Perplexing migrant passerines!

The title refers not to the 'identification' of migrant birds, but to the fact that there are migrant birds at all! The fact that we are getting NW winds, and have been for a while now, should mean that very few if any European migrants should be present! So the Common Rosefinch, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher and Willow Warblers I found on Yell this morning, were all a bit of a surprise...

Wood Warbler
Pied Flycatcher (a different bird to last week);

The 2 Ruff and 9 Bar-tailed Godwits also in Burravoe today, are probably the ones present now for a few days, though they are very mobile and well away from where they had been!

Twite numbers are still increasing around my patch too.

Twite;

Early mornings can be Ruff!

An early check of my patch produced a pair of Ruff in a newly cut silage field at 0630hrs. Unfortunately the sun was behind them, which made conditions for photography pretty tricky.

but thankfully they were still about later in the day for another attempt;
Else where in Burravoe, large numbers of Twite are gathering, and seem to have had a good breeding season locally.

and at least a few Arctic terns seem to have fledged this year, and are providing 'sport' for the local Skuas!

Something Special.

Today was time for something special. The first visit of the year to Fetlar, to look for the returning Phalaropes... and they didn't disappoint!

The idea seemed like a bad one, when at 7am the rain was lashing down and the wind was getting up, but I boarded the ferry from Yell to Fetlar anyway (I was having serious second thoughts...)

By the time we arrived, the sun was out, and the wind had all but gone, so down to the serious business of tracking down some of Fetlars good birds. Within minutes of arriving at Loch of Funzie (RSPB), the Phals were found right beside the road, and were performing to about 6 or 7 feet! In good sunshine, I couldn't fail to get good pics, and even managed to do a bit of sound recording too...


The sound clip is of a singing Skylark with a Black-tailed Godwit calling twice in the background.





Of course it wasn't just about Phalaropes. Fetlar also has some of the best numbers of other Shetland specialities too;

I also tried to photograph 'drumming' Snipe too... though not very well! (but you can get the idea though)

Migrants were also found today, and include; singing Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Whitethroat, and also singles of Whinchat and Swallow. There were 2 Common Terns in Burravoe in the late evening.

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!