Today we had booked a Seabirds & Seals trip to Noss, but sadly was postponed until Friday due to sea conditions, think wind direction was the main problem😢. Undeterred we decided to bring forward our planned trip to Unst, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we had fantastic weather, probably the best of the trip.
Getting to the Isle of Unst is a bit of a trek involving a ferry to Yell, a drive across Yell, then another ferry to Unst, all went well and we arrived fairly early and made the drive up to Hermaness National Nature Reserve, with only a minor hiccup with a road closure!!
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| Some of the views from around the Car Park by Margie |
Basically at Hermaness there are two main habitats, the peat bogs and the cliffs, you walk across the peat bog to the cliffs, luckily there is an excellent walkway across the bog, Bonxies nest across the peat bog and we had been warned that we may be attacked, We've been attacked before on the Hebrides a few years ago and it is not pleasant, however this early in the season with no chicks yet they mainly ignored us, though I had been hoping for an iconic shot of a Bonxie flying off with Margie's bobble hat but sadly was not to be😢😂
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| Nice Wheatear at the start of the walk |
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| Bonxie |
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| Were quite a few flying about and sitting on the moor |
We followed the path across the moor Margie found some dead stuff!! Not sure what it's from.
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| The Moors by Margie |
Skylarks have been the sound track to our holiday, but until now they had mainly been high in the sky, today I managed to find one on the ground!
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| Skylark |
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| Meadow Pipits were numerous as well though less cooperative |
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| Bonxie having a flap |
AS you get closer to the cliffs, you become aware of the noise of many Seabirds, luckily with the wind direction the smell wasn't to bad!😄 I've been to a lot of Seabird Cliffs over the years, South Stack, Bempton Cliffs, Noup Head etc etc all of which are impressive, especially Noup Head on Westray, but Hermaness it has to be said is the daddy of em all, the sheer amount of Gannets is staggering, not only along the cliffs but the sea was caked in them as well!!
A very short video, less than 30 seconds, at the link gives some idea of what it's like!
I obviously filled my boots, trying to get pics of Gannets!
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| Gannet |
Was engrossed in this, quite a bit of swearing as I tried to track the fast moving birds, looked down there was a Puffin at my feet!!! Had popped out of a hole I hadn't even noticed, so took a few pics 😀
Then another one popped out!!
Has to be said the scenery is stunning as well! Some of Margie's pics below
There are two paths on the reserve, we headed south to the main Gannet area and then back north with a view to complete the circular path back to the car park. Fair to say I took a few thousand pics of the birds, don't worry I'm not posting all of them!!😂
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| Gannet |
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| Bonxie |
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| Not all Gannets, plenty of Fulmars about as well! |
Where are the Puffins I hear you ask, Blooming everywhere I reply!!
Trust me, I showed a lot of restraint there!!
Another short video below in the other direction
We headed north, eventually Muckle Flugga lighthouse came into view the island beyond is the most northerly point in the British Isles! Margie's attempts to pronounce Muckle Flugga were quite funny but mostly to rude to write here!!😂😲
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| Muckle Flugga or Fuckle lugga or Mugle Fucka depending on Margie's latest attempt |
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| Britain's most northerly point! |
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| Margie always reads the boards |
Margie then makes the mental decision that we are going to climb the hill and head back to the car park, I was sad to leave the Gannets but was more concerned by the strength of the wind and the steepness of the hill!! Still we made it to the top in the end and the views were worth the effort!
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| Quite an interesting board about the history of protecting the Bonxies down the years |
More Bonxies in this area again refusing to attack Margie's bobble hat!! As we walked down the hill a bird drifted across in front of us, a raptor!! A Marsh Harrier wasn't expecting that!!
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| Bonxie |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Meadow Pipit showing well |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Wheatear to finish the walk |
An absolutely fabulous place absolutely stunning in the sunshine! Apparently a new visitor center with toilets opened the next day!
We headed back towards the ferry, we got lost at the closed road, which lead to us finding a field full of Golden Plovers, every cloud as they say!
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| Golden Plover |
We also found a viking longboat and longhouse which was good!! Margie likes a bit of historic stuff. I obviously pretended to be a marauding Viking captain as you do!!
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| Margie venturing in |
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| Where's me axe! |
We were a bit early for the ferry so followed a brown sign to a standing stone, where I got a bit spiritual and asked the birding gods to bring a few rares to Shetland !!
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| It was straight!! |
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| Covered in Moss and Lichen |
We made the ferry and had an uneventful journey back to base. Great Day!!!
