Monthly Report, July 2023

Totally Shetland. 

There's always an element of satisfaction when I get to the end of the month and I can report that's been an entirely Shetland month, and in this case a month spent almost entirely at the south end of Shetland watching auks!

By the Numbers

Reporting Days: 31

Location: Shetland

Distance Walked: 343 km (mostly on the beaches)

Distance Driven: 776 km (mostly shopping trips to Lerwick)

Distance Rowed: 156 km (entirely stationary)

Photographs Taken: Many thousands, mostly auks

Puffins 

July is peak puffin at Sumburgh Head - the breeding birds are busy feeding the pufflings, the non-breeding adults are just hanging around on the cliffs and the youngsters (the pufflings) are starting to emerge from their nests. And the photographers and other visitors spend many hours just looking over the walls watching the puffin antics.

Shout

Meeting

Pairs

Fab Four

Big Meeting

Looking Out

Exploring

Razorbills

If you want a change from the showy bills (and feet) of the puffins, can I suggest that you spend a bit more time watching the razorbills (also available at Sumburgh Head). These are without question (at least I won't consider any question) the coolest auks. 

Razorbill

Razorbills with chick

Razorbill

Tsyties

Black Guillemots (unlike the other local auks) stay around all year but change from their distinctive breeding plumage at the end of the summer.  They don't (as far as I know) breed at Sumburgh Head, but do find lots of local nesting holes around the West Voe of Sumburgh and on Scat Ness.  And you will (if you've got decent high frequency hearing) almost certainly hear them before you see them.

Calling

Tystie Dynamics

Guillemots

Guillemots are probably the most numerous Shetland auk, they 'nest' huddled together in big colonies above the sea on every side of Sumburgh Head.  I find it really difficult to get good guillemot pictures, the colonies are quite a distance from the cliff top vantage points and the fact that the birds huddle together so tightly makes it challenging to pick out individuals.  Once the youngsters (the jumplings) get a bit bigger the adults give them a wee bit of space and it gets a bit easier to see individual birds. 

Guillemots with jumplings

The Last Jumpling

Beaches

I very rarely go a day on Shetland without a beach walk - and this month I've walked Quendale Beach almost every day!

Quendale Beach

Last light, Quendale Beach

Low tide, Quendale Beach

Orca

July is also an excellent time for orca spotting around Shetland - and they put in several appearances around the south end of Shetland. Orca sightings can never be guaranteed and should always be treasured!

27 Pod passing Sumburgh Head

27 Pod passing Sumburgh Head

Waves

I think there is a risk that the pictures from this month give a misleading picture of the Shetland weather - the weather has been good but that doesn't mean that there haven't been a few stormy and somewhat bleak days too!

Scat Ness Waves

Scat Ness Bleak

Next month is likely to feature fewer auks, lots of beaches and almost certainly more waves.

Monthly Report, June 2023

Oxford and London, and then, when it all became too hot and hay-feverish, Shetland. 

It was good to shake off May's COVID symptoms, but the heavy-duty hay-fever did at times feel like a relapse.   In all, I was relieved to get back to the rather cooler fresher air on offer at the south end of Shetland and to the puffins, razorbills and guillemots!.

By The Numbers

Reporting Days: 30

Location: Oxford, London & Shetland

Kilometres Walked: 286 (henceforth I'm logging stuff in metric)

Driven: 1250 km (it's now 800 km between Oxford & Aberdeen)

Cycled: 107 km (static bike in Oxford)

Rowed: 31 km (rowing machine in Shetland)

Photographs Taken: Thousands (mostly in the last 10 days of the month)

English Orchids

Bee Orchid, Hartslock

Common Spotted Orchid, Milham Ford

Common Spotted Orchid, Whitecross Green Wood

London Waterways

River Thames at Tower Bridge

Grand Union Canal / Capital Ring

River Thames at Kew

Scottish Orchids

Marsh Orchid at Scat Ness, Shetland

Marsh Orchid at Scat Ness, Shetland

Common Spotted Orchid, Roadside at Ecclefechan

Shetland Auks

Puffin in the Pinks, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

A Circus?, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Guarding the Nest, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Razorbills, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Puffins in the sunshine, Sumburgh Head, Shetland

And in next months exciting instalment - auks, lots of awesome auks - and a promise to at least try to get the monthly report done a bit more promptly.

Monthly Report, May 2023

And just when it was going so well.

At the start of the month I woke up in the middle of the night shivering in a northern Italian hotel room. 

After three years of sidestepping COVID,  it finally caught up with me. This wasn't how I had planned to start my third week of Italian spa town pampering!

But first the numbers.

Reporting Days: 31

Isolation Days: 5 

Location: Italy & Oxford

Miles Walked: 152

Miles Driven: 149

Miles Trained: 740

Photographs Taken: Hundreds 

Room with a View

Italian rules, after testing positive for COVID, say stay put for 5 days, then wear a mask wherever possible for the next five.  To which I would add, make sure you are staying in a nice bright hotel room with enough space to walk up and down, good room service, a sunny balcony and a decent view.  And a phone with a good collection of audiobooks.

Balcony View, Boario Terme

Released

And no matter how good the view - it was good to get released and do a couple of short walks before heading back (by train!) to Oxford (via Milan, Zurich, Paris & London).

Waterfall on the River Dezzo, Boario

Back to the Old Montecchio Bridge over the River Oglio

Springtime in Oxford

Having fast forwarded through Spring as we arrived in Italy last month - it was almost a surprise to find that it was still Spring back in Oxford, with bluebells still out in force and early orchids still around.

Bluebells

Lots of Bluebells

Early Marsh Orchids

Miniature Garden, Fence Post Version

Next month: Orchids, London & Shetland (hopefully)

Monthly Report, April 2023

Four very different weeks in April - starting with a week on Shetland, then a week around Oxford before decamping to warmer parts and a week wandering the hills around Lake Iseo in Lombardy and a week being pampered in a spa town in Val Camonica.

But first the numbers.

Reporting Days: 30

Location: Shetland, Oxford & Italy

Miles Walked: 199

Miles Driven: 971

Miles Trained: 705

Photographs Taken: Hundreds

Shetland

A week is never long enough to be on Shetland - and although I was a week too early for the puffins, there were razorbills and waves and sunshine.

Razorbills, Sumburgh Head

White Water, Scat Ness

Oxford

A week is sometimes long enough to be in Oxford - but there were lots of signs of Spring around, even if it never got warm enough to sit outside.

Fritillaries, Oxford Botanics

White Water, Parson's Pleasure

Lake Iseo

Fast forwarding the seasons to full on Spring in Northern Italy, and time spent walking from hotel to hotel around the southern end of Lake Iseo (everyone has heard of Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como - but few have heard of Lake Iseo, the fourth largest of the Lombardy lakes).  And to maintain the green walking credentials, all the travel was by train (Eurostar, TGV, Frecciarossa & Trenord).  

Lake Iseo, Clusane

Monte Isola & Sulzano, Lake Iseo

Boario Terme

And having worn out our knees, we travelled north (by train, of course) up the Val Camonica for a spot of restorative neurotherapy and spa time.

Old Montecchio Bridge, Boario Terme

Balcony View (Madonna del Alpi), Boario Terme

And in the next episode, Spa Time Take Two....