Shetland - Day 1

I suppose my lack of entries has sort of echoed my lack of field activity over the past few months. I've been doing a bit of birding in East Norfolk, but nothing to rave about. Anyway, I've got two weeks on Shetland now, so lets hope I've got plenty to blog about. I drove up to Aberdeen yesterday (10 hour journey, most of it in the rain) and got the overnight ferry to Lerwick. Bus, ferry, bus, ferry, bus and here I in Baltasound, Unst where I'll be for my trip, staying with Geoff Wyatt and Martin Hallam. The wind was howling today; 50+ mph winds make birding difficult! Yellow-browed Warbler in the garden was nice though as were the small smattering of migrants that we saw at Norwick. Plenty of Goldcrests and Blackcaps with a few Robins and Brambling were what we could pin down in the strong winds. Tomorrow is supposed to be very strong south-easterly winds with heavy rain, so I don't fancy our chances of finding much in that, but the weather is supposed to be clearing up on Thursday, so lets hope this weather brings lots of stuff in with it and that the island is hopping with rares in a couple of days time.