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

Fetlar folly!

Phalaropes 3, Dougie 1...

That's the score so far with my day trips to Fetlar (only one sighting out of 4 visits!). So what's happened to these wee birds this year? It has been quite a cold Summer with a lot of Northerly winds, so maybe they are indeed struggling? With a bit of luck they are just hiding out in the long vegetation...

So with no Phals, it was time for plan 'B'. I'd always wanted to get some decent sound recordings of the Arctic Skuas and Whimbrels, and with a good population of both on Fetlar, it seemed like a good opportunity. The only slight fly in the ointment was the strong breeze... Not ideal, but I did manage some recordings. scroll to the end of the post for the sounds...

Arctic Skua;

Whimbrel;

Moorland sounds;

The day that didn't happen!

Well it was back to Fetlar today, and it just goes to show what a difference a couple of days can make!

Best bird on Fetlar this morning was........... wait of it......................................A Chiffchaff............... you can stop laughing now!

The Phalaropes that performed so amicably a few days back, decided they had other things to do today, than perform for the visitors! We did find a Black-tailed Godwit and a Merlin too, but that was about it.

From there we hit the South, for a bit more birding, but enough of that for now...