'corax' karaoke?

Recorded this Raven on Yell today. Now the unusual thing about this bird, is the fact he seems to be trying to do the corvid version of karaoke. All the clicks etc are coming from the same bird!



Apart from vocal corvids. Today had me checking various areas, and produced; 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 18 Barnacle Geese, 1 Pied Flycatcher and lots of Siskin, Brambling, Chaffinch, Blackcaps etc... Not too bad, but there must be a good 'Yank' out there somewhere!

Jack!

My local patch failed to turn up anything 'rare' today, but it made up for that with stunning views of this Jack Snipe (the 3rd this Autumn). This bird was watched bobbing along as it fed next to the waters edge, and then sat tight as I got closer for photos. I was even knee deep in the loch when these pics were taken! The weather today has not been good for photos, and I can only imagine how much better these shots could be with a bit of sun and less wind. The bird was still there when I left, so maybe tomorrow?...

The bird list for today stands at; 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 1 Wood Warbler, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1Willow Warbler and 3 Goldcrest.

Island tour...

The last two days have seen me cover what is essentially the whole of Yell (and a bloody big place it is too!). On Tuesday I covered my local patch and the Southern half of Yell, and today I decided to see what the Northern half had to offer, after working my patch in the morning. The two day totals are below;

2 Yellow-browed Warblers, 27 Brambling, 1 Wood Warbler, 1 NW Redpoll, 1 Knot, 2 Chiffchaff and 4 Goldcrest.

I've resisted the temptation of twitching the Buff-bellied Pipit at Eshaness so far, although when I look at the fantastic photos of it, I'm left wondering if it was the right thing to do? I did get pics of the Fair Isle bird, though they are probably best left off the Internet, due to them being total crap!

NW Redpoll;

Female Brambling;

A 'windy' recording of a very vocal Wood Warbler;

On a positive note... Fair Isle did get another Wood Duck today (sound like a young bird too)! So can it be long before the BOU have to accept this onto the 'British list'? Everyone who seen the Shetland bird in April 2009 should have fingers crossed!

A very 'wild' looking Wood Duck on Shetland 2009!

PG Tips...

A rather manic couple of days, with plans made, and plans canceled. Then more plans made in haste, and a good dose of hard work and a bit of luck thrown in as well!

I'll not bore you all with the details just now, but it all started with Dave F. finding a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler on Fair Isle, and lots of other good birds were managed on the way! I've listed the better birds seen in the last two days below, with a few pics of some of the more accommodating ones;

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler
Buff-bellied Pipit
Citrine Wagtail
Arctic Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Lapland Bunting
Barred Warbler
Curlew Sandpiper
Jack Snipe
Peregrine
NW Redpoll
Tree Pipit
Snow Bunting
Brambling

PG Tips 'posing' as a good bird should;

My customary head shot;

and a few nice profile shots;

'voyeuristic' shot
This Arctic Warbler was photographed 'almost' in the dark at Sumburgh Head!;

Yellow-Browed Warbler on Fair Isle was quite 'showy';

Rather 'grumpy' looking Barred Warbler;

Local ssp of the 'Fair Isle' Wren;
and surprise of the day was this local ssp of the 'Fair Isle' Field Mouse;
A big thanks to all the wardens and ranger on Fair Isle, Direct Flights and of course 'Crazy' Dave...

24 hours...

The last 24 hours in South Yell have been quite enjoyable! Before I describe it, I must apologise to anyone who is hoping for good photos... this is not the right website for you!

Got a call late last night about a 'horny' Arctic Redpoll in West Yell, so a mad car dash, seen me catch a few minutes with this lovely bird just as it was getting dark. The pics were taken at iso 1600 and 100th sec, so basically crap!

Arctic Redpoll (looking more 'sleepy' than 'horny')

This morning seen me out before 7 o'clock, and by 7am I had a Barred Warbler on my 'patch', and it wasn't even fully light yet! Then within 15 minuites I flushed a Citrine Wagtail from a muddy pool at the local farm yard. This bird called a few times as it flew across the road and into some muddy tractor tracks. This is where I managed a few really crap record shots, before it decided to fly to the other side of Burravoe and vanish!.... Only to turn up again very briefly this evening!

Lack of light, and distance were never a good combination for photos!

The rest of the birds seen today include; Yellow-browed Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Whinchat and a poss Jack Snipe flushed while looking for the Cit Wag again!

Yellow-browed Warbler trying to hide;

Why can't all birds 'pose' like this Whinchat?