DAY 1  Saturday - Welcome Dinner

Late afternoon / early evening rendezvous at the Sumburgh Hotel. After our welcome dinner there will be an optional evening excursion to photograph a spectacular sunset or some atmospheric scenes - the soft light of Shetland's Simmer Dim is a photographer's dream! Overnight at the Sumburgh Hotel.

DAY 2  Sunday - Mousa

The tiny island of Mousa lies off the east coast of the south Mainland. We have arranged exclusive access for our group during the morning, to spend several hours with a wide range of approachable birds - they include Black Guillemots, Great and Arctic Skuas, Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers and Arctic Terns. In the afternoon we visit a site just north of Lerwick where we can get unusually close to bull Grey Seals. The antics of these enormous animals as they vie for territorial dominance offers spectacular photographic opportunities. After dinner, we return to the island and spend the latter part of the evening in the company of Storm Petrels. With the use of flash (essential), we will have the opportunity to capture birds on film as they land briefly on the 43 feet high broch! Overnight at the Sumburgh Hotel.

DAY 3  Monday - South Mainland

We spend the morning at the bustling seabird colonies of Sumburgh Head. Subjects we would hope for include Puffins in pink Thrift, Shetland Wrens on lichen-strewn stone walls and Fulmars at arm's length! With luck we may spot passing cetaceans - Killer Whales are regularly seen off Sumburgh Head during the summer months and hunt exceptionally close inshore! After lunch, we head a few miles north to a rich expanse of heathland. We'll spend the remainder of the afternoon with Arctic Skuas, Great Skuas, Whimbrel, Golden Plover, Snipe and Whimbrel in breeding habitat and also find plenty of wildflowers including Bell Heather, Tormentil, Heath Bedstraw, Wild Thyme, Lousewort and Butterwort. Overnight at the Sumburgh Hotel.

DAY 4  Tuesday - Noss

We take our chartered boat - exclusive to our group - to the spectacular seabird colonies of Noss National Nature Reserve. From sea level, we will have the unique opportunity of using wide angle and telephoto perspectives to capture 20,000 Gannets, 40,000 Guillemots and 5,000 Kittiwakes! Puffins, Shags, Black Guillemots will also be on offer. The many natural arches, caves and dramatic sandstone cliffs add to the experience. We return to Lerwick at lunch time and head north to catch a ferry to Yell and then across Bluemull Sound to Britain's most northerly inhabited island - Unst. The late afternoon will be spent at Keen of Hamar National Nature Reserve. This serpentine fell-field is a locally unique habitat and home to an array of rare wild flowers. Diminutive Arctic alpines include Moss Campion, Arctic Sandwort and Northern Rock Cress. Other species in flower will include the strange Moonwort, Early Purple, Northern Marsh and Frog Orchids, Stone Bramble and the endemic Shetland Mouse-Ear Chickweed - found here but nowhere else in the world! Overnight at the Baltasound Hotel.

DAY 5  Wednesday - Fetlar & Hermaness at 'Dusk'!

We travel to south Unst to connect with the morning ferry to the island of Fetlar. The prize here will be the handsome Red-necked Phalarope which is famous for its breeding role reversal. Fetlar holds over 90% of the British breeding population, although the birds' stay on the island is brief - they generally arrive during the third week of May and are gone by the end of July! Phalaropes are typically confiding and the Fetlar birds are no exception - we once watched a female picking insects from our tripod legs! Red-throated Diver, Dunlin and Arctic Tern are frequent visitors to our chosen loch and will also offer us some superb photographic opportunities. We return to Unst for an early evening meal and offer an optional walk to Hermaness cliffs for the rare opportunity to photograph Puffins and Great Skuas against what will hopefully be a magnificent Simmer Dim sunset. Overnight at the Baltasound Hotel.

DAY 6  Thursday - Hermaness by Day!

We spend the day on Hermaness National Nature Reserve. The moorland is home to 800 pairs of Great Skuas - the second largest 'Bonxie' colony in the world - and the cliffs house 50,000 Puffins, 40,000 Guillemots, 28,000 Fulmars and over 20,000 Gannets! We'll have the opportunity of photographing seabird colonies from our cliff-top vantage point - a complete contrast to our sea level portraits at Noss. There will also be the opportunity to photograph some dramatic seascapes at Britain's most northerly lighthouse - Muckle Flugga. The reserve also offers typical moorland flora like Heather, Crowberry, Bog Bilberry, Bog Cotton and the carnivorous Sundew. Overnight at the Baltasound Hotel.

DAY 7  Friday - Yell & North Mainland

We leave Unst and spend the morning on Yell. The island boasts the highest density of Otters in Shetland and although characteristically shy and secretive, we have, in the past, had reasonable success working with swimming animals. Certainly no guarantees and remember that luck will play a huge part this morning! We cross Yell Sound and head in to the north Mainland. Eshaness cliffs offer some of the best seascapes in Shetland and we will also have the opportunity to work with one of Shetland's rarest maritime plants - Oysterplant. We return to Sumburgh in the late afternoon and prepare for our farewell dinner. Overnight at the Sumburgh Hotel.

DAY 8  Saturday

After breakfast we'll transfer you to Sumburgh airport, or make arrangements for you to travel to your onward destination in Shetland.

Holiday Information 2009 Operating Dates

To gain maximum benefit from this trip we recommend:

• Body - a digital (6 mega pixels or more) or film SLR camera
• Lenses - wide angle fixed or zoom, telephoto lens preferably between 300mm and 600mm although a 100 - 400 would work well. A macro would also be useful.
• Teleconverters - 1.4x. 1.7x or 2x.
• Support - a good tripod is essential
• Flash - essential for Storm Petrels and useful for fill flash in daytime

We will be pleased to help advise you on the purchase of any equipment you do not already have. 

EXTEND YOUR HOLIDAY!

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