The Dreaded Day - 23/9/2021

Pair of HERRING GULLS

It was coming but I didn't really think it was going to happen - the day we saw nothing. I exaggerate of course, we did have some nice sightings, but with winds so forceful that you couldn't exit the minibus, it would prove to be a non-day.

RAZORBILL

So with 60mph south-westerlies, meaning there was no chance of leaving the van, let alone looking for birds, we just drove around. By the time we hit midday we ended up going to Lerwick, the capitol of Shetland, for something non-birding to do.

SHAG

Lerwick

Lerwick was a picturesque little town with some nice little shops and despite the urban (or what passes for urban in Shetland) location there were still some good sightings to be had of birds and mammals at close quarters. The lack of food in our oceans which has disastrously affected our seabirds, has meant that a lot of these birds are looking anywhere for food, taking them into close quarters with humans, which they wouldn't normally do. There are some sad records of emaciated sea birds washing up dead on our shores, with chicks dying of hunger. However it did provide the opportunity for some close photography of birds that would usually be miles out at sea. A BLACK GUILLEMOT, a RAZORBILL and a SHAG all posed for a nice photo as they swam around the harbour. These birds came so close, you could almost reach out and grab them. The RAZORBILL, dived and we could see it swim underwater, chasing a shoal of fish, with its stubby wings, it looked like it was flying through the water. 

Lerwick Harbour

Perhaps the most magical experience of the entire holiday in Shetland played itself out in the harbour. As we were hanging out by the water a shout came across of 'OTTER' and grabbing a pair of bins we ran over to the water's edge, and there was a pair of this elusive animal. Completely unfazed by being stared at, one of the otters came swimming over until it reached within ten metres of us. As it neared us it started calling out in this high pitched wheezing sound. It swam around for a couple of minutes before leaving the harbour entirely, not in the slightest bit fazed by the attention. 

OTTER in Lerwich Harbour

After the excitement of Lerwick, the winds in the afternoon  had calmed down a bit so we ventured out to look for some more birds, although there weren't many about. We visited a lot of places we had previously been to but with little luck. At one site, Western Quarff, upon examining a patch of stunted sycamores, a RED BREASTED FLYCATHCER was found, the second of the trip, as usual flying out of the clump to pose on a fence wire. Its amazing how such a small patch of trees could harbour any birds at all, and hide them so well it took some finding to see it. That was the last sighting of the day.

A RED BREASTED FLYCATCHER was found in this patch of trees

Sometimes on this holiday it just felt that things weren't really going my way. Watching birds is subject to the forces of nature, and when they aren't on your side there's really nothing you can really do. However when things are the other way round, you can witness the majesty of nature and feel quite humbled. That's part of the joy of bird watching, you just have no control at all, and in the end you just have to accept the way things are.