Tealing a March

19th March

Green-winged Teal (Deryk Shaw)

A rather windy day (mostly from the SW), with heavy rain early on leaving the waterfalls in the Gully looking rather spectacular. The weather put paid to flights again (the last was on Monday morning) and the forecast for the next couple of days isn't looking great. My parents are due off on Friday, and are starting to get a bit concerned (I’m sure it is because they have other things booked, rather than being worried about adding to the badly sprained ankle and laryngitis they have accumulated so far!), but it’s been great to see them again and, as ever, they’ve proved a wonderful help in getting ready for the new season.

Bird news was fairly quiet today, although the Green-winged Teal became the first one on Fair Isle to be seen away from Da Water, when it relocated to the Parks.

Teal (left), Green-winged Teal (right) and, technically, Teal sp? (middle).

Speaking of the GWT, I’ve made a minor amendment to the Prediction Competition rules to take into account long-staying birds that arrive before the start of the competition (see the relevant page for details).

Iceland Gull yesterday (Deryk Shaw). Always nice to have around, but I'd settle for the white-wingers moving on and being replaced by some more summery stuff now.

Also, once you’ve completed your Prediction List, check out the Fair Isle MarineEnvironment and Tourism Initiative (FIMETI) website, which has now been completely updated.

The FIMETI News page contains details of the forthcoming stakeholders meeting between the Fair Isle community and fishermen's representatives on 24th March, plus some upcoming cultural and environmental events, including 'Da Fishing Hands' premiere of music and song on 23rd May and a Fair Isle Maritime Festival of supporting events from 22nd to 25th May. Also, the Clipperton Project is planning a scientific and educational expedition to Fair Isle in June.
FIMETI's latest annual newsletter 'Making Waves' - with full news and updates regarding Fair Isle's continuing quest for a Marine Protected Area - will be published on the Newsletters page of the website shortly.
If you would like to register your support the Fair Isle community and a marine protected area for the waters around Fair Isle, please do so via the website's Guestbook. FIBOT is proud to be a partner in FIMETI and Fair Isle's marine environment is of such importance to the island, we'd encourage anyone with an interest in the island to find out more about the project.