The Shetland Isles

“Mid-summer is a great time to visit Shetland, with some of the best wildlife spectacles in Britain. Last time, whilst on our boat trip to the island of Noss, we were surrounded by masses of marauding Great Skuas and hundreds of plunge diving Gannets right next to the boat, a simply awesome sight and sound!” Craig Round

Dates Tue 28 Jun - Tue 05 Jul 2022 Just 6° south of the Arctic Circle - far northern isles and

Price £2,395 world-class wildlife, huge seabird colonies and delightful Deposit £475 Single Supp £300 Red-necked Phalaropes, at the Simmer Dim. Islands at the ‘Simmer Dim’ when the sun barely sets Leaders Craig Round and Tim Drew Easy flight to Shetland rather than the 14-hour ferry Flights Loganair, scheduled Outbound: Afternoon, Aberdeen-Sumburgh Mousa’s Storm Petrels, Fetlar’s Red-necked Phalaropes Inbound: Afternoon, Sumburgh-Aberdeen The spectacular seabird cities of Noss, Hermaness and Sumburgh Weather During a typical week we expect mixed Otters and offshore whales and dolphins sun and showers, with temperatures Regular rarities and summering scarce breeders in the range 10-20ºC Closer to Norway than to mainland Scotland Walking Walking is generally very relaxed and easy, but on at least two of the days Flying from Aberdeen, we arrive in Shetland emerge from their burrows and scurry around we may take walks of up to 3-4 miles on rough grassland and small coastal 1 and drive north over Mainland to our our feet, as we look out to the remote Muckle paths delightful hotel on the sheltered shore of Busta Flugga lighthouse and the small rocky island of Voe. ‘Oootsta’ or Out Stack – after which there is no Meals All included from lunch on Day 1 more Britain! to lunch on Day 8 On our visit to Shetland’s most northerly island Unst, we’ll walk across On our regular short ferry crossings between Insects Biting insects are not a problem 2-4 the moorland to the wild and dramatic cliffs of islands, Gannets can be seen diving for fish in Accom Double, twin and single ensuite rooms Hermaness, where the skies are full of soaring and synchronised teams and the small harbours are a Group 12 displaying Great Skuas (in Shetland called Bonxies, favourite haunt of Otters. Marauding Arctic Skuas meaning ‘dumpy bird’). Breeding Snipe, Dunlin and harry passing Arctic Terns, as Puffins, Guillemots Meadow Pipit display overhead and the plaintive and Razorbills stream through the narrow sounds Craig Round: Storm Petrel, Noss, Arctic Tern Roy Atkins: Red-necked Phalarope call of Golden Plover can be heard. Unst also on feeding flights between the islands. We shall be Sally Dowden: Guillemots Sumburgh Head supports Wheatear, Twite and Whimbrel. alert to the sight of any fins breaking the surface, Andrew Hoyne: Puffins betraying a Harbour Porpoise close inshore, or Simon Eaves: Guillemots As we reach the vast seabird cliffs and gannetry at Saito, the sight that greets you really does take maybe even Orcas! your breath away! A blizzard of Gannets ride Another inter-island boat journey takes us to Fetlar, Just some of what we hope to see: the updrafts and swirl in vast flocks below you, so named from the Viking for ‘fat or fertile land’ Red-necked Phalarope Dunlin as Fulmars and Great Skuas glide past. Puffins and the fourth largest island in the Shetland Isles. Whimbrel Golden Plover Storm Petrel Twite Red-throated Diver Rock Dove Great Northern Diver Raven Long-tailed Duck Twite Whooper Swan Otter Great Skua Minke Whale Arctic Skua White-beaked Dolphin Gannet White-sided Dolphin Puffin Orca Black Guillemot Harbour Porpoise Common Tern Harbour Seal Arctic Tern Grey Seal [email protected] | 01479 812498 www.speysidewildlife.co.uk “Shetland’s wonderful seabird colonies are at their busiest at this time of year and we’ll visit the towering cliffs of the Noup of Noss by boat. Cruising in under the cliffs the view that greets you always takes your breath away, blizzards of Gannets swirl above and the ledges are packed with auks, whilst all-round is the din of countless calling birds. We’ll also make a boat trip at night out to the island of Mousa, in the ‘simmer dim’. To watch tiny Storm Petrels fly in low over the sea to their nests in the walls of the ancient broch and swirl like bats all around you, it’s a simply magical experience you never forget!” Craig Round

