Dash

A quick dash around part of the patch when I got back from Lerwick at half two (it was already getting dark!). The Pied Wheatear was still in front of the house along with a Northern Wheatear, 6 Goldcrests and a Water Rail were in among the docks, a female Common Scoter off Moast Beach, 200+ Barnacle Geese around the Loch and 3 Blackcaps were in the garden.

Pied Wheatear

Wheatear

Common Scoter

Ducks and Stuff

Shockingly the wind speed was only 3mph on Shetland today! Even though this made for easy birding, I still couldn't find a year tick on the patch. Apart from 23 Great Northern Divers, a Skylark and a Merlin, the patch seemed to be full of Ducks - 150 Long-tailed Duck, 5 Common Scoter, 1 Velvet Scoter, 10 Red-breasted Merganser and 29 Goldeneye were in West Voe, and 2 Shelduck, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 45 Teal, 7 Tufted Ducks and 4 Goldeneye were on Loch of Gards.

Velvet Scoter

Goldeneye

Long-tailed Duck

Red-breasted Mergansers

Shelduck

Loch of Gards and Fitful Head

Sumburgh Head from Scatness

January Sum-up

Highlights around the patch in January were -

2 Little Gulls in West Voe on 1/1
2 Barnacle Geese in front of the house on and off 4/1 to 11/1
Jack Snipe on 11/1
Black-throated Diver in Quendale Bay 11/1 - 13/1
2 Scaup in West Voe on 14/1
Velvet Scoter in West Voe all month
Kumlien's Gull at Moast Beach on 28/1

PWC - Species: 62, Points: 90

Barnacle Geese

Velvet Scoter with Common Scoters

Kumlien's Gull

Little Gulls



January's PWC Islands League

Gulls

Back out on the patch today, and there are now 3 Common Scoters with the Velvet Scoter in West Voe, plus a fly-by Merlin there. On the Scatness peninsula there was just 6 Golden Plover and a Meadow Pipit. Moast Beach was heaving with Gulls (by Scatness standards anyway) with about 300 Gulls feeding among the waves, in which were 4 Black-headed Gulls (including a pink hued bird), a rather heavily shawled Herring Gull and a rather interesting long winged, dark Herring Gull. Both Red-throated and Great Northern Divers were in Quendale Bay.

Merlin

Pink hued Black-headed Gull

Common Scoters with Velvet Scoter

Golden Plovers

Hooded Crow (taken with trail cam)

Heavily shawled Herring Gull

Long winged, dark Herring Gull

Red-throated Diver

The coastguard on a bird scaring exercise in West Voe

Whoopers

On the patch today - 2 Common Scoter have now joined the Velvet Scoter in West Voe along with 19 Goldeneye.With most of the freshwater lochs frozen over, it wasn't too surprising to find a bit of stuff moving about, 2 Whooper Swans were flying back and for around Scatness for most of the day, in the afternoon 122 Golden Plover headed south and a single Fieldfare appeared in the garden.

Whooper Swans

Common Scoters

Quendale Bay

Surprise

Got home from work at 06:45 to bright sunshine and a flat calm sea at Scatness, a quick scan of the sea and 5 Common Scoters, 19 Great Northern Divers and an Otter all showing pretty well from the sitting room window - pretty good end to a 9 hour shift !

Otter

Common Scoters

Little Oik !

No sign of yesterday's Yellowhammer at Old Scatness - just a single Redwing there, 2 Whooper Swans on the Loch, plus another 8 flying North, the Mallard x Pintail hybrid was on the marsh along with 3 Grey Herons. Moast Beach was pretty productive with a female type Common Scoter offshore along with a Little Auk, which eventually came very close in, showing down to 3 feet in Stinky Geo ! The Waxwing flock in the garden had increased to 16 birds by late afternoon and another Fair Isle colour ringed Starling was at Colonial Place.

It's pretty good when Little Auks show this well.

Cormorants

Colour ringed Starling

Common Scoter

Redwing