New Year

A few 'padders' around the patch on New Year's Day - 1w Glauc, 3 Skylark, a Meadow Pipit and a Shelduck as well as the usual winter stuff.
Merlin around the Garden on the 2nd and a Kittiwake, Mallard x Pintail hybrid and a Red-breasted Merg on the Loch on the 3rd.

Great Northern Diver

Long-tailed Ducks

Mallard x Pintail Hybrid

Supermoon on the 1st

The view on the 3rd

Here we go again

The 2017 Patchwork Challenge begins, a few bits and bobs around the patch - 1w Glauc and ad Iceland Gull on the Loch, 1 Skylark, 5 Meadow Pipits and 3 Redwings in the Neep field, Gannets and Kittiwakes in Quendale Bay, 2 'fly-through' Whooper Swans and 2 Sanderling, 30 Ringed Plover and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers in West Voe. 3 hours birding and 41 species.

Gannet

Glaucous Gull

Great Northern Divers

Iceland Gull

Kittiwake

Long-tailed Duck

Whooper Swans

Winter's here

Definitely a wintry feel in the air now, most things have cleared out of the patch, the only migrants today were 2 Redwing, a Blackcap and a Robin. More in the vein of winter was a Little Auk in West Voe along with 80 Long-tailed Ducks and 10 Red-breasted Mergansers. 4 Tufted Duck, 45 Wigeon and a Goldeneye were on the Loch.

Blackbird - in the garden most mornings

Long-tailed Duck

Redwing

Another Goldfinch

Another Goldfinch on the patch today, that's a total of 6 birds this autumn. Around the rest of the patch - 2 Blackcaps, Merlin (in front of the house), 60 Long-tailed Duck, 5 Red-breasted Merganser (West Voe), 12 Redwing, 3 Fieldfare and a Robin.

Goldfinch

Fieldfares

Long-tailed Ducks

Merlin

Blackcap

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

No change

Back out on the patch after a fortnight, and virtually no change apart from some snow! The Velvet Scoter and 5 Common Scoters are still in West Voe with the Long-tailed Ducks and the Robin is still around Colonial Place.

Long-tailed Duck

Robin

Quendale Bay and Fitful Head

Looking towards Toab

West Voe and Compass Head

The 2 Bays

A nice clear and frosty day, and while the sea was relatively calm, I focused mainly on West Voe of Sumburgh and Quendale Bay.
In West Voe - 1 Razorbill, 2 Guillemots, 80 Long-tailed Ducks, 1 Velvet Scoter, 3 Red-breasted Merganser, 9 Goldeneye and, surprisingly, a Whooper Swan.
In Quendale Bay - 21 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 6 Red-throated Diver, 12 Long-tailed Ducks and 18 Eider.
I did managed to check the rest of the patch - 3 Whooper Swans, 2 Goldeneye and 2 Tufted Ducks were on Loch of Gards, a Song Thrush was in the gardens at the end of the road, a single Golden Plover was in Wiffy's Fields along with 2 Meadow Pipits (either early birds or wintering) and, finally, around 450 Greylag Geese mainly in the fields between the house and the Loch.

Greylag Geese

Long-tailed Ducks

Shag

Whooper Swans

Tonight's Sunset

Fair Isle from the garden

The Moon - last night and this morning

From The Patch

A few shots from the patch this week -

Common Gull

Eider

Great Black-backed Gull

Kittiwake

Long-tailed Ducks