Migrants!

The east wind had indeed brought more birds; it was by no means a massive fall, but a scattering of migrants included three Icterine Warblers, two Bluethroats (both females), two Red-backed Shrikes (both males), Marsh Warbler, Quail, Crossbill and a stonking male Snow Bunting. Sadly, as I was censusing the more exposed North of the island, I managed to miss all of these birds! Hopefully being in SE tomorrow will help me to catch up with a few goodies. The winds are set to go to the SW, which isn’t so good but I suspect that one or two late arrivals from today will emerge at some stage tomorrow.

As I didn't see any of the scarce migrants, here's a picture of two of our resident birds (Peregrine and Arctic Skua) getting to know each other.

Speaking of new arrivals, Charlotte our new domestic volunteer arrived on the Good Shepherd today, which is always a lively introduction to Fair Isle! Charlotte will replace Gillian who we will all be sad to see go as she has been a welcome addition to the team during the last few weeks. As well as doing a grand job of the cleaning and domestic jobs around the Obs, Gillian has managed to knit a Fair Isle hat during her time here – no mean achievement and well worth the round of applause she received from the islanders at tonight’s social event.

Rock and roll: the Good Shepherd arriving at Fair Isle today. Two Stormies and a couple of Blue Fulmars were seen from the crossing, possibly attracted by the 'chum' provided by a couple of the passengers!

Well, I'd best get some sleep and, as ever, we head to bed wondering what tomorrow will bring...