Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
No news.
ISLANDS
Bonaparte's Gull, Kumlien's Gull or Thayer's Gull 3w at Easter Loch, Uyeasound, White-billed Diver viewed from pier by mussel lines at Baltasound, Unst.
Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Tuesday, 24 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
No news.
ISLANDS
Bonaparte's Gull, Glaucous Gull at Easter Loch, Kumlien's Gull or Thayer's Gull 3w by campsite toilets, Tundra Bean Geese x 2 in Galley Shed field, Uyeasound, White-billed Diver viewed from pier by mussel lines at Baltasound, Unst.
Monday, 23 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Northern Bullfinches x 3 (1 male) at Burn of Sound, Lerwick.
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
ISLANDS
White-billed Diver, Baltasound, Unst.
Bonaparte's Gull, Kumlien's Gull or Thayer's Gull 3w at Easter Loch, Uyeasound, Unst.
White-billed Diver on sea off White Hill Lighthouse, Vatsetter, Yell.
In Memory of My Father
PETER CLARKE
January 1965 at The Firs House, Holme
2nd November 1926 — 23rd February 2017
My Dearest Father
Nine years have passed since we lost you
Lost in body, but not in spirit
Always with us
Time is irrelevant
I still miss you so much.
You are in my thoughts today and every day
Until we meet again
Forever in my heart
x x x
💔
The Lark Ascending
(Romance for Violin and Orchestra)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Lark Ascending was played at my father's funeral
This music is so beautiful and brings a tear to my eye
every time I listen to this
This music is so beautiful and brings a tear to my eye
every time I listen to this
Sunday, 22 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Glaucous Gull at Dalsetter Wynd, Boddam.
Northern Bullfinches x 4 (3 male) at Burn of Sound, Lerwick.
ISLANDS
White-billed Diver in bay at Baltasound, Unst.
Saturday, 21 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
American Wigeon at Setter Marsh, Loch of Spiggie.
ISLANDS
White-billed Diver in bay at Baltasound, Glaucous Gull at Easter Loch, Uyeasound, Unst.
It was the best day for what seems like months! Sunshine, blue skies, no wind, no rain and a balmy 6 degrees!!! Checked out my road for any birds and sadly found a deceased Heron at the bottom of the burn, which I hadn't expected to see here. Curlews, Rock Doves, Hooded Crows and Starlings on Gallow Hill along with the sheep and the usual House Sparrows in the gardens along the road.
At Asta Loch I found the Coot and male Pochard that John C. had found earlier and also saw the Carrion Crow which Phil H. had found on Friday. There were also 2 Goldeneye, lots of Tufted Duck, Mallards and in the fields on the otherside of the road opposite Tingwall Loch were around 10+ Golden Plover, Redshanks, Lapwings, Curlew, Greylags and Starlings.
Headed south and for the first time went to Hymhus (the former Kirk) at Bigton to the "Bigton Weekend Bakery" open from 9.30am until 2pm on a Saturday only. Its obviously extremely popular as the only thing left was some Cheese Twists with Sun Dried Tomatoes – I purchased three as had no lunch with me and OMG there were totally scrumptious! Its probably a good job there were not any cakes left if they were as good as the twists were. I was told there is a queue at 9.30am every Saturday! Sat in the coach carpark overlooking St Ninian's for a while.
Took pictures of the seals on the beach at Rerwick from my car on the roadside and then drove to Spiggie Loch. Parked by the RSPB hide and walked along the sandy track to Scousburgh Sands and had a lovely walk to the end of the beach. A pony and rider were galloping along the beach and I realised it was the daughter of someone I know at the hospital, she stopped briefly to say hello. I returned to my car and stopped at Little Spiggie Beach where someone had left their little green plastic bag of dog poo in the small carparking area! I very rarely see this in Shetland and it was disappointing to see. Heron on the south end of the loch, but no sign of last week's gorgeous Pintail. Scanned for the American Wigeon on Setter Marsh but couldn't find it. There were huge amounds of seaweed on the beaches I visited today especially at Grutness.
I went to Grutness to see how the new pier is coming along and there were JCB's working there and its still looking like a building site, so promptly left and parked up and had a look at Grutness Beach – there were 28 Oystercatchers flying overhead and there were several Turnstones on the beach. At West Voe Beach there were 180+ Long-tailed Ducks which were fabulous to see along with 6 Goldeneye, 3 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Sanderlings, several Turnstones and 1 Great Northern Diver.
On route home I checked out Sandsayre at Sandwick to see if the Black Redstart was still around, but didn't see it. Drove home and spent the evening by the fire. A beautiful day out. I think tomorrow is a mixture of sun and rain, oh well at least I got out today!
PICTURES TO BE ADDED
Friday, 20 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
ISLANDS
No news.
Thursday, 19 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
Glaucous Gull 1w. at Loch of Hillwell.
Iceland Gull at Loch of Spiggie.
ISLANDS
No news.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Waxwing still in garden at Mulla, north of Voe.
ISLANDS
Tundra Bean Geese x 2, Iceland Gull on Isle of Whalsay.
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
Taiga Bean Geese x 3, Tundra Bean Goose at Exnaboe.
ISLANDS
No news.
It was a icy drive to work this morning. Sprinkling of snow everywhere and a mixed day of sunshine and sleet and very cold. Phoned Eddie this evening to wish him Happy Birthday.
"HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY EDDIE"
Can't believe Eddie is 70 - no way he looks that age!
Love and Best Wishes Penny x
🎉 🎊 🎶 🔭 🐦 😊 🎂 🤗
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Monday 16th February
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
Tundra Bean Geese x 3, Russian White-fronted Geese x 7 at Quendale.
