Bonxie

We passed an awesome couple of hours out on Phil's boat this morning, hugging the cliffs of Bressay and Noss, the latter being a National Nature Reserve.  We saw close up whole colonies of guillemots and gannets.  A trip inside a huge cave gave us shags perched on the rocks in the half light.  Above us flew gannets heading out to fish or returning to their roosts and nest sites.  Phil took out his bucket of fish and the Bonxies arrived to take them from his hand.  Moored up, the gannets were attracted in with more fish and we could watch them diving and swimming beneath us, incredible.  Needless to say, I blipped frame upon frame of bubbles and managed not one blip of a gannet entering the water, much too fast for my camera, but wow the excitement.  The sky was full of gannet.

We had a quick return to the guest house to change and then we drove 20 minutes west to the village of Scalloway for a circular walk along the top of the low cliffs, over the hill and back in time for a cuppa and scone at the Cornerstone Cafe.

After another delicious dinner at No.88, we were hunkered down for a quiet evening when Phil knocked on our room door.  Word was out that a pod of orcas was passing by and did we want to see them?!  It was a quick on with coats and camera grabbed and we were off to the end of the Knab where folks had already gathered and spotted the pod of five, including a bull orca, heading down Bressay Sound towards Lerwick Harbour.  We ran along the path to find a place to stand and I took a lot of blips!  Wow what a beginning and end to our second day here!