Cow of the day

Cow of the day, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Welcome to the latest feature of my blog: cow of the day. Every day I will take a picture of a new and fascinating cow. Only joking. Today has been overcast and drizzly so this was the only picture I could get. They were popular fellas. Right after I left a car stopped and I could hear a guy going 'moooo...' trying to get it to look up. Anyway the good news is I'm now on the Scottish mainland. Today I've clocked up the most northerly point on the mainland, Dunnet Head, which is empty apart from a lighthouse and some Americans. So you get a cow instead.

Hermaness

Hermaness, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

I tantalised you earlier with my sighting of a puffin, but I wasn't able to get a photo. Well, I'm making up for it now. There puffins were at Hermaness Nature Reserve. It's impossible to get around Unst without a car so the hostel warden gave me a lift up. The reserve is simply swarming with puffins, and they let you get extremely close. There's also gannets, and great skuas, which dive bomb you if you get too close to their nest. You're supposed to carry a stick to fight them off, but today I think I saw more skuas than you could shake a stick at.

Sheep and peat.

Sheep and peat., originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Most of the pictures I've posted so far make Shetland look a pretty romantic place. In reality, however, it's a very bleak, windswept landscape. It's covered in vast expanses of treeless peatland - with sheep. I think that's because they're the only animal that doesn't get blown over by the wind.

More wildlife

More wildlife, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Yes, they do have the ponies here too!