Red-necked Phalaropes (inc video)

Lately, these wee birds are certainly proving harder to see!  They were seen by myself on almost every visit a few years back, but now they only seem to show every two or three visits!  Still plenty to see on Fetlar including Summer plumage GN Divers, Whimbrel, Arctic/Great Skuas etc, so always enjoyable even without the star performers! 

Not a fantastic video, but my first decent attempt at it!

Up-close and personal...

Just a few photos of the various wildlife in South Yell over the last couple of days!  Very cold temperatures and Northerly winds have stopped most of the migrants from passing through, so I've concentrated on the local species instead!

The local Black Guillemots have been very approachable, and extremely vocal, but thanks to the noise of the sea and wind, sound recordings are almost impossible...

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Dunlin

the 'carniverous' Sundew

In the 'Bag'

Well actually 'in the chicken shed' would be more appropriate!  This superb Black-headed Bunting was found inside a local crofters chicken house today!

Also a photo of a male Red-backed Shrike taken a few days ago!  A bit more wary than the Bunting!...

Very 'Tystie'

The local Black Guillemot's (or 'Tystie's) were performing very well this morning!  Constantly calling and chasing each other among the rocks of South Yell...  Also seen this morning was a migrating imm Glaucous Gull heading North, and a few Wheatears including a singing male!

Owl's part 2

The 'Shetland Catch' could only produce 10 Iceland Gulls this morning, with no hint of a Kumlien's never mind a Thayer's!!!, but the 2 Long-eared Owls once again made up for it by posing well!  A Merlin flying low over my garden was a welcome sight on my return home too!

Poser!

Cleans up rather well!....  This Glaucous Gull is the same bird as in the previous post (honest....), but looking a bit nicer today!

Also seen today; 2nd Winter Iceland Gull at Burravoe, and a calling GN Diver on the East coast of Yell.  The only sign of Spring in Burravoe today has been the first local LBB Gull of the year!



2nd Winter Glaucous Gull

2nd Winter Glaucous Gull

"There's been a murder"

Well I'm presuming the 'ex-Herring Gull' didn't die of natural causes!  Either way this Glaucous Gull on Yell seemed to appreciate the meal...

3rd Winter's.....

Another dose of gull watching at 'The Catch' again found the usual collection of Iceland Gulls, but also included these three 3rd Winter's, two of which had faint markings in the primaries...  I reckon these birds demonstrate only well marked Iceland's though, as neither showed any other features of Kumlien's....  anyone care to comment either way?

bird 1

bird 2

and a good clean Iceland;

Gulls, Gulls, and more Gulls.....

On a wet and windy Shetland day, I could think of nothing better than a trip to 'Shetland Catch' to see what was hanging about!  I wasn't to be disappointed either, with 2 Kumlien's types, 29+ Iceland Gulls, 1 Glaucous Gull.  As a bonus, the 4 Long-eared Owls were still hanging about in Lerwick too...

2nd Winter Iceland Gull

2nd Winter Iceland Gull

1st Winter Iceland Gull

1st Winter Iceland Gull

Adult Iceland Gull

Adult Iceland Gull

Adult Iceland Gull

Adult Kumlien's Gull

1st Winter Gaucous Gull

1st Winter Greater Black-backed Gull

Adult 'argenteus' Herring Gull

Mean looking 'argentatus' Herring Gull

Long-eared Owl

Below are a few photos of the LEO's that have been resident in Lerwick over the last few weeks......  These individuals are certainly the most photogenic Owl's I've ever seen!

Iceland and Kumlien's Gulls.....

This winter has seen a large influx of White-winged gulls to Shetland. Unsurprisingly they have predominantly been Iceland Gulls like these photographed in Lerwick.....

Adult Iceland

2nd Winter Iceland Gull

With a huge invasion of Iceland Gulls, it was perhaps not surprising they were accompanied by various Kumlien's type gulls.....

Adult and 1st Winter Kumlien's Gulls

3rd Winter Kumlien's Gull

I've added a gallery of the various Kumlien's Gulls to the 'pages' section on the blog.  Just click the link in the sidebar or click here;  Kumlien's Gallery  Any comments on the age or id of these bird is very welcome! 

Guess what.... It's still bloody cold!

It's been a while since my last post, but as you may have guessed, there ain't been a lot of action in this crappy weather we've all been having! The highlights have been; c. 40 Snow Buntings, 3 Jack Snipe, 5 Red Grouse, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits and quite a few very good views of Otters.... Unfortunately the weather hasn't been all that good for photography, and this is the best I could do with the local Otter (just a wee bit of light would have been nice!!!)

Otter in the dark...

On a slightly different note... I know we all have to 'start somewhere', and 'we all make mistakes' etc etc, but I seen this quote on a well known Internet identification forum, and couldn't believe what I was reading... "My immediate thought was Sparrow but it seemed a bit dark and chunky so perhaps Peregrine?"..... and I thought I had problems!!!

Dam it's cold... Part 3

OK... OK... I know the title lacks imagination, but it's still bloody cold here!

As far as birding is concerned, this cold snap has had it's good side though, as species that are normally very hard to see, are a bit more obvious as they have fewer places to hide! This helped me get a 'patch' record of 4 Jack Snipe today, along with copious amounts of Common Snipe and Blackbirds. Not sure if these are just local harsh weather movements, or refugees fresh in from Scandinavia? Also seen today; a hunting Merlin and the usual Otter. Not a bad day concidering I never even made it out of Burravoe!

I've had better Jack Snipe photos, but this was all I could manage today;

Dam it's cold... Part 2

In the last few days, South Yell has seen temperatures just below freezing, with quite heavy snow fall and bitterly cold winds. This weather combination has made birding less enjoyable, and more of a challenge! But as always I'm up for a challenge, and I've been out and about (dragging my poor dog behind me as well!) and still managed to see a few nice birds (for this time of year!... any birds are good). Highlights for me are the 2 Mealy Redpolls, 1 Water Rail, 13 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Robins and 'strangely' 7 Pheasants!!!

This Water Rail was quite confiding, but the light was crap, so shutter speeds were down to as low as 1/50th sec, and the iso between 800/1600... not ideal, but still managed some semi-decent results!