Shetland: a case of bad timing (late August 2021)

The fact that I almost missed the boat to Shetland (from Aberdeen) set the tone for the rest of the trip: I dipped on most of the rarities or gave up looking, only for them to be re-found the next day. The Long-tailed Skua had left the week before, as had the Orcas, and the winds were light northerlies all week, so rare birds were thin on the ground. Even the Wryneck that would have been nice disappeared despite me arriving about an hour after it had been reported. I did connect with the American Golden Plover and eventually got Otter - at the eleventh hour, I was pleased with no fewer than 5 Minke Whales (all self-found) and got photos of these, as well as some really nice Risso's Dolphin (self-found), White-beaked Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise. Waders proved especially photogenic (Pool of Virkie especially), as did the numerous Red-throated Divers (captured largely in post-breeding parties on sea lochs), but on the whole it was all too much like hard work - all down to bad luck and poor timing. I couldn't be bothered with the B-w Pratincole over on Fetlar (a bird I'd seen before anyway), Yell and Unst seemed dead when I went there (but the scarcities were still there apparently), and the one bird I'd hoped to see (Arctic Warbler) landed on the wrong island - Fair Isle!. Twitching anything was tough-going - due to a lack of birders, late reporting and impossibly vague directions. I ended up taking some quite pleasing shots of scenery and wildlife, but that hadn't been my primary objective... hey ho!