The Shetland Seabird Experience

At the beginning of June, ‘The Shetland Seabird Experience’ workshop hit the ground running, and we welcomed our first guests. One of those guests was Roshi, who visited all the way from Queensland, Australia. Over the years, Roshi has worked on some incredible seabird islands such as Macquarie Island and Willis Island, so naturally, visiting Shetland to see and photograph puffins was a must-do as she travelled around the UK. Over two days, we visited RSPB Sumburgh Head and Noss NNR, as well as various other locations around the Shetland mainland and had excellent views and photographic opportunities with Atlantic Puffins, Northern Gannets, Arctic and Great Skuas, Northern Fulmars, plus a whole host of other seabird species. Our day on Noss was particularly good, and as you can see from picture no. 6, the puffins were on top form. As we headed around the island to enjoy the spectacular views of gannets, upon reaching the top of the Noup we were amazed to find an Alpine Swift. It was the 2nd island record, the first being in 1994, and the 17th record for Shetland - a really rare bird. We had superb views of it as it hawked around the clifftops not too far from the tops of our heads, which was just amazing. All-in-all, it was a jam-packed seabird workshop and Roshi departed with thousands of images of puffins!

Here’s what Roshi had to say - “I had a whole month in the UK, spending time in England, Scotland, and all of Ireland, and I can easily say the two days on the Shetland Islands were the highlight of my entire trip. I love the outdoors and wildlife, and Ben had all the local knowledge and the best locations picked to maximise my short time there, which for me was catered around the gorgeous puffins. Even with the unpredictable weather, it was all such a wonderful experience. The only thing I'd change next time is staying on the island longer!”

Bookings for The Shetland Seabird Experience for 2027 and beyond are now available via our workshops page.