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!

'Nice'

The last two days have seen me busy with aspects of life other than birding... Yes I know it sucks, but life does seem get in the way of having a good time, even in Shetland during Autumn!

Still, I've managed to find a few 'nice', but nothing 'rare'. The totals for the last two days include; 15 Red Grouse (anyone had a bigger group in Shetland?), 1 Wood Warbler, 1 Redstart, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Willow Warbler (very pale bird), 2 Knot and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits.

Wood Warbler giving good head!;

Fat, dumpy brown bird on the moor;

A brace of Knot;

BBS

Woke today to a bright sunny morning (and total disbelief!), so decided to do my breeding bird survey before I have to go back to work again... All the usual suspects were singing, and I even seen an unexpected Knot. Don't reckon I'll get away with adding it to my 'BBS' though! It was even still in 'Winter' plumage.

The rest of the day was split between more Birding (with little reward), DIY (necessity) and writing my rarity submission for the Burravoe Bean Geese I found in Feb. I don't know who I feel more sorry for though, me for having to write this crap, or the poor sods who have to read it! At least I've got a few semi-decent pics of them (one below), so at least they can only argue about the ssp, and not whether they were 'Beans' or not!

Black Redstart

Out and about today, thanks to both a trip to the vet's for my dog 'Corrie', and doing my monthly WeBS counts. The trip to Bixter for the vet's, produced my first two Lesser Black-backed Gulls of the year. I know... I know, everyone else has seen lots by this time of year, but I wasn't trying, and I refuse to get excited about a migrant that will be everywhere in a few weeks time...

I also managed to photograph what is probably the same Black Redstart. This time at the crossroads in Burravoe. This time it looks to have a more pronounced wing panel, and perhaps is a wee bit darker? (prob just photographic effect?) This bird was also flighty, but not as 'manic' as the other times I've seen it!

The WeBS counts produced a total of 11 Bar-tailed Godwits, and 2 Knot, along with the more common stuff. The rest of the birds included 1 Robin (still) and 2 Chaffinch (still).

Not the 'Sound Approach'

Today's migrants included the Black Redstart (still, and still as flighty!), 2 Chaffinches (still), 1 Robin (still), 4 Knot (still) and 3 Wood Pigeon (New...yippee). So not a lot new today then! But it was good to see so many birds around, and a lot of new Pipits arriving too, although the poss 'littoralis' from a few days ago seems to have passed through. After getting photos of such a confiding 'adult' Shag a few days ago, it was good to get a confiding '1st Summer' bird today for comparison!

For anybody interested (there must be someone?), I've posted a couple of mp3 sound files at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. These include a recording of the 'First' fully documented 'moltonii' Subalpine for Britain (armchair tick some day?). A recording of Stormies from Moussa last Summer, and another couple of Shetland birds. I'm trying to make an online library (on this blog) of the many sound clips I've recorded, once I figure out the logistics of it.... As you all know, I'm not very technically minded and this is a bit of a challenge for me!

Knot a good day!

I know...I know, the headlines are getting worse, but my brain is still frozen and damp from my walk around 'patch'.

The high winds and driving rain/hail were always going to make today a challenge at best. After being trapped at work for the last 5 days, and finding two migrant Wood Pigeons at dusk while waiting for the ferry home last night, meant I just had to get out today regardless... I had been hearing what the other birders up here had been finding during the last few days, so I was determined to find out what I'd been missing in Burravoe. As it turns out, not a lot!



Despite the atrocious conditions, I still managed 4 Knot feeding in a field with the local Turnstones, 2 poss 3 Male Chaffinches (inc 1 in my back garden) and a Redwing. Not earth shattering, but a good indication that at last birds were trickling through Yell as well. the conditions in the next few days are meant to improve (poss more snow as well! Oh joy!) so hopes are high in Burravoe for more 'hot migrant' action. Fingers crossed...



(Genuine Rock Dove too....., none of the feral crap here!)