Shetland 2012- Day III: If the world were flat i'd have fallen off!

After sailing across the sea from our Fetlar victories, we felt invincible. We'd go the Phalaropes on a dull day when they hadn't been seen the previous day, we had Dunlin in the bag, we had seen a Black Kite, we'd seen Black Guillemots on the crossing and I hadn't screwed up the exposure which is an achievement in itself for me! We arrived on Unst and were struck by the change of character from the peaty wastes of Yell and the green grass of Fetlar. Unst is rocky, the hills more pronounced and the scenery less bleak and more impressive. We didn't stop for a roadside Red Throated Diver as it drifted by, something I would perhaps regret later. However, we did dump our stuff at the Baltasound Hotel (Britain's Northernmost Hotel!) and walk up to the Keen of Hamar NNR. As I said we felt pretty invincible, and neither of us being botanists we thought it an excellent to look for Edmundson's Chickweed, a Shetland endemic species. We only had a vague idea what it looked like and surprise surprise we didn't see it, but we did see this rather nice Heath Orchid...

...and this Ringed Plover, looking rather odd in the barren landscapes of Hamar...

We called it a day there and had some brilliant fish and chips back at the hotel and went straight to sleep having backed up my memory cards on the computer and charged up tomorrow's batteries.

We rose early to get out to the next site, Hermaness NNR. This really is the UK's most northerly place and a legendary seabird colony, home once to an albatross and now a Bonxie stronghold, Gannetry and Puffin colony all rolled into one site. Straight onto the 2 mile walk in we had 2 Bonxies displaying...

...and once on the cliffs I thought i'd died and gone to a better place. Turns out i'd just gone to a better place, with Puffins by the bucketload, Bonxies piratical as ever and the Gannets which seemed to line every cliff, outcrop and stack. I snapped a Fulmar as it whizzed by...

...and this Bonxie as it closed in on its victim...

...but on the reccomendation of Richard, we went onto the southern reaches of the headland, not the north. This was the scene that greeted us...

I have very little sense of smell, brought about by sharing a room with 2 budgies. Still, even I could smell the Gannets on the ledges below. The reason Richard had mentioned turning south along the cliff was that here the Gannetry extended upwards towards the footpath, so I was able to get stunningly close views of these birds as they tried to land...

Like a bullet...

...can you really get too close...?



...but its an exposure nightmare, its a balancing act between over-exposure and trying to bring out the colours of the head. Its a fine line, I don't know how well I did it, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all!

We next headed out towards the best named rock ever, Muckle Flugga. This is the main Puffin area, and boy did we connect with these birds! Amazingly no chicks were present, so no fish-in-mouth shots, but with such tame subjects I could afford to 'get creative'. The area is so green and verdant that I could, with the help of the midday sun, get some quite vibrant hues out the grass. For the following shot I had to lie on a gradient of about 20%, and I nearly went over the edge! But luckily I survived...

...and the headshot...

...and the flapping shot...

...But these Puffins left for the sea and I thought i'd move along, change background and let rip at some new targets...!

...but as we neared the top of Hermaness Hill (and were consequently the northernmost individuals in the UK) we encountered a rather nice Dunlin...

...but it wouldn't be Hermaness without some Bonxies, would it? So here's your lot...!

But alas we couldn't stay on Hermaness forever, for one my camera battery would run out, so we headed south to the Isle of Yell for our second night there, and our time on Unst drew to an end. With high winds forecast the next day we wondered whether our plan of going onto the island of Mousa was possible, with our good fortune up until this point it seemed we were due some bad luck!