Exciting arrivals

It's been a flurry of activity at the Obs recently, although the birding has been ever so slightly quieter in recent days. There has been a male Eastern Subalpine Warbler feeding on the lawn for most of Friday afternoon, so we can't complain and other highlights have included a Quail flushed from the unlikely setting of the rocks of Buness. There has also been plenty of other things to keep us busy.

The Eastern Subalp abandoned the Obs plantation for the day to spend most of its time feeding on the lawn, not a bad view from the office window!

The water tank was replaced earlier in the week, with the whole operation going relatively smoothly - many thanks to Deryk for helping out. Deryk is possibly the only person in the world who fully understands how the heating/hot water/electric in the Obs works and, although he is very busy running the croft at Burkle, his (and Hollie's) continued help is proving invaluable. Hollie also had a couple of shifts in the kitchen this week as our search for a cook continues, although we were very pleased with a visitor comment this week that the food was 'the best they'd had in Scotland', a worthy compliment for Chris and the rest of the team's hard work.

The Good Shepherd's run into Lerwick provided a wealth of interesting deliveries, with bird rings, mealworms, a toilet training seat and a laptop meaning that there was something for everyone (although I'll leave it to your imagintion to work out who got what). The other arrival was the cruise ship Quest which dropped off around 30 people on the island on Thursday who were all happy with seeing Puffins, Fair Isle Wrens and the Subalpine Warbler, along with a display of Shetland crafts and local interest.

The big question (for us at least, although I appreciate it may not be of interest to you all!), is whether my parents will make it in for Grace's birthday (they're due on the Saturday afternoon flight)... Hopefully the current SE winds and rain will do just enough to bring some birds in but not enough to stop the planes!