It is a stronghold for stunning and rare Red-necked Leaving the north and its many islands Phalaropes, as they delicately spin on small lochans, 5-7 and skerries behind us, we venture picking tiny insects from the waterside stones. Fetlar south to our hotel at the southern end of Shetland, is also a great place to see and hear the weird wailing close to the dramatic Viking settlement of Jarlshoff courtship cries of Red-throated Divers, which at this and Iron Age settlement of Old Scatness and only time of year may have young. a short stroll away from the coast. Arctic Skua, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Ringed Plover Great Northern Diver and Long-tailed Duck all and Whimbrel, or ‘peerie whap’ in Shetland over-summer here, along with a few pairs of meaning small Curlew, can also be seen on the Whooper Swans that now breed. We’ll also see tundra-like heath of Fetlar and their ‘rippling’ Arctic Terns, Arctic and Great Skuas, Rock Dove, calls can be heard across the island, whilst the Twite, Raven and perhaps Peregrine. colourful flower-filled meadows support Lapwing, Also close by are the superb seabird cliffs of Oystercatcher, Curlew, Snipe and Redshank. Sumburgh Head, which can also be a great place A trip highlight for many is our dusk visit to the to look for passing cetaceans and over the years island of Mousa. Once inside the tower of the we’ve seen White-beaked and White-sided Outline Itinerary 2,000-year-old Iron Age Broch, we are enveloped Dolphins and watched Humpback, Minke Whale Day 1 Fly into Sumburgh and travel north in silence, until the rhythmic ‘churring’ of Storm and predatory Orcas! to our Mainland base at Busta Voe Petrels amongst the stones brings these ancient The island of Noss is one of the finest seabird 4 nights at Busta House walls alive, a moment of real ‘Shetland magic’! It’s islands in Europe. On our boat trip around the Days 2-4 Exploration of Unst, including the wild a real privilege to watch these tiny ocean-going island, we’ll cruise right under the sheer seabird cliffs of Hermaness and the small island seabirds flying in low over the sea, to return to of Fetlar, as well as north Mainland cliffs of the Noup, dwarfing our boat and towering their nest sites in the walls of the Broch and as and a night visit to Mousa some 590ft above us, it’s a truly awesome sight and the last fiery glow of the ‘simmer dim’ lights up the Day 5 Travel south to our base on the sound! These are the largest cliffs on Shetland’s east horizon, they swirl like bats around our heads in south Mainland coast and home to almost 9,000 pairs of Gannet ever greater numbers, before fluttering in to land. 3 nights at Sumburgh Hotel alone! The great seabird city also holds Guillemot, Days 6-7 Birdwatching and wildlife exploration North Shetland, renowned for Otters, is one of Razorbill, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Shag and we’ll see the of south Mainland, including a visit the UK’s premier locations for this elusive mammal delightful Black Guillemot (Tystie). to Noss, Sumburgh Head and the and we have been lucky with fine views. Along the Viking settlement of Jarlshoff We may have some time to birdwatch on shores we see Red-breasted Merganser and Eider the final morning, before our flight back to Day 8 Depending on our flight time, we may (or Dunter) and further inland, coastal species nest 8 be able to spend the morning bird Aberdeen. everywhere, including Arctic Skuas (Skootie Alan) and wildlife watching, before catching and Fulmar (Maalies), we shall really be learning our flight back to Aberdeen our Shetland bird names!