The autumn starts here?

21st September
A beautiful day on Fair Isle saw blue skies (with just a couple of showers!) and virtually no wind. The day started well, with 5 Lapland Buntings trapped in the Sheep Cru, one of which had been ringed on Fair Isle in late September 2010, a remarkable retrap record. Census revealed a total of 39 Lapland Buntings, along with the Pectoral Sandpiper still present on the South Harbour beach, whilst 3 Barred Warblers (2 at the Obs) and a Common Rosefinch (also at the Obs) were also new in, giving the day even more promise.
This promise was realised when Will found an Arctic Warbler at the Plantation in the early afternoon. Amazingly, whilst watching the Arctic Warbler, a Citrine Wagtail flew overhead and landed in Gilsetter before heading south down the island where it was seen at Barkland then South Harbour.

The 4th Arctic Warbler of the year for Fair Isle - just before it was flown over by the 4th Citrine Wagtail of the year for Fair Isle!



This 1st-winter Arctic Warbler shows off all its main identification features in the hand.

The numbers of other migrants were generally low, but the 5 Willow Warbler, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Garden Warblers, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler and Mealy Redpoll were all new in. So a good day all in all, but with the forecast looking promising for the next few days, perhaps this is just the start…