Sumburgh Head is well worth a visit on a stormy day. There's few birds to be seen at the moment, but you'll usually see twite on the reserve (we feed them every day), and cast your eye seaward for eiders, gannets, shags and gulls. Visits to RSPB reserves aren't just about birds of course, it's the whole experience.
Martin popped his head in the door, saying it was worth taking a look at the sea as the effects of tide and wind were dramatic. I decided to take a lunch time stroll around the reserve. Although "stroll" does not quite capture the atmosphere of my walk today as it was as exhilirating as a roller coaster ride. Apologies for the poor quality of the photos coming up, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what it is like. It is very hazy. All around the reserve it looks as if it is raining but it is actually sea spray. Stick your tongue out and you can taste the salt. Instead of being assaulted by the wind, I guess I was being a-salted (rubbish joke - sorry!)
The view south from car park, where it was impossible to stand still, such is the strength of the wind. The only birds to be seen easily were a couple of great black-backed gulls and gannets. The patient observer may be rewarded with a pomarine skua perhaps.
I'm glad we look after the fences and walls, making it safe to enjoy the wild wind on the clifftop. I paused to watch a couple of rock doves (blue doos we call them in Shetland) battling southward against the wind for a minute or so. At one point, the pair were caught by powerful updraught and I feared they were going to smash against the rocks. More fool me, as they skillfully twisted, turned and at immense speed flew northward, without so much as one wingbeat between them. As I lost sight of them around the neighbouring headland, I couldn't help but be reminded of children battling up a snowy brae to sledge down.
This is where I'd usually recommend visitors to look if they wished to see seals. Not today though!
I think hair could provide a new way of measuring the wind. From Beaufort scale to Bouffant scale. The wind in Shetland does somehow feel different to wind elsewhere. Newton, who you may have met at Sumburgh Head or Mousa, described it as "so unresisted," which sums it up for me.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy a wild experience on an RSPB reserve soon :)