Monthly Report, July 2025

Another splendid Shetland month, featuring many beach walks and a lot of auk watching.

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Shetland

Distance Walked: 330 km

Distance Driven: 995 km

Days including a walk on Quendale Beach: 31

Days including a visit to the auks at Sumburgh Head: 25

Species of auk photographed: 4 (puffins, razorbills, guillemots & black guillemots)

Quendale Beach

One of the real bonuses of living on Shetland is having Quendale Beach just a few minutes walk from the front door.  My ideal day would start with an early walk on the beach, preferably with a gentle breeze and at low tide.  And probably end with a sunset walk too.

Quendale Beach - low tide

Sunset Walk - Quendale Beach

Razorbills (local name Sea Craa)

I've not made any secret of my enthusiasm for razorbills, they are without doubt the coolest of the auks.  They do however tend to build nests and raise their young in rather (from the photographers perspective at least) out of the way places.  So I was delighted that a couple of pairs opted for more visible nest locations at Sumburgh Head this summer. 

The Coolest Auk...

Razorbill jumpling - ready to jump

Breakfast Delivery

Guillemots (Longwi)

The adult guillemots are very easy to see. They don't bother with nests, they just huddle up together and lay their eggs on bare cliff ledges and hope that they are densely enough packed to ensure that predators can't see the eggs or the hatchlings.   Every now and again the groups will shuffle apart to offer a glimpse of a youngster.   And as soon as they able, the youngsters will be steered to the cliff edge to earn their name 'jumplings'.  Once they've jumped the chicks will be escorted out to sea by their fathers and paddle off in the general direction of Norway.

Guillemot dumplings

Ready to Jump

Black Guillemots (Tystie)

The tysties are the exception in my Shetland auk catalog - they do nest around the south end of Shetland, but not (as far as I know) at Sumburgh Head.  They are stunning birds particularly in their summer plumage. 

Tystie in Summer plumage - great feet

And matching gape!

Tystie pair

Puffins (Tammie Norie)

The razorbills may be the coolest auk, but the puffins are (for most visitors to Sumburgh Head) the stars of the show.  They always seem to be ready to pose for the camera.

Striking a pose

Exploring the cliff-top furniture 

Crowd control

Sumburgh Head

Sumburgh Head is a splendid location to visit at any time of year, but it is particularly special during the long summer days when the cliffs are busy with birds.  In addition to the auks I've been watching this month there are kittiwakes, shag, fulmar, greater black-backed gulls breading all around the Head and Shetland wrens nesting in the drystone walls around the lighthouse site. And if you watch for a while you'll probably catch sight of a patrolling predatory Great Skua (aka Bonxie) or Raven (Corbie).  If you want to learn more about the wildlife or the history of the site there's an excellent visitor centre and cafe (just in case the weather isn't a good as in the pictures).

Sumburgh Head

Sumburgh Head is a great place for sunsets

Next month, as the breeding birds desert the cliffs, there are likely to be more landscape photographs. And waves, lots of waves.

Monthly Report, June 2025

A good Shetland month --- mostly spent at the south end of the Shetland Mainland hanging out with the Sumburgh Head puffins. So I thought this report should be an All Puffin Special Issue.

Reporting Days: 30

Location: Shetland

Distance Walked: 300 km

Distance Driven: 800 km

Distance Trained: 0 km (there are no trains on Shetland)

Puffins Photographed: Most of Them

June is a splendid time to spend at a puffin colony. 

At the start of the month the breeding adults are busy with putting the final touch to their nests and then sitting on their eggs, by mid-June the eggs have hatched, which means that the adults are busy bringing sand eels back to the wee pufflings (and you just might get a first glimpse of them). 

Around mid-June we also get the puffin 'non-breeders' returning to the cliffs where they were born.  These birds are typically three years old (teenagers in puffin years), and they get up to all sorts of mischief hanging about around the 'grown-up' puffins.

Incoming - there's always room for one more puffin

Bringing home the sand eels - a sign that pufflings have hatched

Synchronise your Puffins

On the wall. This year we've seen lots of puffins on the Sumburgh walls

Plotting Puffins

Keep on preening

Puffins are a lot smaller than razorbills

Another wall, another puffin

Whispers

More whispers

All on the wall

Wall walker

Waiting outside the nest

First glimpse of 2025 puffling at Sumburgh Head (25 June)

And next month? - you can expect to see razorbills and guillemots, and I might just find space for more puffin pictures.

Monthly Report, May 2025

Just like April, but in reverse.  

Started in Italy, then a wee while in Oxford before heading back North to spend more time with the puffins and other auks at the south end of Shetland.

Reporting Days: 31

Locations: Boario, Turin, Paris, London, Oxford, Cumbria, Shetland.

Distance Walked: 292 km

Distance Driven: 1229 km

Distance Trained: 1320 km

Still in Boario

I've now visited Boario (and the lovely folks at REGEN) on five occasions - and experienced both one and two week stays. My considered view is that I really do prefer the longer stays - there's more time to get fully caught up in the therapy sessions and there's the bonus of some free time at the middle weekend.  

I think I've also found travel routes that work for me - trains via Paris and Turin (and not trying to do tight connections!).  I did talk someone through the journey (well they did ask!), and the fact that that they glazed over when I was talking about how easy it was to get across Paris between Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord was a reminder that (i) it's easy when you've done it a few times, (ii) you do really need to be pretty mobile and (iii) you need to able to lift and carry your luggage easily.  

