Rare Bird Alert News
Little Stint at Pool of Virkie.
White-rumped Sandpiper at South Ness, Isle of Foula.
A lady came to pick up the oak TV cabinet this morning – she came alone, but we managed to get it into her car. I desperately needed a change of scene from doing jobs around the house, so after another trip to the dump with tons of cardboard and a broken deckchair and then a quick trip to Tesco, I escaped into the wilds of Shetland this afternoon.
Burn of Lunklet
I decided to visit some new places and have always wanted to walk to the Burn of Lunklet and the waterfall called Ramnahol, also known as the Pool of the Raven. On route I stopped at the cake fridge to buy a lemon and coconut cake. The parking area for the Burn of Lunklet is clearly marked and has a very pretty picnic bench, made of the same strong plastic wood effect, as a turquoise chair I had delivered this week for my patio. Walking to the waterfall was a very pretty walk and was fairly easy walking, although a little boggy. Beautiful purple heather in flower, cotton grass and lots of other flowers. It was quicker to reach the waterfall than I had expected. Took lots of pictures and then returned to the car. Only saw a couple of Meadow Pipits here. I noticed that someone had thrown a beer can the other side of the fence in the car parking area when there was a bin to use! Why?! I can't stand seeing litter, so I got my long walking pole out of the car and managed to drag the can to the edge of the fence, pulled it through and put it in the bin where it belonged!
Opposite the Cake Fridge
The Burn of Lunklet and the waterfall "Ramnahol"
Very sadly the Burn of Lunklet is not in the pristine state it was before the wind turbines were built! See links below and if you Google there is a lot of information about this:
Michaelswood, Aith
I then went for a drive as far as Gonfirth and then turned round and headed back past the Burn of Lunklet and onto Aith to visit Michaelswood. Open the links below to find out lots about this absolutely fabulous place! I felt bad that I had not visited before. It was created in memory of "Michael Ferrie, a young musician from the village who sadly passed away from cancer in 1996 at age 21."
Firstly I was impressed when I read on the information board that no dogs are allowed here. This means that children can play and run around without having the risk of treading in something, plus no barking or disturbance. If any of you are visting Shetland with children right now, you have to visit this stunning place. There is a Dinosaur Trail which is just brilliant – huge model dinosaurs round every corner and to be honest, one of them appeared round a corner that I wasn't expecting and almost made me jump! There is so much to see here and it has been so lovingly created. There is a small bird hide with various bird related things inside and its so lovely! There are many benches to sit and ponder at, beautiful memorial benches, wonderful statues and massive fun for children (bairns) and adults. I particularly loved the book reading area. It was fairly late in the evening, so I had the place to myself. There are no toilet facilities here, but it mentioned on the information board that there were public toilets a short distance away near the pier at Aith. I drove to the toilets before returning home and guess what, they were closed! Very frustrating and had an uncomfortable journey driving back home. Apart from the closed toilets, it was a spectacular afternoon out.
Entrance to Michaelswood
Scenery from the top of the wood
Near the entrance – a really fun place for children
Story Book Corner
Posts
The wood is a wonderful place and has turned up some good birds in the past (OBPipit); the dinosaurs are really cool too!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a wonderful place Steve! I can imagine an OBP there!
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