I might have told a few folks that my main reason for being
on Shetland last weekend was to cut the grass.
That wasn’t entirely true. I really went to spend a few days hanging
around on the cliffs and head-lands while the puffins were still around. July is often peak puffin season – the breeding
adults are all still hanging about on the cliff tops (and bringing food into
the nests) and the non-breeders seem to be around too, presumably wanting to
make sure that they don’t miss out on the big departure day.
On a warm, still sunny afternoon (yes, those do occasionally
happen on Shetland) there can be hundreds of puffins around on cliffs at
Sumburgh Head.
It’s not just the puffins, at this time of year there are
lots of other breeding birds around too, from fulmar and kittiwake high on the cliff
faces to razorbills and guillemots a bit lower down. There are rafts of shags and eider in the
voes competing for water space with the guillemots. And along the drystone walls you might also see
wrens (feels like they’ve had a good year this year).
Elsewhere, down at Grutness and on Scat Ness, there are
colonies of terns. In past years I’m
sure the terns were happy to ignore passers-by until they got close to the
colonies. This year I think the terns
have been transformed into bronxie-trained avian vigilantes – as soon as you
get anywhere within sight, the terns will swoop down with the clear intention of
drawing blood.
Oh, and in case you were still wondering, I did get round to cutting the
grass. Twice. Probably to frustration of the local rabbit population.
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