In September 2013 I made a trip which I had long wanted to do to Shetland and Fair Isle on a tour organised by Shetland Wildlife.  Our first day on Shetland coincided with a big storm but fortunately by the next day the conditions had eased just enough to allow us to fly on the little plane to Fair Isle which has the reputation as being one of the most exciting birding sites in the UK with many species first or only seen on this tiny island. We did not quite hit the best week for mega migrants, the following week would have been better, but it was a most enjoyable trip with excellent accommodation thanks to Tommy and Liz at the Auld Haa. Our second week was spent on the mainland of Shetland and on the more northerly islands of Yell and Unst in exceptionally calm and sunny weather. We hit an amazing fall of Yellow-browed Warblers, every thicket of cover seemed to hold one or two birds but by far the most spectacular birding experience of the trip was the sight of over a thousand Snow Buntings on the hillside above Skaw on Unst.