Five Olive!

15th - 16th October
With a continuation of winds from the east, it was no surprise that some new birds came in. Although the highlights amongst the arrivals on the 15th were limited to 6 Whooper Swans, a Common Sandpiper and a Rook, the 16th saw an increase in several species and a couple of notable highlights. A flighty Olive-backed Pipit at Schoolton was the rarest bird in national terms and continues an excellent run for this species on Fair Isle, with this being the fifth in 2012, matching the five seen in 2011.

Although perhaps one of the more expected rarities to occur on Fair Isle, it's still always good to find one of these beauties. After a tremendous autumn, this is the 36th BBRC bird to be racked up for Fair Isle in 2012. With another 16 or so local descriptions to be written as well it looks like we'll have plenty of work to do over the winter!

Rarer in a local context was the Woodlark first seen near Burkle, which then moved to Shalstane before relocating to the small roadside quarry at Dutfield. Other lingering highlights included the Lanceolated Warbler that was relocated in the Field Ditch, with the Great Grey Shrike and Great Tit both still present.

Species showing an increase in numbers today included: 9 Chiffchaff, 14 Blackcap, Garden Warbler, 24 Robin, 3 Grey Wagtail, 314 Brambling, 19 Chaffinch, 10 Greenfinch, 2 Goldfinch, Linnet, 117 Snow Bunting, 5 Jackdaws and 2 House Martins, whilst the first Little Auk of the autumn was seen by South Harbour.
So what next? With the easterly winds continuing I’m sure there’ll be more, but will it be something along the lines of Blue Tit, Treecreeper or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (all recorded in Shetland in the last week) or something more like Eastern Crowned Warbler or Rufous-tailed Robin (both recorded in western Europe in the last couple of days)? If part of the fun of birding is never knowing what will be happen next, then there can't be many more fun places than Fair Isle in late October in easterly winds...