Another (almost entirely) Shetland month, mostly spent loitering with the puffins and the pufflings at Sumburgh Head. The puffins arrived a bit late this Spring, but they did stay around until much later in August than is usual - and I certainly don't remember seeing quite so many pufflings.
Reporting Days: 31
Location: Shetland
Distance Walked: 322 km
Distance Driven: 1442 km (mostly in the last couple of days as I headed south to Oxford)
Photographs Taken: Thousands and thousands. Mostly puffins and pufflings.
Puffins & Pufflings
This year all my puffin pictures have been taken around the cliffs at Sumburgh Head, in past years I've also seen puffins at other smaller colonies at the south end of Shetland, but not this year.
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| Bring in the Sandeels |
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| Gardening |
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| In the Mayweed |
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| Puffling (still in the burrow) |
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| Puffling (venturing outside the burrow) |
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| In the Evening Sunshine |
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| Sumburgh Head Lighthouse & Foghorn |
And its not just puffins - some days you get to look up from the puffins and realise that there's pod of orca just behind you
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| Orca (with a youngster) heading past Sumburgh Head |
Other attractions
Just occasionally I did feel the need to drag myself away from the Sumburgh cliffs, usually to Scat Ness or to Quendale Beach.
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| Scat Ness cliffs |
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| Scat Ness Waves |
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| Quendale Beach |
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| By-the-Wind-Sailor on Quendale Beach |
Next Month: Italy