The Safari arrived in Lerwick harbour and watched the deckhands getting the tenders ready for the shore excursions, this time we weren't berthed at a quayside but anchored some way off shore. With plenty of official excursions for the guests it was going to be some time before we'd get the chance to get ashore as 'just' a foot passenger. It did give us time to scan the surroundings for whatever might be about which would hopefully include an Otter or two seeing as how Shetland is very much a hotspot for them.
Eventually we got ashore and the whole OWE team decided on a wander up to Clickimin Loch with its Iron Age broch on the shoreline. As we approached the loch the large Tesco supermarket lured us in while the others went on ahead. Bad move on our part as they had a male Hen Harrier cruise along the fellside beyond the lake. At the broch the Starlings were magnificently irridescent in the sunshine.
The structure was immense and impressive, especially the stonework - although it has been rebuilt in the not too distant past.
The lough gave us good views of Common Terns coming and going with small number of Arctic Terns too. Redshank and Common Sandpiper were seen and a Greenshank heard. Our circumnavigation of the lough gave us Willow Warbler, Great Tit and Chiffchaff in the gardens and recently planted wooded areas along with plenty of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks on the open hillside above. While scanning for the return of the Hen Harrier we noticed something odd about the dry stone wallrunning along the ridge; we're attracted to all things dry stone wall but don't ask us to build one, we'll be at it for ever and then it'll probably fall down. This one was unusual in that the stones in much of it had been laid vertically with just a couple, of presumed repaired, short stretches having horizontal courses.
Getting hungry we headed back into town aand the harbour area where Common Terns rather than gulls were on the look out for chips!
While waiting for our tender ride back to Borealis and its more than copious amounts of good grub
we watched a Black Guillemot fishing close to the jetty
After yet another substantial lunch we chilled out on the outdoor lounge area at the stern of the ship enjoying the view and having a good old chin wag with some of the guests.
Being of Viking/Norse heritage (and currently incapaciated due to one of their bad genes)
it was good to see a replica Longship being moored up in the harbour.
Our search for Otters was unsuccessful but there were two Great Northern Divers and a single Black Throated Diver in the harbour area. A Snow Goose may or may not have been a genuine wild bird but either way its gone on our year list.
As we sailed out of Lerwick for an evening cruise past Sumburgh Head one thing we hadn't expected to get in Shetland was sunburnt! What a cracking day it had been but we could feel where our arms and cheekbones had caught the sun.
Guests who had been on the coach excursion to Sumburgh Head told us they'd seen five Risso's Dolphins so as we headed south all eyes were well and truly peeled. Sadly they'd disappeared, in fact so had all other marine mammals, for such a productive patch of coastline we'd have expected to have seen some blubber before bedtime. The best we could muster between the Gannets, Guillemots and Kittiwakes was a Great Skua.
The next morning MK did the guest commentary for the scenic cruise by Troup Head on the NE corner of Aberdeenshire, an RSPB reserve home to Scotland's largest mainland Gannet colony.
From the ship the Gannets made the cliff face look like it was covered in snow. Some of them were diving for fish but too far for pics others were collecting seaweed for their nests.
and as usual it was difficult to get some guests onto the Puffins that were sat on the water or flying past.
