Scatness moody sea

Hope you are enjoying the Shetland BBC1 drama, I think this is a good one. 

Down at Scatness the other day, a good place to go for stormy seas and trying out a new full ND Filter which allows slow exposures

Lots of good birds have visited Shetland in the past few weeks, including the Tengmalm's Owl see more at shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk

Also we have had a few good clear nights when the Aurora has shown , see shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

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Shetland Aurora Hunter
Shetland Clouds

More to come very soon

Tingwall, Shetland in the snow

Its amazing how quickly the weather changes in Shetland, people always say you can get 4 weathers in one day in Shetland

It wasn't that long ago we had snow and ice, which lasted a few days but now it has been windy but 11-12 degrees. I have now replanted two rosebushes 6 times, just hope the wind is not too strong in the coming weeks and give them a chance to get established

The landscape certainly changes when the snows come and all these photos were taken up the Tingwall valley

It was still very icy when I took a trip  and this road is notorious for black ice with cars in ditches most days

Wind turbines have been in the news again, this time the council decided to defer a decision on the Viking wind farm amendments until all the committee can meet this coming week. Its good to see a few councillors that might be against the wind farms. The MOD will stay have a big say on what goes on, they have already objected to this and the two proposed wind farms on Yell as it will interfere with radar in Unst.

It was great to see the new BBC1 Shetland Drama start last Tuesday , its getting a lot of support in Shetland and certainly draws the tourists. I was speaking to a group from America and they were raving about the last series which was available in the USA

The facebook group I started on Shetland Clouds is going very well, so if you are interested in joining just send me a request

The two courses on Digital Photography are already booked up so if you are interested you can join me this Autumn. The first one will be Night Sky photography in Lerwick, this gets booked very quickly so if you live in Shetland and want to attend then message me and I will keep you up to-date

Join me on my other blogs
shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk (Night sky, Aurora in Shetland)
shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk (Wildlife in Shetland)
ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk (WW2 in Shetland)

Scalloway, Shetland in the snow

Shetland had a bit of snow this week, nothing like the amount that the rest of the UK or the USA had.

 Normally it above freezing, but the chill factor has been down to -5 degrees which has brought ice to many parts

 Last night we went to photograph the Aurora but got snowed./ rained off. This soon froze and made getting back up the hill a but difficult

 Looking out this morning it looked as most of the snow had disappeared completely but in its place came black ice.

 (Memorial to the Shetland Bus, Main street at Scalloway)

 Within an hour a bus had slid off the road into a ditch and several other cars did the same and Sandwick school was closed

 I wasn't looking forward to driving over to Scalloway , especially when you have to go over Black Gaet always a very icy road.

 Taking it slow it was better than expected but in Scalloway there was still snow on the roads and ice on the pavements

 Scalloway always looks good in the snow, especially the castle, this one taken from the top of the Scord.

( Still icy on the pavement)

 In the afternoon the light is always very good and the clouds added to the scene (check out Shetland Clouds on Facebook)

#Scalloway, #Shetland, #Sandwick, # Aurora, #Scalloway Castle, #Shetland clouds, #Shetland Bus

The other Up Helly Aa, Lerwick

Last night marked the third Up Helly Aa (Fire Festival) this year, the first in Scalloway and second the junior Up Helly Aa in Lerwick

The weather last night was very cold and icy underfoot with fresh snow having fallen a few hours before.

Visitor came and watched, many from America, Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden, France and Spain to name a few

But this year I went to see the other side of Up Helly Aa, the displays in the shop windows around the town and they didn't disappoint. If you are coming to the next one spent a hour or two looking round.

It was good to see a large variation in the battle dress. Lots of shields, axes and helmets and a good number of small galley .

Its a time for celebration, the squads may have been out for 24 hours before the final event, a survivors breakfast served at a number of hotels. But virtually straight away work begins on the next Up Helly Aa in 2020.

On a different front, by October a new ferry company will be in place and who knows what they will offer. The plan is for more cabins, better freight service and generally more sea worth ships and hopefully the reduction in fares that they told us about a long time ago

For those that don't know, the new  BBC 1 Shetland drama starts on the 12 February and I cannot wait, the last series was a lot better and was more Shetland based than the previous one. Pity they don't include more Shetland people.

We are still waiting for new neighbours, they moved out the week before Christmas but the council have not been in as yet. We are fortunate that we don't have people living on the streets and the council lists are much smaller than down south.

I have just started a new Facebook group- Shetland Clouds, come and join us as well as on Shetland Aurora Hunter

#Shetland Aurora Hunter, #Up Helly aa, #BBC1 Shetland Drama, #Lerwick, #Shetland