Shetland Nature

Shetland Nature Birding, Wildlife & cultural heritage holidays/tours inspired by a lifetime of knowledge of Shetland

‘Shetland Spring Birding’Are you already starting to think ahead to spring, and the marvel of spring migration, or perha...
07/02/2025

‘Shetland Spring Birding’
Are you already starting to think ahead to spring, and the marvel of spring migration, or perhaps the beauty of the breeding season getting underway?
If so, we may have just the holiday for you! We have just a couple of spaces left available on this exciting itinerary, running Saturday 10th May to Saturday 17th May, 2025.

Holiday overview at a glance:

•New & improved itinerary & format – based in
Sumburgh, Hillswick & Fetlar
•Small group size – maximum 6 guests
Seven nights all-inclusive accommodation
•Timed to coincide with peak period for spring migration
Targeting Shetland’s iconic breeding birds & wildlife spectacles
•Be part of a team effort, bird-finding, skill-learning & wildlife-enjoying experience
•Learn new skills, including identification of common & rarer species & honing field craft skills

View full itinerary or contact us for more information:
https://www.shetlandnature.net/holidays/shetland-spring-birding/

Are any of these wonderful species on your photography wish-list? A week with us this summer on one of our ‘Shetland Sum...
03/02/2025

Are any of these wonderful species on your photography wish-list? A week with us this summer on one of our ‘Shetland Summer Photo-tours’ facilities encounters and opportunities just like these, focusing on these charismatic species and many more- and all in a small group of just three to four photographers.

You’ll also enjoy exclusively booked accommodation and your own private catering here in Unst, the most northerly island of the British Isles- the perfect base for your week-long assignment and visits to all Shetland’s all-star wildlife tractions and species.

Visit https://www.shetlandnature.net/photo-tours/shetland-summer-photo-tour/
Images; Puffin, Gennet, Red-necked Phalarope, (Brydon Thomason); Bonxie and Otter, (Josh Jaggard).

Great news to see Brydon Thomason and ShetlandwithLaurie books short listed for Scottish Nature Photography Awards. We h...
31/01/2025

Great news to see Brydon Thomason and ShetlandwithLaurie books short listed for Scottish Nature Photography Awards. We hope Shetland gets your vote with one of these!

Shetland Summer Photo-tours: fancy joining us this summer for a unique photographic experience? We have a couple of spac...
31/01/2025

Shetland Summer Photo-tours: fancy joining us this summer for a unique photographic experience? We have a couple of spaces left available on our July assignments. This week-long assignments are for small groups of just 3-4 photographers and offer an unparalleled Shetland experience and opportunities that are not possible with larger groups. Here’s a quick overview of these tours;

• based on Unst- enjoy sunrise/set shoots @ Hermaness
• time dedicated to Otter assignments throughout week
• Noss charter Shetland Seabird Tours - The Noss Boat
• hands on tuition and learning new skills & techniques
• exclusivity and personalised dynamic of just 3-4 guests
• learning the importance of fieldcraft & understanding
animal behaviour
•exclusive accommodation with private catering & flexible meal times

For more information visit https://www.shetlandnature.net/photo-tours/shetland-summer-photo-tour/
All images taken by guests last summer. credits; Puffin, Dick Van Der Ley; Gannets, Jerry Hughes; Red-throated Diver, Clive Finlayson; Otters, Anne Niven.

What an amazing last couple of days to our Up Helly Aa holiday, with Kate Humble and Jon Dunn. A superb day and night ye...
29/01/2025

What an amazing last couple of days to our Up Helly Aa holiday, with Kate Humble and Jon Dunn. A superb day and night yesterday for the festivities and the grand finale in the evening.

Massive shout to everyone who work so hard to bring this internationally renowned fire festival together.

Today, on our final day we enjoyed fabulous views of an Otter family, Mountain Hare’s and Red Grouse, not to mention the hospitality and lunch at and our chef (and her team) for the week, Jackie Leask.

And a special thanks to our good friend, Rebecca Nason for the use of her fantastic images.

Visit https://www.shetlandnature.net/holidays/shetlands-up-helly-aa-with-kate-humble/ to view the full itinerary or contact us on [email protected] for 2026 reservations.

Huge thanks to last year’s Delting Up Helly Aa Jarl, Daniel Johnson and his squad for their amazing hospitality last nig...
28/01/2025

Huge thanks to last year’s Delting Up Helly Aa Jarl, Daniel Johnson and his squad for their amazing hospitality last night at the Brae Galley Shed, where our guests enjoyed their own exclusive night with vikings! Such an amazing experience for our guests to actually meet members of a jarl squad and enjoy an exclusive evening with them and a fascinating insight into the traditions of Shetlands world renowned Up Helly Aa festival, through Delting UHA stalwart, David Manson.

This is just one of many unique experiences we have brought together for this unparalleled Up Helly Aa experience.