By this stage of the trip most guests who wanted to see Puffins, and my are they popular!, had done so and some who'd been on shore excursions had seen them by their burrows but there were still a few folks who'd not yet connected. But why did it prove so difficult to get folk onto them? We've come to the conclusion that several factors are at play...a) many folk don't realise how small they are, only like two tennis balls stuck together, we get the impression they expect something the size of an Emperor Penguin b) when looking down from the ship on them they are really really small and the colourful bill hard to see unless the light is good, even from Deck 3 they're going to be at least 100 feet way and from Deck 6 twice that and more, c) in flight they're fast little suckers and that combined with d) generally poor quality bins and e) inexperience of using said bins means folk don't get onto them when we point them out. Their excitement is infectious when folk do see one for their first time though
By this stage of the trip most guests who wanted to see Puffins, and my are they popular!, had done so and some who'd been on shore excursions had seen them by their burrows but there were still a few folks who'd not yet connected. But why did it prove so difficult to get folk onto them? We've come to the conclusion that several factors are at play...a) many folk don't realise how small they are, only like two tennis balls stuck together, we get the impression they expect something the size of an Emperor Penguin b) when looking down from the ship on them they are really really small and the colourful bill hard to see unless the light is good, even from Deck 3 they're going to be at least 100 feet way and from Deck 6 twice that and more, c) in flight they're fast little suckers and that combined with d) generally poor quality bins and e) inexperience of using said bins means folk don't get onto them when we point them out. Their excitement is infectious when folk do see one for their first time though
From Troup Head we sailed SE out into the North Sea. after a while our radio crackled and so did SB's - "what was that message?" we asked, SB asked us the same - nothing, so we put it down to atmospheric activity perhaps related to the recent sunspots. We tried to confirm if it was a radio message fro IH or MK but got no response...atmospheric interference it was then. But it wasn't - a loud shout of “dolphins!”, when we were somewhere NE of Fraserburgh, alerted guests and MK, at the rear of Deck 3, to the presence of a small group of Orca, probably five or six of them passing behind the ship, then a few tail slaps later they vanished into the mist. A couple of the guests managed to get reasonable photos and we were incredibly grateful that they shared them to use in the OWE blog...and we've nicked for here...hope Norman and Nigel don't mind.
Once they'd gone a very excited MK came round to our watch position to tell us what we'd missed...the third of our Bucket List...dohhhhhh if only we'd been watching from the (uncomfortably breezy) other side of the ship, even then we may not have seen them although would have got the radio message...on inherent weakness of our kit - the radios don't work diagonally through all the steelwork of the ship. Investigations by OWE colleagues back home revealed them to be part of a pod that's been in that area of the North Sea for a few weeks.
The rest of the day was breezy with a choppy sea, but hundreds of Guillemots and Kittiwakes kept our attention focused firmly on the sea while a Woodpigeon and a Swallow joined us for the ride.
When day broke on our final sea day we were well E of Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast so no surprises that Gannets and Kittiwakes Bempton Cliffs RSPB reservewere the majority of the birds seen in the first few hours. We did an ‘Introduction to the Identification of North Atlantic Gulls’ talk in the theatrebut outside there was a different wildlife focus on Deck 3 with moths and hoverflies being attracted to the ship as they migrated across the North Sea, many people don't realise that huge insect migrations go on largely unseen except in unusual circumstances like these today. There were hundreds of these small Dipteran flies
a couple of Silver Y moths
and an Angle Shades moth who's dead leaf camouflage was worse than useless on the brilliant white paint of the ship's superstructure.
Hoverflies were represented by several Drone Flies, Eristalis pertinax, a couple of Marmalade Hoverflies, and this one on IH's cap we at first thought was a Marmalade Hoverfly but on downloading the pic back at Base Camp is obviously something else.
As expected travelling closer too land past the Essex coast down to the Straits of Dover proved to be productive with over half a dozen Harbour Seals being spotted and six Harbour Porpoises, kept company by flocks of Kittiwakes, Guillemots and by Gannets. A great end to a fabulous week - early the following morning we would be back on dry land saying fond farewells to SB and MK, we're sure our paths will cross again before too long, and be heading up the motorway back to Base Camp for a well earned rest.
When day broke on our final sea day we were well E of Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast so no surprises that Gannets and Kittiwakes Bempton Cliffs RSPB reservewere the majority of the birds seen in the first few hours. We did an ‘Introduction to the Identification of North Atlantic Gulls’ talk in the theatrebut outside there was a different wildlife focus on Deck 3 with moths and hoverflies being attracted to the ship as they migrated across the North Sea, many people don't realise that huge insect migrations go on largely unseen except in unusual circumstances like these today. There were hundreds of these small Dipteran flies
Where to next? Due to our current debilitated condition our safaris will have to be no further than the back garden.
In the meantime let us know who's making a splash in your outback.
