Weekend Birding trip 14th & 15th of May

So this weekend I went down to my Dads a little earlier so I could see him and go up to the Yell Regatta

Friday the 14th

So today my Stepmam, Mairi and I went over to the Asta and Tingwall Lochs in search of a Red-rumped Swallow and a drake Ring-necked  Duck which had been seen there

But after looking for over 20 minutes for both birds we found neither, but instead I got to see my first Starling  fledgling and my first Black-Headed Gull chick of the year

Starling fledgling 

Saturday the 15th

So today we took a quick trip down to the Sooth end hoping to spot any strange/rare birds

A Little Stint at Grutness,

 yet another tick for me this year,

 This bird is the twentieth new tick for me this year

This imparticular individual had a slightly deformed piece at the end of its peak

The Pool of Virkie was quite empty today with the best birds being the Shelducks (we couldn't see any ducklings with them) and some Dunters with their ducklings.

Two sleeping male Stock Deuks or Mallards

While I was heading to the Yell sound ferry at around quarter to six, I spotted 

this Redshank on a fencepost, luckily it sat long 

enough for me to get a few pics before it flew off.

Lifer: Green-winged Teal & other birds

So this weekend was a slow birding weekend with not much around besides all the perrie fluff balls also known as chicks running about with their Mams & Dads.

Saturday the 8th

When I was helping my Dad with his sheep,  He spotted a pair of Shalders 

or Oystercatchers with some young.

Here is one of the two babies, there might 

of been three but we weren't sure

A pair of Collard Doves sitting on a lum (or chimney)

A male House Sparrow having a dust bath

An adult Shalder or Oystercatcher

Also the same day my grandad Tommy came in to Lerwick to do some shopping,

while he was in the toon he was able to get some photos of birds 

Two Shelducks at Seafield 

(Photo by Tommy Tyler)

Common Gull 

(Photo by Tommy Tyler)

Sunday the 9th

While my Dad was working I took a walk around the Clickimin Loch for some birds

But instead I wandered over to Helendale and

got a picture of these Bluebells

and what I think is a male Blackcap

Around the North end of the loch I found the 

four partially domesticated Mallards which I 

sometimes feed

three of them are males and one is a female

The Mammy deuk as I call her

A Herring Gull

A slightly out of focus Tirrick or Arctic Tern

A Tirrick makes a splash

At around one o'clock I checked the Nature Shetland website for

any updates for some birds, on their Facebook page I noticed that 

someone had seen a Green-winged Teal up near Ollaberry in the North Mainland, 

So after I phoned my grandad Tommy we went to see it an hour later.

After 15 minutes of birdwatching on the top of a small hill looking out over a small marshy loch

all we could see was these two male Teal sitting in some grass.

After one of the Teal sat up and showed a very prominent white stripe going down 

its breast towards it feet (a key way to Identify Green-winged Teals),

I immediately said to Tommy that it was the Green-winged Teal we were looking 

at, we both started taking photos which came out pretty blurry

My record shot of the Green-winged Teal a 

first for me and Tommy too

Tommy's record shot of the Green-winged Teal

and its Teal friend on the left

(Photo by Tommy Tyler)