March 08, 2005
White-winged gullfest
(NB - for those looking for the Little Auk / Gyr Falcon image - click here)
Now back with far more excitement (tongue firmly in cheek) than the last scraping the barrel entry with tales of dodgy divers in the English Channel!
Out this afternoon on a work-related photography mission, and stumbled across a small gang of gulls on the pier in town. Immediately found my eye drawn to this enormous white lardarse sat on the edge of the pier:
and it was only after taking a few photos that I realised that the Lardarse Gull was dwarfing another white-winged gull a few feet away, a thoroughly cowed and puny Iceland Gull. I've never seen Glaucous and Iceland together (except in swirling flight), so was pretty pleased to get a shot of them side by side:
Recently had one of those profoundly satisfying walks around my patch, with nothing particularly rare (in fact, nothing even remotely rare) but a uniquely Shetland mix of winter and spring / sea and land birds that I frankly doubt you could manage anywhere else but here.
It's really good to see the breeding waders coming back; for a few weeks now there have been Oystercatchers digging in every field; on Saturday there were a pair of Ringed Plover on the airstrip, and in the evening Snipe were drumming in the darkness over the crofthouse. Yesterday the Ringed Plovers had attracted some companions, and in total 9 birds were hanging around the gravelly margins of the airstrip. Four pairs were present last summer, so this seems about par for the course.
Our end of the island was shrouded in mist for much of yesterday, lifting occasionally for brief periods. A Red-throated Diver was calling from East Loch in the murk while I was watching the plovers. A few minutes later I flushed 3 Snow Buntings from the clifftop turf - they soon vanished into the swirling mist, audible long after they'd gone from sight. Fulmars are all paired up, and loafing about on cliff ledges - they drive my dogs mad by skimming low over the clifftop grass at great speed at dog headheight...
On the sea Black Guillemots are in breeding plumage; I can't help but feel a pang of worry about these seabirds - on the basis of the last couple of years disastrous breeding results in Shetland, I wonder what seabirds will be left in say 20 years time? Anyway, was completely thrown as I walked along the clifftop heading back towards home; looking out to sea for Great Northerns, I picked up a chunky dark bird with a rapid wingbeat coming in towards us over the water. It's funny how an out-of-context bird can be so deceiving... as soon as it crossed the clifftop and was flying over land, it was immediately obvious - Red Grouse! The first record for me on my patch since the two birds B and I heard from the plantation in autumn 2003. I'd like to think this was a pioneer-grouse fresh in from Mainland on this mild spring day, but I guess a disorientated local from further down the island is more likely.
Fine and clear this morning, with brisk south/south-easterlies - 5 Goldeneyes on the fresh water lochs on the way to the ferry. Not long now before the first Wheatear, surely?
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Come back soon!
Posted by Stercorarius at March 8, 2005 05:10 PM