When a bird really does live up to its name: lovely views of this gorgeous Scandinavia-bound male Red-spotted Bluethroat at Quendale, Shetland this afternoon.

Two minutes of footage from our encounter with the '27s' #Orcas off the west Mainland of Shetland this week. Includes several cameo appearances from the 18-month-old calf. 💛🖤 Blue Planet Society Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) Marine Conservation Society VisitScotland NorthLink Ferries Ullapool Sea Savers Karen Hall Karen Munro Catherine Gemmell

Lovely views of this beautiful drake Garganey at Grutness, Shetland yesterday evening. The soft evening light really brought out those intricate neck markings. Stunning!

1 year ago TODAY my swift brick petition closed with 110k signatures leading to a proposal supported by experts.
WHY no action?

'Apparently Rishi Sunak doesn’t like the idea&has blocked it.' - Zac Goldsmith

Our PM doesn't want to save our icons of summer from extinction.

We're learning about plankton & how to net & examine them. We'll be at Ullapool Harbour doing this on Sunday May 12th 1pm to 4pm as part of #Ulluminate & #LuggerFest if you fancy learning why plankton are so important for the seas & us!
#Plankton #Ullapool
ulluminate.org/ulluminate-sun…

Nice encounter with five of the '27s' #Orca pod off the sunny West Mainland, Shetland this morning. Here's two of them hunting close inshore beneath us off the cliffs at Reawick.

Two spaces have become available on our 13 - 20 July 2024 'Ultimate Shetland' week. Details are at shetlandwildlife.co.uk/holidays/wildl… and a few 📸 highlights from previous trips are below ⬇️

Saw this colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit here at Hillwell and Spiggie, Shetland last week. Just received the history from Böðvar Þórisson: ringed as a chick in 2012 in Dýrafjörður, Iceland & seen almost annually every autumn/spring in NW England, but 1st time seen in Scotland.

This presumably Iceland-bound Slavonian Grebe in glorious full summer plumage has graced Loch of Spiggie, Shetland for the last few days. That eye!

An overnight ground frost here in Shetland. Inspired by Hannah Bourne-Taylor's 'first bird of my day' tweets, here's mine - a lovely migrant Siskin on our feeder-cam at 0500 this morning.

Over fifty thousand people have seen this tweet Michael Gove Call me crazy but I’m still holding out for you. You were such a good Environment Secretary. You agreed to meet Zac Goldsmith and me. I don’t want to believe you don’t care and won’t do it…..

Bull #Orca 018 filmed off Rerwick and St. Ninian's Isle, Shetland this morning. This lone bull is a traveller between Scotland and Iceland where he was first 'matched' in April 2019. Blue Planet Society Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) Karen Hall Ullapool Sea Savers NorthLink Ferries Marine Conservation Society Saana Isojunno Karen Munro SumburghHead

A dapper drake North American Blue-winged Teal at Scatness, Shetland this evening. Still a very rare bird in these parts with <10 previous county records.

Watching a lovely North American drake Blue-winged Teal at Scatness, Shetland this evening.

A brilliant start to the week - a pod of six Orcas including a tiny calf off Sumburgh Head, Shetland this morning. Distance made it very difficult to get useful photo ID data but we've matched one of the more distinctive individuals to a 2019 encounter off Orkney!🖤🤍

Vaila: an incredible mother of six and matriarch of the Northern Isles Community '27s' #Orca pod surfacing off the south Mainland of Shetland.

Nice to see our daughter modelling her original (and appropriately named given what she was looking for) RSPB ‘Puffin’ binoculars at SumburghHead this morning. 10 years old and still optically sound. Pink is the new green, right?

'Five Kings and a Steller's please'.

Arctic seaduck in the north of Norway: resplendent King Eiders with a solitary Steller's Eider at Båtsfjord.

A short video from our encounter with some of the '27s' Orcas as they headed north through Aith Voe, Shetland today. Includes a cameo appearance from the 18-month-old calf. 💛🖤 Blue Planet Society Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) Marine Conservation Society Mammal Society NorthLink Ferries VisitScotland Ullapool Sea Savers Karen Munro #DolphinDay

South easterly winds have brought a nice selection of continental migrants (and colour!) to our Shetland garden over the last few days. Clockwise from top left: Yellowhammer, Brambling, Dunnock and Siskin.