Birder in 'work' shocker...

Well I know it will come as a bit of a shock to some of you, but I've been busy at work for the last 5 days! Still managed to see lots of migrants though, but only in the form of Fieldfares and passage waders etc...

Yesterday I had 3 Waxwings hiding from the wind in my front garden, but as soon as they seen my ugly mush at the kitchen window, they scarpered! A Grey Wagtail was also the reward for me doing a few of my local WeBS counts.

Today I decided to try my luck with Unst. The bird of the day being a very flighty and elusive Shorelark. These are pretty good birds up here, as we don't get many, and the ones we do get are always on Lamba Ness. So finding one at Haroldswick was 'nice'... I did get a few crappy record shots, but they ain't anywhere near good enough to post here! so you'll have to take my word for it... Also had a flyover Lapland Bunting here too. The Grey Phalarope was still at Westing beach. (Thanks to Robbie B. for the directions, as I was heading to the wrong place!)

All pic's are taken with a really nasty 200mm lens, as Sigma are still holding onto my decent lens!

Rainbow over Fetlar;

Redpoll overdose!

Back on Unst today, but this time to try for better recordings of these 'Sibe' Chiffchaffs! but more on that later.

Good birds today included; 1 Arctic Redpoll, many (60+) Lapland Buntings, 2+ Sibe Chiffchaff, 10 Snow Buntings, 1 Lesser Redpoll (a good bird up here!), many Mealy Repolls and a few NW Redpolls too. It seemed like everywhere I went I could hear flyover Lap Bunts and Redpolls, and god alone knows how many of each were on Unst today!

Lesser Redpoll found skulking in a flock of 'Mealy' Redpolls;

More of these 'dodgy' looking Chiffs;

'Tristis'

I decided to try the top of Unst this morning, and by 'the top', I mean Hermaness Nature Reserve! certainly not for the feint hearted in this weather either. The rain was constant, and the visibility in the fog was negligible... It was a bloody hard job to find my way back to the car, never mind any wayward 'yank' Pipits or Waders!!!

After the soaking I received, my enthusiasm was a wee bit dampend, but I still decided to try working a few areas before heading home. Best I managed was Arctic Redpoll (BT's bird in Baltasound), 3 Sibe Chiffchaffs, 4 Lapland Buntings, 1 Merlin, lots of Mealy Redpolls and a couple of North-western Redpolls and strangest of all.... A Dunnock on Hermaness NR!

Sibe Chiff;

And of course a sonogram of the distinctive call. For anyone interested in calls... (The actual recording is a bit 'pants', so I've just included the sonogram instead)

Seemed like a good idea!

With gale force Northerly winds and heavy rain, I thought maybe a wee bit of sea watching might be the best idea today... After 30 min getting soaked and wind blown at Lamba Ness on Unst, me and my dog, decided to sack it off for a bit of 'passerine' birding instead. This proved slightly more profitable than the seabirds, with Lapland Buntings, Snow Bunting and Pied Flycatcher among other small birds seen on Unst...

Lapland Bunting, one of about 20 'ish' today;

Shetland Council road clean up squad;
A windy day on Unst;