Hello there.
Yesterday I received an email and had to share the attachment with you.
It is Sumburgh Head in the background, with the star of our RSPB logo flying by! The avocet was discovered by Roger Riddington at Scatness last night and my thanks go to George Petrie for allowing me to share his photograph here. If you wish to see other photographs of this bird, or keep updated with what birds are in Shetland, do visit www.nature-shetland.co.uk .
There is lots going on on our reserves at the moment. Loch of Spiggie has breeding lapwings, curlews and redshanks, easily viewed from the roadside so not to disturb them. Sumburgh Head has had a slow start to the seabird breeding season with guillemots late in laying and shags hardly nesting at all. We keep hopeful that our seabirds will find enough fish to sustain themselves and rear their chicks once they hatch. Our Puffincam family can still be viewed online on www.rspb.org.uk/shetlandsummer or www.shetland.org/puffincam - but be warned - watching a puffin sitting on an egg hardly moving is surprisingly addictive!! The egg is due to hatch around 14 June. At Mousa, the air is filled with an avian orchestra - drumming snipe, trilling twite, screeching terns and churring storm petrels. It is such a marvellous time of year.
As well as the wildlife having an active time, us staff and volunteers are busy too. Karen, our new Lifelong Learning Officer, is taking out school groups - inspiring bairns about the wonders of the natural world. Blair and Stephanie are here at Sumburgh Head keeping the Date With Nature running smooth, sharing the stories of seabirds and encouraging folk to support the RSPB. Newton is busy monitoring breeding birds, doing guided walks, mending footpaths and lots more. We've got volunteers helping us on Mousa this weekend (email shetland@rspb.org.uk if you are interested in volunteering here on the islands - volunteers are absolutely essential for the work of RSPB) and lots more.
It's a great time to visit our reserves, particularly now the weather is so much better. Visit the Shetland Collection page to find out more.
Cheers eenoo
Helen
Lately the weather has been a mix of sunshine, gales, snow and hail but the south easterly winds brought some welcome migrants including an amazing fall of 160 robins on Friday (20 April) which saw them tumbling out of the drystane dykes in one's, two's, three's...they were everywhere! Fluttering around like rusty red flames against a grey wintry background, providing such a warmth of colour, 'glow' seemed an appropriate collective noun. The reserve was certainly glowing with them, making it one of the most amazing things I have witnessed, the sight of so many all around was just magical. With 200 Robins around Sumburgh that weekend, Shetland as a whole may have had thousands, what a thought! We know at least one pair has stayed to breed locally, I wonder how many more might try?
That same Friday, ten siskin, two redpoll and a chaffinch were feeding among the twite at the lighthouse in the morning drzzle, brightening the view and providing the first rush of colour. Other recent visitors include ring ouzel, chiffchaff, song thrush, dunnock, blackcap, snow bunting, fieldfare and brambling.
More recently, a common crane circled overhead and thanks to a head's up from Fair Isle Bird Observatory on Sunday, we saw a white tailed eagle!
Since Sunday the sea has been calm and the sun has shone, making the lengthening evenings spectacular. Two local fishing boats have reported sighting 3 killer whales for four nights running now a couple of miles off Sumburgh Head. Hearing that that they are around is always exciting, so keep your eyes on the sea, and sky, the first swallows and arctic terns are arriving, heralding the start of summer!
After a week of installing cameras, we were very excited when the puffins returned to the puffincam burrow at 11.20am on 17th April. They have been in and out lining their nest since then, so keep a look out for an egg any day now! The camera has also revealed unexpected visitors to the burrow in the form of a mouse, a starling, a robin and a rabbit (not all at the same time, it's not the tardis burrow).
Check out all 3 puffincams and cliffcam online and follow the seabird breeding season with us by clicking here http://www.shetland.org/puffincam/index.php
Being able to visit Sumburgh head by screen from any part of the world is pretty cool, but if you get the chance to come in person from mid May until mid August our friendly guides will be pleased to meet you between 11am - 4pm. Join them for talks on the history of the reserve and its wildlife at 11am, 12noon, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.
See you soon!
Last Saturday, the Mousa Boat ran to the reserve for the first passenger run of the summer. Hurray!
Crewing the boat was Tom Jamieson - anyone who has been to Mousa will recognise Tom - and two of the new owners Alan Pottinger (left) and Jimmy Fullerton (right).
Unfortuantely, it was an exceptionally wet day so Jenny, Newton and I (hardened RSPB staff) were the only passengers onboard! The weather was not at all kind to us, but the wildlife was superb - particularly the quanitity of robins. We counted 58 on the circular walk - 58! There's been an incredible quantity of robins turning up in Shetland, brightening up a rather grey spring. We saw a few bonxies, wheatears, newly born Shetland lambs, a dozen grey seals... but the wild highlight of the day was an otter fishing in the Mill Pool (just east of the broch). It is very important, particularly as the bird breeding season comes upon us, seals start pupping and with lambing being in full swing, to have respect for the residents of Mousa. By taking care not to disturb the inhabitants, it gives visitors a better experience too.
There's a bit of a transition period at the moment with accessing Mousa, with the new owners settling in and the final work on the Sandsayre pier taking place. The website gives details of the timetable, fares and so on, and a new leaflet will be soon available. You are advised to book your passage online, call 07901 872 339 or email booking@mousa.co.uk. RSPB Scotland and the Shetland Rangers' Service will be offering guided walks each Thursday from 17 May until the end of August.
I thoroughly recommend you visit Mousa this year. I totally love it and hope you do too.
A couple of years ago, my family were arranging a surprise birthday party for my father. On occasions, when Dad has had one or two small sherries at a gathering, he'll laugh about making whoopee. I thought that this was simply a reference to a good party. So, I sent out cards to various aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, old and young, inviting them to a night of "Making Whoopee." Then someone told me that making whoopee can actually means something else a bit saucy - well, I was a tad embarrassed! I don't think any offence was taken, thankfully!!
What's that wee story got to do RSPB, I hear you say. Well, the other day as we were looking at Loch of Spiggie, the whooper swans were quite vocal and restless. A few gathered in a field, adjacent to the loch. There was lots of posturing, flapping, nodding, chasing, snapping... spring was in the air the whoopers were thinking about making whoopee themselves. It was one of those dark sky days, with occasional beams of sunlight breaking through. When the swans were backlit, with the greening grass and blue loch - it was just beautiful. A little comical too, seeing the grand and graceful swans going from a ballet-style courtship to a Benny Hill chase.
Photo by Ben Hall, www.rspb-images.com
Wintering whooper swans are one of the reasons why Loch of Spiggie is designated a SSSI. Some whooper swans remain in Shetland year round, with breeding attempts occurring annually since 1994. In 1907 a wounded bird from nearby Loch of Clumlie was captured and released on Loch of Spiggie where it joined another maimed bird. In 1910, the pair bred, raising three young, and went on to breed irregularly until the end of the First World War. Any young reared usually departed the following spring. The pair were shot in the winter of 1919/20 ( "The Birds Of Shetland" by Pennington et al).
101 years after the first attempt, whoopers attempted to breed again on the reserve in 2011. The pair were not successful in bringing out young (we don't know why, but this is not uncommon in newly established pairs and an otter family have been spotted in the area), and we are hopeful for the breeding season ahead. Disturbance could be an issue and we ask people to please take care to not disturb breeding birds. Anglers should exercise extra caution when fishing around the south end of the loch, and not fish near the Setter Marsh area. We'll put up signs at access points if it looks like the birds are going to settle.
If they do bring out cygnets this year, you can imagine that I'll be saying "whoopeee!!!"
Thanks for reading!