Posted by Brydon Thomason on Tuesday 9th June 2015 | News

What a treat for the nation to see BBC Springwatch back in Shetland. I’m sure I speak for all here in the Isles and also fans of the show both old and new, when I say what a great job they have done to showcase some of our very best wildlife spectacles. Of course this must also be said for their journey throughout this whole current series and what they brought to our screens from Caithness and Orkney especially. Huge praise to the crew and all involved in the show throughout, especially Malcie Smith and John Campbell here on Shetland.

Hi Brydon, Thanks very much for such an enjoyable time on Unst. The wildlife and people are memorable and really made my time up there special. You know you’ve had a good day when icterine warbler, great reed warbler, red-backed shrike, otter and frog orchids are finished off with a pint of real ale from the Valhalla brewery! All the bestIolo Williamswww.iolowilliams.co.uk
BBC Springwatch presenter

It was a real pleasure to meet the crew and help out with some ground work, local knowledge and to have some of our purpose built hides used. It was especially good for our newest team member, Josh Jaggard (working with us this summer), who worked as an assistant to wildlife cameraman Raymond Besant for a few days on Unst while he worked on Bonxie’s, aka Great Skua.

We wanted to film the fantastic Bonxies on Unst, the third largest colony of the species in the world, whilst filming for Springwatch. They are brilliant to film, said to be the apex predator amongst the islands birds, displaying lots of different behaviour. But doing it well means getting close to them and shooting at a range of different locations.
We were able to get fantastic footage with the help of Brydon Thomason and Josh Jaggard from Shetland Nature who showed us their best locations. The purpose built hide where Bonxies gather at bathing club site was especially great. I was barely in the hide when they started landing in front of me, just 5 meters away! I’m used to working in small cramped cold hides, so to sit in a chair in a warm dry comfortable hide was a real pleasure. Even more so as a group of 50 Bonxies displayed, washed and fought with each other allowing me all the shots I needed.Raymond Besantwww.raymondbesant.com
Wildlife cameraman
BBC Springwatch presenter

A great time had by all; a picture of the crew, myself and Josh as well as the staff at the Baltasound Hotel all together celebrating their time on the isles and the last night of them being together on Unst.