Le Cloon De Maire

So today Tommy (My grandad) and I headed down to the South end (and various other places along the way) for a bit of bird watching, most of our time was spent photographing Puffins at Sumburgh Head.

So today at the Loch of Voe, with the time being around 10 o'clock (approximately ten minutes before I arrived there), Tommy was already waiting for me to arrive when he spotted a flock of over 60 Common Crossbills flying into the trees at the Plantation at the western side of the Loch.
When I arrived shortly afterwards, Tommy and I rushed into the trees hoping to relocate the huge flock of Crossbills.
After 5 minutes we were able to find about 25 Crossbills and only get one photo of a bird each, before they all took flight and vanished all together, leaving us to wonder " how do 60 Crossbills just vanish?".

One female Crossbill

and also 2 of 3 Red-Throated Divers which 

were flying over our heads

At about half-past eleven we arrived at the Loch of Tingwall where we saw hundreds of Black-headed Gulls  (most of those being recently fledged birds) and about 16 Tufted Ducks, one female had 6 ducklings and another one had 4).

A mammy tuftie with her babies

A Peerie Maa or Common Gull

A young Black-headed Gull 

Black-Headed Gulls

So another detour we took was to Ladysmith Road in Scalloway to see some very special Goldfinches

The first Goldfinches to be reared in Shetland which were

found at Ladysmith Road in Scalloway,

This is 2 of 4 Juvenile birds which have been seen over

the past few days

A close up on one of the babies

Parent and child happily eating Niger seeds

So after stopping off in Lerwick for about an hour to pick up a few things, we headed down to the 

South end

A Skylark at the Spiggie Loch

One of two Swallows at Spiggie along with 60 Bonxies 

having a wash in the Loch

So after finishing birding at Spiggie we headed over to Hillwell Loch which was teeming with ducks (one of which looked like a female Gadwall) and several Whooper Swans.

Also we found these little guys at Quendale,

My favourites are the ducklings

So when we had finished at Hillwell and Quendale we headed over to Virkie

A female Dunter at the Pool of Virkie along with 3 Bar-Tailed Godwits,

a summer plumage Turnstone, 10 summer plumage Sanderlings 

and a very tasty picnic

Baby Dunters on the hunt for their next meal

And finally we went up to Sumburgh Head looking for Puffins also called Tammie Nories

and in France they call them Le Cloon De Maire (not sure if this is the right spelling), as the title reads.

Gathering nesting material

"We have lift off"

Common Guillemots also known as Longvi.

(How many of the "Bridled variety can you see?)

Coming to a cinema near you

"Helicopters in the Mist"

voted:

"excellent" 

"outstanding" 

"a movie you never saw coming"

Lots of Longvi

Sleepy Puffin

The Sumburgh Lighthouse Fog Horn

"Cute and cuddly boys, just like we practiced"

This Puffin was on a wall just under a foot away from some people 

who were busy taking pictures of themselves next to

it on their phones, it was quite amazing just watching it sit 

there so calm for so long

A very misty Sumburgh Head.

So today was quite a good day 

I got to see my first Crossbills of the year, 

see Shetlands first breeding Goldfinches,

see summer plumage Sanderlings for the first time

and to put my French to good use.

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)