You can now take a virtual walk up to Sumburgh Head RSPB nature reserve. I'm not sure whether this link will work http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl but if not, go to Google's home page, click on maps and search for Sumburgh Head. Then just zoom in on the road until you get to see the view. The detail is quite amazing. You can see fulmars flying by, guillemots perched on the stack and cliffs, and a white blob which I think a puffin's belly. I'm a bit of a saddo and have started Google twitching and have been cruising around the shores of Shetland, such as the Pool of Virkie, seeing what birds I can spot. My list so far includes the afore mentioned guillemots, fulmars and puffin/blob, herring gulls and mallard. I need to spend more time searching - or maybe I should just get out more!
Martin Heubeck highlighted an interesting observation today. The guillemots have been in regular attendance at Sumburgh Head, but all had left the cliffs and stacks today. The weather today was a bit better than yesterday, when a few showers were passing through. However, the weather tomorrow is supposed to be a whole lot worse, with strong winds coming, ferries being cancelled and such like. So, it seems that the birds know that a storm is coming and have headed out to sea in good time. I would be interested to find out how these seabirds know what the weather is going to do. I know of birds flying a different heights depending on whether rain is coming (which I think is to do with air pressure and insects). I wonder if it is an air pressure thing with guillemots too. Any thoughts welcome.
(FIRDAY AFTERNOON)
I went for a walk on the beach this morning, and wondered whether the guillemots had got it wrong as there was just a bit of a breeze. This afternoon is a different picture. It's a Force 7 or more, with gusts up to 70mph. Whenever someone opens the main door into our office, our ears pop with the change of pressure and when I stepped outside, my hair band was sucked off!
Have you any photos of the windy day?
It would be great to see them, if you did.