positioned at the lighthouse. If you do come along, please take extra care if you are walking on the grass. This exceptionally wet winter we've had has led to rather slippy conditions underfoot.
Stopping to watch the the guillemots for the first time of the year always brings a mixture of emotions to me. First, it is appreciation - they are such superb birds and herald that seasons will change (thank goodness - it's been such a long winter already and it's only January!!). Second, it is hope - hope that this breeding season will be better than the last. Third it's hopelessness - that's because there hasn't been any signs of things improving for the bird, either from the downward trending graphs which SOTEAG/Aberdeen University produce each year or successive governments and leaders not taking strong enough action to address climate change. Then finally, I go back to appreciation again - we've got to appreciate what we have whilst we can.
I was asked on a recent radio interview about seabirds whether we ought to be concerned about the patterns which we see in nature (such as the influx of Iceland gulls). I answered yes we should be concerned about how we are treating this planet. However, after the interview I thought to myself that I should have said that we are beyond a time for concern, it is a time for action. All of us can do something to help save nature (take a look through www.rspb.org.uk for ideas), be it big or small steps. So - please do Step Up For Nature, then when I see guillemots for the first time in 2013, I won't get that third feeling of hopelessness.
What certainly gives me hope is our wonderful Shetland RSPB Wildlife Explorer Group! Yesterday was our first meeting of 2012, and we went birdwatching from Dunrossness Primary School, and then investigated what turnstones were eating. It's always a pleasure to share nature with children. They've a different take on the world, so it is good to see life from their perspective. Thanks to the parents too for encouraging their children to explore outdoors.
Finally - eyes to the skies everyone! The Merry Dancers (Northern Lights) put on a fine display for us last night. Starting as a glow, turning into a beautiful arc of light, we were treated to an awesome display of shimmering "curtains" of light with bold beams reaching high in the sky. Bizarrely, over Mousa a couple of beams of light formed into a vision of Jedward. There's loads of photos on the internet (flickr & facebook for example), but none captured the Jedward shape. Maybe it was just me...
Best wishes from 60North
Yesterday morning, I was having a long lie trying to recover from a rotten cold. My plans of wallowing under a blanket of self-pity were interupted by a call from my big brother, John. "Killer whales at West Voe!!" He quickly described what had happened (including a dog walker who'd been concerned the whales would get stranded, such was their behaviour in the shallows at West Voe) and that they were moving northward at speed, east of Sumburgh Head RSPB reserve.
I literally threw on clothes - mismatched socks, scruffy jumper - put the news out, grabbed a banana and dashed out the door. I came across Jenny, our Shetland Administrator, on her morning run and she hopped in the passenger seat and off we went. From speaking to a couple of folk at Grutness, we realised we were too late so decided to get ahead of the whales (thought to be a pod of four or five), and wait at my parents house. Looking upon the generous sea view, we commented upon how considerate it was of the whales to turn up on the first calm and dry day for ages. After a few minutes of gazing in anticipation at a calm quiet sea, we were rewarded by the sight of a large black fin coming past the headland. Yes!!!
The whales were a bit of a distance out, but clearly visible to the naked eye. All was calm for a while, then there was a flurry of activity. We were treated to views of the whales chasing a shag, the little on in particular liked to leap clear of the water, and I saw one flipping something with its tail, perhaps the remains of a seal caught at Boddam. Here's my amazing shot of a seal escaping the jaws of the massive predators through the foaming waves!
Well, OK - it's a wind-up toy in the bath... but hey - you get the idea! If you wish to see better images of the whales, I imagine a quick search on the internet will come up with something.
I tried to keep folk up to date with the location of the whales via my Twitter and Facebook account, and others were doing the same. Over 100 people managed to watch the whales on their journey northward, past Levenwick, Sandwick and north beyond Cunningsburgh. The next picture shows the coastline that the whales (and appreciative audience!) followed, with Sumburgh Head in the distance. There's a dot in the sea which is an orca.
Part of the crowd, with Mousa RSPB reserve in the distance. The whales didn't linger here long, nor come close in shore - rather fortunate for the seals present at Sandsayre!
Whilst it is always a wonderful experience to see the whales in person, it is made far better when others get to share. I was really pleased it was not a school day and so many bairns got to see these charismatic creatures. My favourite moment was at Sandwick, hearing the whales' blow immediately followed by the elated skirls of the youngsters gathered by the shore. Believe it or not - the smudge of black in the sea to the left of the following photo is the largest of the whales and there were children perched down on the rocks. It was just after this we saw one of the smaller whales pursuing a long-tailed duck. The fulmars that had been resting on the water got quite a surprise too.
When it started to rain, I returned to my blankets, hot lemon, Olbas oil and matching socks, warmed by the new memories.
Sumburgh Head and Mousa are best known for their summer spectacle - and I do hope you visit this year - but this proved that winter wildife can be dramatic, exciting and heart-warming.
Thank you for reading and best wishes from a typically windy day at Sumburgh Head.
Hello.
I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. It's been a rather wild festive break here in the south end of Shetland, with many strong winds to battle against and an awful lot of rain. Have you made any resolutions? Apart from the usual "eat less, excercise more" kind of thing, one of my resolutions is to keep a year list. The list begins with birds spotted during the first sunrise of 2012 whilst walking my dog (before going to bed!) - starlings singing away like it was summer, a raven looking for something to scavenge, followed by a herring gull.
People often ask "What do you do in the winter?" Well, there's always essentials like Health and Safety checks, but much of our time is taken up reporting on and learning from the year gone past, then there's preparing for the year ahead. There's something about fresh new diaries and wall planners that I like. Already, there's a lot marked in them - meetings, travel, dates to remember. However, it's the unpredictable that I like to ponder on, like what date will we be marking down the return of our Arctic terns, guillemots and puffins and when will the contractors arrive at Sumburgh Head to begin the redevelopments?
One question that many are asking is "What's going to happen with the Mousa ferry?" That is a question that no-one can answer. The Jamiesons served the island for more than forty years, and we wish them well in their retirement. I find it difficult to imagine going to Mousa without Tom at the wheel, but Mousa Boat Trips is still for sale as a going concern and I remain hopeful for someone to come forwards to take on the service. So, please spread the word!
I'll leave you with a blog entry by Chris Gomersall (no doubt you will have seen his photographs in Birds magazine) from 2020Vision, which refers to Sumburgh Head. RSPB are an endorsing partner to the ambitious photography project, which will no doubt bring some amazing images to our computer screens.
I look forwards to sharing news from Shetland over the coming year. Thank you for reading.
Helen