I've got more to say about my experiences of travelling and anxiety over on my Parkinson's blog (coming soon).  

My (relatively) low stress route between Oxford and Boario, involves breaking the journey in London and Turin on the outward leg, and in Turin and Paris on the way back.  Yes, you can find train connections that mean you can skip the London and Paris overnight stops but that means some long train days.  You can also opt to stop over in Milan rather than Turin (that takes one change of trains out of the equation) - but I prefer spending time in Turin rather than Milan, Turin just feels a bit more chilled than Milan. 

I'm planning to be back in Boario again later in the year for Visit 6, and I intend to use the London-Paris-Turin-Boario route again.

Pisogne on Lake Iseo (a short train or bus ride from Boario)

Dezzo Gorge (a short-ish walk from REGEN in Boario)

I Love Boario Terme

Old Montecchio bridge over the River Oglio in Boario

Mole Antonelliana tower (National Cinema Museum) in Turin

Musée du Louvre in Paris

Oxford (briefly)

The trouble with May is that it's too nice.

It's the ideal time of year to spent time in Italy, mostly decent weather but not too hot - and perfect for both travelling and for pavement dining and/or coffee drinking.  

It's also probably my favourite time of year to be in Oxford.

It's also my favourite time of year to be hanging about at the seabird colonies on Shetland.

It's challenging when one wants to be in three places at the same time!

Orchids in the Lye Valley, Oxford

High Bridge (over the Cherwell) in the University Parks, Oxford

Back Amongst the Auks

Having had a quick fix of May in Oxford, it was time to load up the car and head north to Aberdeen - via Cumbria and Fife - to get the Northlink boat back to Shetland.  

I haven't travelled between Oxford and Aberdeen by train (yet) but I did once do it by bus - and I wouldn't recommend that to anyone - but there is a blogpost if you want the gory details. 

Although I've been enthusing about the delights of May, it is worth mentioning that it is very possible to get rubbish weather in May too - and my overnight ferry crossing back to Shetland was definitely one of the more uncomfortable ones. And I had a cabin right up at the bow which always makes the motion more extreme,  I was very grateful to hear the cheerful 'Welcome to Lerwick' announcement as we got into harbour.

The first move, after unloading the car, was to Quendale Beach and second move was heading to Sumburgh Head - and that was pretty much how I spent the rest of the month!

The photo collection from the second half of May is dominated by auks and orchids - the orchids on Shetland are plentiful but both later and (mostly) smaller than the Oxford ones.

The auk activity at this time of year is dominated by nest building (for the auks that do) and egg laying - and once the eggs are laid the auks (mainly the puffins and razorbills) take to the burrows to sit on their nests - only appearing briefly at 'shift change' - which can make catching sight of them a test of patience!

Leaving tracks - coming through the Quendale dunes

Finding orchids on Quendale Links

Getting re-acquainted, puffins at Sumburgh Head

Purposeful puffin at Sumburgh Head

Nest materials at Sumburgh Head

Next Month

More Auks. Lots more Auks.

Monthly Report, April 2025

 A travelling month - cars, boats, buses, trains but no planes.

Reporting Days: 30

Locations: Shetland, Oxford, Bristol, London, Turin and Boario

Distance Walked: 290 km

Distance Driven: 1320 km

Distance Trained: 1320 km (yes, really)

Starting in Shetland 

April started much as March had ended with me hanging over the walls at Sumburgh Head hoping that the puffins would put in an early appearance before I had to jump into the car and head for Lerwick and the Northlink boat south.   And of course they did.  Both the razorbills and puffins were, for a few early season days at least, plentiful and active with the traditional auk activities.

Talkative Auk (Razorbill)

Returning Puffins

Puffin settling in for the Summer

Razorbills renewing bonds

In southern England

Having faced the busy-ness of both the boat and the motorway network it was good to get to the Oxford to-do list.   That did still leave a wee bit of time to hang out in the parks and gardens (and hospitals!) in Oxford, Bristol and London. 

Spring in Bury Knowle Park, Oxford

Oxford Botanic Garden

Radcliffe Camera

H H Wills Physics Lab, Bristol

On to Italy 

My pattern (and I am definitely a creature of habit!) is to spend a bit of time at the REGEN therapy centre each Spring and Autumn, and to travel there and back by train.  

This Spring's travel plan involved a night in London (just beside St Pancras), then an early Eurostar to Paris and a Frecciarossa from Paris to Turin.  It makes for a lot of travel hours in one day but with the bonus of a lazy day to be a tourist in Turin the next day. 

And having decided which red car I wanted from the Museo Automobile, I completed the journey from Turin (via Milan, Brescia and Marone-Zone) to Boario.  That final days travelling required three trains and a rail-replacement bus - Boario has a perfectly serviceable train station, but at the moment no trains as the line is in the process of being updated to have experimental hydrogen-fuelled trains.

The canals of St Pancras

Cisitalia 202 (from 1948) at the Museo Automobile in Turin 

Back at the REGEN centre in Boario Terme

Old Montecchio bridge over the Oglio in Boario

Next Month  

Current plan is for May to be April in reverse - time in Italy, then southern England and finishing up on Shetland (train, bus, boat and car permitting).