Russian White-fronted Geese x 3 at Brake, north of Hillwell.
Tundra Bean Geese x 3, Russian White-fronted Goose north of central crossroads at Sandwick.
Waxwing still in garden at Mulla, north of Voe.
Tundra Bean Goose at Exnaboe.
ISLANDS
Tundra Bean Geese x 2 in galley shed field, Uyeasound, Unst.
Snow here AGAIN!
Sunday, 15 February 2026
Saturday, 14 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Northern Bullfinches x 3 (1 male) at Burn of Sound, Lerwick.
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
Taiga Bean Geese x 3, Tundra Bean Geese x 4 at Exnaboe.
Tundra Bean Geese x 3 at Swinister Burn, Sandwick.
Tundra Bean Goose at Tingwall.White-billed Diver, Northern Eiders x 3 (possible, form borleasis) on sea off Sound Gruney, Bluemull Sound.
ISLANDS
No news.
Friday, 13 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Taiga Bean Geese x 3, Tundra Bean Geese x 2 at Exnaboe.
American Wigeon still at Setter, Loch of Spiggie.
Tundra Bean Geese x 3 at Swinister Burn, Sandwick.
Waxwing still in garden at Mulla, north of Voe.
ISLANDS
Tundra Bean Geese x 4 at Skaw, Isle of Whalsay
Robin in the garden again today. Sprinkling of snow everywhere and beautiful sunshine all day! Had to wait in this morning for Scottish Water to come out. Sadly there was no news on the Bittern that Hugh H. found two days ago, but I headed south anyway, in case it reappeared. I checked the outfall and other areas where it had been seen but no sign. I hope it survived and either relocated somewhere else or moved on – pity it didn't hang on for me today, but that's the way it goes when you have to work.
Bumped into Nat Hall at the little car parking area by Spiggie Beach and she had just found a Pintail which was lovely to see. Lots of Wigeon, a Heron, a Goldeneye and Whooper Swans on the loch. Stopped at Boddam and saw another Heron and 2 Mute Swans. Headed home and had a cosy evening by the fire and caught up with Vivien & Ray and Lucy on the phone.
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Thursday 12th February
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Bittern at outflow, American Wigeon still at Setter, Loch of Spiggie.
Tundra Bean Goose, Russian White-fronted Geese x 13 Russian White-fronted Geese at Loch of Tingwall.
Taiga Bean Geese x 3, Russian White-fronted Goose x 1 at Pool of Virkie.
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
ISLANDS
No news.
Had a late afternoon GP appointment and was prescibed some steroid cream for my scalp, which the doctor described as "inflamed", none in stock in chemist though, so have to wait until tomorrow. Had to scrape ice off the car this morning before going to work – it was a stunningly beautiful day here – the second day of sunshine for absolutely ages. Light covering of snow this evening.
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Tundra Bean Goose, Russian White-fronted Geese x 6 at Loch of Clumlie, north of Boddam.
Bittern at North end of Loch of Spiggie.
Waxwing still in garden at Mulla, north of Voe.
ISLANDS
Tundra Bean Geese x 6 at Cullivoe, Yell.
Tundra Bean Geese x 3 at Uyeasound, Unst.
Lovely photos on Shetland Facebook pages of the Bittern at Loch of Spiggie today – a very rare bird here and under 30 previous records someone stated! It was a very rare day here also with blue skies for most of the day, if not all, but couldn't keep track of the entire day being as I was at work. Its now light after 4.30pm, but not light enough to drive down to Spiggie Loch to see a Bittern before dark!
Going through a difficult time right now (again). Last Spring my scalp developed a severe burning and itching, which is why I got the water tested in the first place (see my post on 8th Feb) and that is when I discovered to my horror that my pipe to the house was a lead pipe and the lead levels were above what they should be and lead can cause scalp irritation amongst other things. I have had much milder symptoms of this since, but around a week again this intensified to severe burning and itching, much worse than last year. Had to wash my hair two days later when I normally wash it around every 5 days and it made no difference to the burning feeling at all. Its torture it really is and last night I didn't get much sleep because of the severity of the burning. I have Scottish Water coming out again this week to see if the lead levels have increased further. I googled that lead levels can increase when there has been an increase in rainfall and we have certainly had that for several weeks now, so this may be the cause? It also increases when the water is heated, which of course the shower does exactly that. The last time I washed my hair I made sure the shower temperature was luke warm to cold and it made no difference whatsoever.
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Tundra Bean Goose at Loch of Clumlie, north of Boddam.
Northern Bullfinches x 3 at Soldian Court, Lerwick.
ISLANDS
Tundra Bean Geese x 2 at Baltasound, Black Redstart at Kirkaton, Norwick, Unst.
I had to go to Tesco and the Co-op yesterday evening after work and again this evening – the supermarkets are mostly stocked up again thank goodness. Phoned Lucy before I went to work today, no reply and the same in my lunch break but eventually she answerered her phone this evening so I could sing Happy Birthday to her!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO MY DEAR SISTER LUCY
🥳 🎂 💐 🎁 🎉 😻 💝 😘 🎻 🎶
Monday, 9 February 2026
SHETLAND BIRD NEWS & MORE!
Rare Bird Alert News
MAINLAND
Taiga Bean Geese x 3 still at Virkie.
King Eider 1w. fem still at Bay of Quendale.
ISLANDS
No news.
Heavy rain all day again.
Mother holding me at The Firs, Holme
Happy Birthday to my dear mother who would have been 86 today 💕 xx
Sending you love – thinking of you today and always 💔
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