New Year in Shetland

 Happy new year to one and all. For Shetlanders it was a quiet one with most people staying at home, we didn't hear  any fireworks this year which was surprising. Down in Sheffield we skyped Diane's sister and had a great display for over 20mins, very loud and colourful

I headed down to the beach, one of the great delights living in Shetland having been 70 miles from the coast before moving here

The weather has been stormy to stay the least and tonight (Monday) we are having around 60-70mph winds with torrential rain and a few snow showers. We are on a yellow alert for flooding tomorrow although people up north have said some coast roads are nearly impassable due to debris.

Snow and server gales expected for next few days as well and freezing temperatures. This is to be expected and it can create dramatic light and clouds

I am always amazed how some people don't even prepare for a visit to Shetland. I had a request on Facebook- Shetland Aurora Hunter asking for the best way to get to Shetland. He set off at 4am this morning, didn't even know where to catch the ferry or how long it would take. He had also not booked any accommodation and was only planning a 3 day visit.

He posted late to today and has ended up at Thurso in northern Scotland, not taking a right towards Aberdeen. He would have missed the ferry anyway as it set off 5 hours early due to stormy weather conditions, he made the best choice, i wouldn't like to be on that ferry.

So my plans for this year are coming together, having had a success with my `Shetland Aurora Hunter' book selling 500 copies i now am writing another book, this time on Shetland Puffins and this should be out late April. I have already been booked for a few illustrated talks in Shetland and on the mainland, which i always look forward to doing

I also wrote several articles and sold lots of prints and canvas so hope to repeat that and also continue to have photos published in magazines and newspapers

I hope that the wildlife continues to thrive, the seabirds seemed to have been recovering but the recent wrecks of Puffin and Guillemot are concerning to say the least (More to come on shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk)

Humpback whales are increasing and we had 15 in Shetland waters last month which is great to hear. Anyway i hope to keep on photographing and running photography courses, all booked up for Learn Shetland this session up to June.

Hope you are enjoying the photos , more to come this year. All these photos are from a trip down to Quendale bay in the south mainland.

Check out Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook, already 6800 members and growing each week. 

Blogs

Shetland sfp.blogspot.co.uk

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Have a good year where ever you are and stay safe