Well today was surprising. I found a drake Surf Scoter (BBRC rarity) about 200-250m off Brough Lodge pier.
It wasn’t until I started checking my photographs that I realised the ‘other’ duck with it was also a Surf Scoter!
It’s the first ever record for a pair of these rare ducks seen together in Shetland.
Result! Amazing looking beasties, too 
Now you just need them to nest…
Lol, that would be a first for the Western Palearctic. 
They were a tad closer today
Let’s hope these stay unmolested
Bang on schedule, the Red-necked Phalaropes have started to arrive. Great viewing conditions in bright sunshine although the cold Northerly breeze is still present.
Don’t think so, tail was flat across rather than V shaped.
I don’t think so, the tail as broad, flat across the end and, I think, reddish.
Can’t be 100% from the pic but it looks like a Red Kite. If the tail is spread it often doesn’t look forked.
Loads of red kites round here, so that was my first thought, just didn’t look like one - seemed quite a bit larger than the ones I normally see. Maybe just because it was so close…
I’ve tried to lighten the image in Lightroom but there’s a limit to what you can achieve from a phone pic
Definitely a Red Kite
That’s a Red Kite not a Marsh Harrier
And that’s a Marsh Harrier, not a Hen Harrier
Never believe the internet 
They were both my mistake.
Just used the wrong headings v picture.
