Birthday Birds!

Nothing spectacular to report yet, but a Redwing and 4 Blackcaps on morning traps hints that maybe a few things are on the move, as did the skeins of Pink-feet overhead.
There are three birthdays at the Obs today (two guests and me!) and a quick check of the birth dates for Ian, Craig and myself shows that some good birds turned up whilst we were making our first appearances: 1971 Pechora Pipit; 1976 Pallas's Reed Bunting (1st for Britain); 1981 Red-flanked Bluetail (1st for Fair Isle). Any one of those today would make for a very happy birthday indeed!

 Birthday Bird! After having surprised Tommy at Auld Haa by turning up in his garden on his birthday last week (and just for a second convincing him he'd found a major Shetland rarity!), this Magpie put in an appearance at Lower Stoneybrek for Neil's big day and showed up at the Obs this morning!

A spectacular display of Aurora on Tuesday night was visble from the bar and saw the sky dancing until at least 3am in one of the best shows on the island for years. Sadly it was beyond the capabilities of my camera to capture it and this is the best shot I got!