Now you see it, now you don’t – evasive shore lark
It has featured in this column since last December. It has disappeared for days on end and then reappeared. It survived the lying snow. But…
READ FULL STORYStories tagged with Tag: Wildernews
Familiar, re-assuring sight of shag
The shag is one of the most familiar birds around the Shetland coastline during the winter months. The common name, shag, is derived from the…
READ FULL STORYHow do we find rosy solutions when there is a tangle of competing claims?
Suppose you love wild Shetland flowers. Suppose you love garden flowers too; you love gardening and think that community gardens and the new allotments initiative…
READ FULL STORYSigns of spring in air already
This being the last week of February, there are increasing signs of spring’s arrival. The last of the winter atlas counts are complete, before breeding…
READ FULL STORYRare winter visitors
Common snipe generally remain hidden in cover, their striped head and heavily streaked plumage providing excellent camouflage. During periods of snow, they become conspicuous in…
READ FULL STORYHumpback whales spotted off coast of Yell and Fetlar
There was really only one topic of conversation on the North Isles wildlife circuit last week – humpback whales. Everyone has their own story. For…
READ FULL STORY‘He flew straight towards me, perched on a low stone wall and yelled at me …’
Why won’t the Chaffinches come to my bird table? I’m aware that they are around; in fact they’ve been visiting my neighbour Pat’s bird table…
READ FULL STORYRed grouse comes down from usual habitat
An interesting sighting at the weekend was a red grouse in a garden in Toft, probably driven down from the hills by the severe wintry…
READ FULL STORYSiberian visitors feed up before returning to tundra
Large numbers of greylag geese were feeding on Lambaness in north-east Unst last week, presumably migrants building up reserves before their return flight to Iceland….
READ FULL STORYGreenhouse window’s frosty patterns shimmer and glitter in all their glory
Central heating and double glazing are such accepted features of the warmer, better insulated houses of today that frost ferns are an endangered feature of…
READ FULL STORYLund beach favoured by around 30 ringed plovers
Walking along the beach at Lund in south-west Unst at the weekend, it was good to see a flock of around 30 ringed plovers –…
READ FULL STORYBeaches strain with pulverised seaweed
While the rest of Britain is gently vanishing under a blanket of snow, Shetland gleams in the brilliance of winter sunshine and recent gales have…
READ FULL STORYRegular wintering fowl joined by rarer Tundra bean geese
Waterfowl are prominent at this time of the year, when resident wintering duck and geese populations are increased by visitors from further north. Wintering freshwater…
READ FULL STORYFulmars hog nest sites
Sunday morning provided the right conditions to take part in the RSPB Garden Birdwatch. Living at the Shore Station at Burrafirth, it’s always a bit…
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