Shetland Misfit: Whooper Swan

Showing posts with label Whooper Swan. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 February 2018

One More

Whooper Swan finally added to the patch year list with 3 on Loch of Gards, also of note was a Merlin on the deck in one of the fields by the house.

Whooper Swan

Merlin

A rare flat calm mid winter day

Sunday, 1 January 2017

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

Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Post Conor

At the height of Storm Conor yesterday there were Gulls everywhere, so it was safe to assume there would be loads today - there wasn't! Around the patch there was 4 Whooper Swans heading south, 10 Red-breasted Mergansers in West Voe, a storm blown Guillemot hanging about some dry-stone walls (later captured and released back to the sea) and 2 Meadow Pipits and a Redwing in the neep crop.

Storm Conor at full chat yesterday

Guillemot

Common Gull

Whooper Swans

A victim of Storm Conor - or potential Ivory Gull food

Monday, 31 October 2016

Scary Veg Day

The day started with 3 Goldfinch in the garden, obviously new birds, so I thrashed the patch once again and there were indeed birds on the move - 10 Whooper Swans (7 flying south and 3 on the Loch), a female Chaffinch on West Voe beach of all places, 1 Merlin, 4 Robins, 1 Blackcap (on Moast Beach), 40 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush and the Slav Grebe was still in West Voe along with 2 Great Northern Divers and 45 Long-tailed Ducks.

Goldfinches

Redwing

Slavonian Grebe

Whooper Swans

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Cliffs

Most of the birds were on the cliffs at Scatness today, I did all the cliffs from the end of the 'island' and worked my way north - 1 Ring Ouzel, 2 Wheatear, 6 Robins, 1 Brambling, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Linnet and a Common Redpoll all along half a mile of cliffs!
Around the rest of the patch - 2 Blackcap, 5 Whooper Swan, 2 Fieldfare, 12 Redwing, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Great Northern Diver and a Swallow.

Whooper Swans

Common Redpoll

Monday, 7 March 2016

Small Change

A little bit of change on the patch, namely Oystercatchers are now up to 40+ and Skylarks are now in double figures, still only 2-3 Meadow Pipits though. On the Loch today there was a 1w Glaucous Gull and a Whooper Swan which was joined by a second bird later in the day. In West Voe the Scoter flock is still there, Long-tailed Ducks have increased to around 250, also in the Voe were 36 Goldeneye, 5 Red-breasted Mergansers and 6 Great Northern Divers.

Glaucous Gull

Great Northern Diver

Red-breasted Merganser

Whooper Swan

Another bit of a show of the Aurora

A summery looking West Voe

And a moody looking Fitful - hard to believe that both pictures were taken just a few hours apart

Noticed this Points per Bird table on BirdGuides - not bad for a tiny patch in winter.

Also on BirdGuides was this epic error -

Sunday, 17 January 2016

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

Saturday, 16 January 2016

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

About Me

Sometimes I try to do things but it just doesn't work out the way I want it to, and I get real frustrated and then like I try hard to do it, and I like, take my time but it just doesn't work out the way I want it to. It's like, I concentrate on it real hard, but it just doesn't work out. And everything I do and everything I try, it never turns out. It's like, I need time to figure these things out, but there's always someone there going “hey Steve, you know we've been noticing you've been having a lot of problems lately, you know? You need to maybe get away. And like, maybe you should talk about it, you'll feel a lot better.” And I'm all like “oh, nah, it's ok, you know. I'll figure it out. Just leave me alone, I'll figure it out, you know? I'm just working on it by myself.” And they go “well, you know, if you wanna talk about it, I'll be here, you know? And you'll probably feel a lot better if you talk about it. So why don't you talk about it?” I go “no, I don't want to! I'm ok. I'll figure it out myself!” But they just keep bugging me, they just keep bugging me, and it builds up inside.I was in my house and I was just like staring at the walls thinking about everything, but then again I was thinking about nothing. And then my wife came in, and I didn't even know she was there. She called my name and I didn't hear her and then she started screaming “Steve, Steve !” And I go “what ? What's the matter ?” She goes “what's the matter with you?” I go “there's nothing wrong” She’s all “don't tell me that ! You're on drugs !” I go “FFS, I'm not on drugs. I'm ok, I'm just thinking, you know? Why don't you get me a Pepsi?” She goes “No! You're on drugs!” I go “I'm ok. I'm just thinking.” She goes “No! You're not thinking, you're on drugs! Normal people don't be acting that way!” I go “just get me a Pepsi ! Please, all I want is a Pepsi !” And she wouldn't give it to me! All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me! Just a Pepsi !I'm sitting in my house, when a couple of my mates came in. they pulled up a chair and they sat down. They go “Steve, we need to talk to you.” And I go “ok, what's the matter?” They go “we've noticed that lately you've been having a lot of problems, and you've been going off on one for no reason, and we're afraid you're going to hurt somebody, and we're afraid you're going to hurt yourself. So we decided that it would be in your best interest if we put you somewhere where you could get the help that you need.” And I go “wait, what are you talking about, WE decided ? MY best interests ? How do you know what MY best interest is ? How can you say what MY best interest is ? What are you trying to say? I'm crazy ? They say they're gonna fix my brain. Alleviate my suffering and my pain. But by the time they fix my head, Mentally I'll be dead. They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to give me the needed professional help, to protect me from the enemy, myself !
Doesn't matter, I'll probably get hit by a car anyways !!!!