Visit https://www.shetlandnature.net/holidays/shetlands-up-helly-aa-with-kate-humble/ for more information and contact us if interested in 2026 dates.
Kate Humble Jon Dunn

This week we are delighted to welcome back Kate Humble to lead our ‘Shetlands Up Helly Aa’ tour which she is co-leading ...
27/01/2025

This week we are delighted to welcome back Kate Humble to lead our ‘Shetlands Up Helly Aa’ tour which she is co-leading with Jon Dunn. Although we look forward to plenty winter wildlife, this tour is much more of a celebration of our cultural heritage, particularly our Viking and Norse influence. So far, this exciting itinerary has featured a day on Shetlands Viking heritage, with archaeologist/historian (and crofter!), Chris Dyer; James Tait of Island Trails not to mention a music night with Maurice, Ella and Ewan and a photo of Kate last year with former Delting Up Helly Aa Jarl, Dwane Davies.
We have so much more in store and look forward to sharing the highlights over next few days.

23/01/2025

Hi folks. We (Espen Helland Photography & Orkney Nature) have had a cancellation on our Orkney Waves & Waders photography workshop this March meaning there is one place available with a 20% discount. If you or someone you know would like to join us photographing the dramatic seascapes of Orkney's west coast and waders on the beautiful beaches of Sanday then please follow the link for more information. Thanks everyone!

https://espenhelland.com/waves-and-waders-workshop

16/01/2025

Short-notice photography adventure! 📸✨

Join us from 3–6 February 2025 for an exclusive Hawk Owl photography tour in Finland. With a small group size of only 3–4 clients, this tour offers an intimate and focused experience perfect for dedicated photographers.

This winter has brought an exceptionally good situation for Hawk Owls, making it the perfect time to capture these stunning birds in their snowy habitat. Enjoy expert guidance and take advantage of this rare opportunity. Act quickly—spots are extremely limited!

Check the itinerary and details from here!
https://shop.finnature.fi/shop/owls-of-finland-hawk-owls-february-2025/

A sibling Otter squabble, captured by Brydon this week, here on the shores of Shetland. Whilst this family were out fora...
16/01/2025

A sibling Otter squabble, captured by Brydon this week, here on the shores of Shetland. Whilst this family were out foraging, mum powered towards the shore to deliver a Rockling she’d caught, this confrontation blew up as they raced to claim the prize!
An exhilarating and actually very typical scene when spending time with a Shetland Otter family during these short winter days. We thought we’d share it!

Are you a wildlife enthusiast, a lover of the outdoors and beautiful remote islands with rich natural cultural heritage?...
16/01/2025

Are you a wildlife enthusiast, a lover of the outdoors and beautiful remote islands with rich natural cultural heritage? If so, our flagship summer season itinerary is designed just for you! ‘The Shetland Nature Experience’ is a small group tour, running over a seven-night itinerary and includes all the islands star wildlife attractions. We run these holidays from late May through to early July and although several are already full, (or almost!), we still have spaces available, particularly on our May departures.
Why not take a look, hopefully we will share our amazing wildlife and beautiful islands with you soon!

https://www.shetlandnature.net/holidays/shetland-nature-experience/

Are you thinking you need some Otters in your year? Why not take a trip to Shetland, where our islands are home to the h...
14/01/2025

Are you thinking you need some Otters in your year? Why not take a trip to Shetland, where our islands are home to the highest known density of Eurasian Otter in the world. We have enjoyed the privilege of leading otter tours professionally now for almost 20 years, sharing them with thousands of visitors from all over the world. We’d love to do the same for you!

More information on the Otter watching experiences we offer at;

https://www.shetlandnature.net/otters/
Images Brydon Thomason

13/01/2025

TOUR UPDATE: ‘The Orkney Nature Experience’, led by the islands own Raymond Besant - Orkney Nature now only has two spaces left on each of the two itineraries, in May and June.

Email us on [email protected] for more information or to reserve these last spaces.

If you’re a photographer looking forward to the return of Atlantic Puffins to our shores, are you thinking of Shetland t...
13/01/2025

If you’re a photographer looking forward to the return of Atlantic Puffins to our shores, are you thinking of Shetland this summer? Here are a few ‘Tammie Norie’ images from Hermaness NNR, showing just a few examples of the exciting techniques and use of light you can experiment with during the golden hour at sunset. This is always one of our most popular assignments on our summer photo-tours and why we base our tours on Unst. If you fancy joining us, and finding out what other subjects feature in our itineraries, please visit https://www.shetlandnature.net/photo-tours/shetland-summer-photo-tour/
(All images, Brydon Thomason)

If you are a photographer and on Orkney on 12th March… 👍
09/01/2025

If you are a photographer and on Orkney on 12th March… 👍

And that’s the festive holidays over for another year! So we begin, one week into 2025 wishing you all a Happy New Year....
07/01/2025

And that’s the festive holidays over for another year! So we begin, one week into 2025 wishing you all a Happy New Year. We hope you enjoyed a wonderful time over Christmas. As we drew towards the end of 2024 we rounded up our season with a blogpost, summarising many of our highlights from the year. Visit our blog to read about the exciting year we had at
https://www.shetlandnature.net/2024/12/20/festive-greetings-and-seasonal-summary/
We hope Shetlands on your wish list and if so, we would love help you get the most out of your Shetland experience.

Image credits; Orca, Theo De Claremont; Otter family, Anna Niven; Gannets, Jerry Hughes; tour group at sunset; guests enjoying Orca, Jane Rogerson.

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