Full of 'flava'?

The American Goldie was still hanging about this morning, though he had moved about a mile closer to Burravoe (still not close enough for the garden list though!), and was a lot closer to the road as well, so helping nicely with the photography...

The real interest for me today though, were the 2 Yellow Wagtails in the field in front of my house. I managed to photograph one of them, but in these winds the views were very brief indeed. The juv/Fem individual was very mono chrome indeed, and the head looked 'capped' neatly with dark grey! Is anyone brave enough to guess ssp from this one crappy pic? For me it looks like a Continental 'flava'...

Also around my 'patch' today were 18 Bar-tailed Godwits (could be a record count for me on Yell!) and a few Willow Warblers. The weather is now closing in and starting to rain, so it'll all have to wait for tomorrow now!

The winds are getting up, and it's all good from the SE....

AGP.

All the hours working the South of Yell, finally payed off this morning. This good looking American Goldie, was found at Hamnavoe on the South coast of Yell an hour after setting out on my 'patch'. Being aware of how fussy the records committee can be, I thought I'd better get as many pics as possible to make sure it was accepted! I was told a while back by a very respected birder, that to get an AGP accepted, you have to "see the underwing colour"! and that "every 10 minutes or so, Goldies always lift their wings and stretch"... an hour later, and this bird hadn't, even though lot's of it's friends were doing this. Thankfully shortly after this, the birds then decided to fly the short distance to the shore for a quick wash, and it was then that I managed to grab a couple of flight shots (more luck than anything else!)...

Brownish underwing, compared to the Goldie;

And a pic of a Goldie too; just a shame the AGP didn't pose like this!

The rest of my area was checked after I'd enjoyed this bird. This proved that a lot was still arriving, even in the 60mph winds...

Totals today inc; 1 Common Rosefinch (new), 2 Spotted Flycatchers, 1 Knot, 3 Willow Warblers and a poss Barred Warbler that refused to show for me.

One of the Spotted Flys 'fresh in';

Stop Press...

A bit of late evening entertainment was had in Unst tonight, thanks to Mike P. who found this cracking Citrine Wagtail at Baltasound School. The light was truly awful, and the bird favoured the reed bed in which it seemed to go to roost just before 1900hrs. Still managed a few dodgy shots though... Just wish I had my sound recording equipment with me, as it was a very vocal individual!

The ferry back to Yell went via Fetlar, where I took a few pics of the sun setting...

On Tour

Did a full tour of South Yell, as I promised myself I would find a good bird today! Unfortunately the 'good bird' didn't want to be found, so I had to make do with 1 Greenshank, 1 Merlin, 15 Bartailed Godwits, 1 Willow Warbler and 2 Otters. So with few migrants about it was quite hard work keeping the momentum up to keep checking. The best bird today was the Greenshank, as it was only the second I've seen on Yell in about 5 years!

(Another handheld shot at 100th/sec shutter... not bad!)

An added bonus today, was the fact that I didn't try for the Brown Flycatcher! As it looks like it's done a runner... I also reckon it's a possible 'escape' anyway! My reasoning for this is;

1, Too early for a 'Sibe' mega!

2, It's not on Shetland!

3, Not a hope in hell of me actually seeing it!

4, Makes me feel better about the whole incident!

'Basking' in Sunshine...

After finding nothing of interest on my morning tour of the 'patch', I decided to use the unseasonably sunny weather to waterproof my garage roof (all 36 square meters of it!). It was while in the process of doing this (and covered head to foot in tar!) that Ian T, a neighbour and fellow wildlife enthusiast dropped by to let me know of a Basking Shark down at the pier. Being less than 100yds away from my house, and a tick as well, it seemed rude not to pay it a visit. The beast was quite far out by the time I got there and with a choppy sea and high wind, it wasn't an easy watch. But it was still well worth it for the experience, especially as it seemed quite a large individual. With bins and camera now covered in tar (no time to clean myself up first), I headed home to finish my work a happy man!....

At least I was happy until someone went and found a Brown Flycatcher in NE Englandshire.... (I missed out on the Fair Isle bird a few years back!) I can feel a plan coming together, involving another mega bash about in South Yell early tomorrow to find my own! As there is no way I'm leaving Shetland at this time of year!!!

Nightmare!

Total nightmare today! The day started well with a Barred Warbler on my morning dog walk, but then a lot of leg work for little reward! With a daily total of 3 Barred Warblers and a Common Rosefinch this might sound ungrateful, but when it seems that every one else is finding Arctic Warblers, and I covered what seemed like the whole of South Yell! Still there is always tomorrow as they say...

Update...

There are now a few young Kittiwakes joining the adults at the post breeding flock at Toft. These are always a welcome sight, but especially this year, as they have had yet another very bad breeding season in Shetland. (Got to be the most pretty juv/1st win Gull of all!)

The only other sightings of note lately, have been two very unseasonal Fieldfares (31 August!), and 3 Moorhens at one of the few breeding site for this species in the North of Shetland. I've also had lots of Otters as usual on my commute to work, but I've taken enough pics of them recently! With all these Easterly winds lately, I'm hoping Burravoe will produce the goods on my days off, and produce a nice Wryneck or similar for me! I also feel I must be the only birder in Britain who hasn't found a Lap Bunt recently!