Oh no...not more photographs!

The Beardie was striking a pose as if to say "Not more photos please..." This mammal has had a steady stream of photographers visiting Yell in it's 4 month stay, and today Jase one of my friends from Whalsay finally connected with it. The seal didn't seem to even notice we were there for most of our visit. How I wish Otters were this easy to watch.

This last pic shows just how unconcerned at our presence he actually was. If you would like to see more photos (and prob much better too!) then check out Jase's website here; http://at2h.blogspot.com/ The only other things of note today were 8 Bar-tailed Godwits at Hamnavoe, including one in almost full Summer plumage. The rest were all looking very drab by comparison!

"We come from the land of the ice and snow"

It felt decidedly 'Baltic' today, with a good breeze from the North East...Rather fitting that the Snow Buntings had decided to hang about, and they showed a bit better thanks to a dry stone wall I could hide behind to take pics. After a bit of a DIY 'disaster' involving copper water pipes and screws!!! A trip to Mid Yell for a replacement pipe was in order. It only seemed right that I look in on my old friend the Bearded Seal, and right enough, there he was in the water. He seemed to be feeding in the mouth of a very small burn (repeatedly diving in the shallow water), and after about 10 minutes, he hauled out and sunbathed. What a performer eh! This animal seems genuinely inquisitive if it's in the water, and approached me to within 8 feet or so, from quite a distance! Other than that, the only migrants worth noting today were the 2 Male Chaffinch and a Robin all in my garden.

Blog post title mercilessly pinched from the great Led Zeppelin. To hear the song in it's full glory, please click on the link...turn the sound right up... sit back... enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u--97IytCSE

Frozen Nuts!

Today was a day for birding East Yell. Starting in Burravoe and finding nothing, I ventured up towards Mid Yell, where the Beardie was still hauled out and enjoying the sunshine...

Can anyone can tell me what sex this animal is?

From here it was South to a sheltered bay, where I lay on the cold ground to get close to the birds feeding on the shoreline. 'Field craft' did let me get close and after 20min or so the birds were walking past me unconcerned.

It was then that I could feel the cold from the ground starting to seep in, and I figured if my wife and I ever wanted to have kids, then this was the time to get moving...... It's good to keep your options open, eh!

Stop Press...

Well maybe not quite "Stop Press", but my pic of the Bearded Seal made the local rag (Shetland Times, page 21)

But you know what they say; "Today's news is tomorrows chip wrapper!"

I'll be up the North of Yell tomorrow, so lets just hope it's still hanging about!

MORE SNOW...

Well it's been quite snowy up here lately just like the rest of Britain, and just like everywhere else, it's a pain in the arse to get around! So it's meant a lot of local birding, and the good light and sunny days have meant I have been taking quite a few photos! The bad news is that most of them aren't any better than mince.

I was told that the more photos you take, the more chance that at least one photo might turn out ok....so that's my theory, and I've managed to produce one or two semi decent pics as a result!

I also managed to connect with the long staying Bearded Seal that had taken up residence in Mid Yell, after two failed attempts...

This beautiful mammal had a fresh wound on it's front left flipper, so a wee bit of a 'touch up' with photoshop has been done!