Aurora borealis: The must-seabird - <b>Brunnich's Guillemot</b>

December 01, 2005

The must-seabird - Brunnich's Guillemot

Aurora header.jpg

Winter's here, and I for one am welcoming it if it means birds of the quality of this: Brunnich's Guillemot

Brought JL down from the island with me this morning, and went straight to Victoria Pier in Lerwick. Just a couple of birders a way off along the quayside, so we set up and started looking. I found an auk some distance away in my bins, and tried to get JL onto it with his scope, but the wretched thing dived, and... completely vanished.

It'd looked good for the bird, but certainly not countable on such fleeting and crap views. Half an hour later, we were finally on the bird as it fed offshore. Its behaviour cut both ways - diving, it travelled ludicrously long distances underwater, and was easily lost for some time until we relocated it. That said, it occasionally surfaced close to, allowing for excellent views.

It's your classic birder's bird - JL described it as 'mythical', which is just right - it's one of the hellishly hard ones to catch up with in the UK, as most are found dead on the seashore, and the precious few which are alive are normally in the remoter bits of Scotland, and for a few minutes / hours only. So they're the stuff of fantasy... but if we're really honest, not a great deal to look at. It's a black and white auk. And... I'm struggling. It's... subtle. I sound a bit ungrateful, and that's unfair to the bird - I really enjoyed this one, and seeing a bird with such a mythical reputation was a great feeling, and far outweighs a lack of flashy plumage.

Shall endeavour to go back tomorrow and spend some more time watching it, always assuming it's not turned up its paddles and died in the night. Whoever said winter birding in Shetland was boring? Hawk Owl next, you heard it here first...

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