14th August 2026 Unst W3 Rain clearing

A walk around Norwick produced our first 2 Willow Warblers of the autumn.

Norwick: Merlin, juvenile Wood Pigeon, Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warblers & Tree Sparrow.

First-winter Willow Warbler at Norwick

Snout at Norwick

Unknown to Unst 5+ years ago but now regular. A recent colonist of Shetland.

13th August 2026 Unst S1 Overcast

Skaw: 4 Sanderling (2 juveniles), 5 Swallows & juvenile Stonechat.

Norwick: 2 Siskin.

12th August 2026 Unst S3 Partly overcast

Skaw: 6 Sanderling (4 juveniles), 2 Swallows & juvenile Stonechat.

Norwick: Chiffchaff.

Juvenile Stonechat at Skaw

Adult and recently fledged juvenile Red-throated Divers on the sea off Norwick

10th August 2026 Unst NW5 Partly overcast

Norwick: 3 Snipe, adult Sanderling & juvenile Collared Dove.

9th August 2026 Unst SW5 Squally showers

We were pleased to find Shetland's earliest ever autumn Woodchat Shrike whilst walking around Norwick this morning. The only other August record for Shetland away from Fair Isle - also a juvenile - was found by my parents on Out Skerries in 1997. With thanks to Mike P for a summary of the previous records.

Norwick: 3 Merlin, juvenile Woodchat Shrike, Chiffchaff & Tree Sparrow.

Juvenile Woodchat Shrike at Norwick (video here)

The second that I've been fortunate to find on Unst.

5th August 2026 Unst NE6 Overcast

Skaw: 2 Swallows & Garden Warbler.

4th August 2026 c.50km NW of Fethaland E3 freshening to ENE5 Light rain

An enjoyable day spent at sea c.50km northwest of Fethaland courtesy of Will Miles with plenty of Storm Petrels on the wing. My personal highlights were seeing 2 Wilson's Storm Petrels making several passes of the boat, a somewhat distant Leach's Storm Petrel, c.300 European Storm Petrels and a 'blue' Fulmar.

European Storm Petrels off Fethaland

Wilson's Storm Petrel off Fethaland

Leach's Storm Petrel off Fethaland (Andrew Russell)

Andrew did extremely well to obtain these images as the Petrel was at a considerable distance in choppy seas!