Early birds.

An dawn start today for a Tystie and Fair Isle Wren survey, but things didn’t go entirely to plan. The day began well when a female Sparrowhawk was ringed in the Plantation, but shortly afterwards a combination of falling in the Field ditch and a snow shower made me regret the decision to leave my jacket in the ringing hut. Still, despite the cool weather, the wind had eased for the first time in days, a few birds were around and in the end an enjoyable time was had by all!

Tysties really are great little birds, displaying groups were putting on good performances today, although the total was down on the previous count (probably due to the less than perfect survey conditions).

Numbers of migrants around the island were still fairly low, but at least there were some, a definite improvement following days of strong northerlies. Finch passage was led by an impressive Hawfinch that arrived yesterday and continued to show well today, with 18 Siskin, 2 Chaffinch, a Linnet (trapped at the Obs), and an increase in Twite (to 58) also noted.

Given the lack of tall trees to hide in the tops of, Hawfinches on Fair Isle tend to be easier to see than elsewhere.

The selection of other migrants today included 5 Lapland and a Snow Bunting, 3 Willow Warblers, 12 Chiffchaff, 13 Wheatear, two Dunnock, five Woodpigeon and 223 Meadow Pipits, with two White Wagtails yesterday.

Most Lapland Bunting sightings are birds in flight, but this smart male was quite cooperative at Da Water.

Visible migration included several groups of Curlew (with a total of 70 recorded) and corvids: with 16 Hooded Crows and six Ravens thought likely to be migrant birds, whilst the three Rooks and six Carrion Crows definitely were as they don’t breed on Fair Isle.

All of the regular seabirds are now around the colonies, with Puffins ashore in numbers this morning. These Shags are part of a sadly dwindling population of this species on Fair Isle.

 

Bonxie numbers reached 60 last week and birds are settling back into territories, so the next counts will be the breeding surveys that start next month.

Lingering birds included the Green-winged Teal, the White-fronted Goose and four Pink-feet (up from two last week), a Green Sandpiper (since 11^th), a juvenile Cormorant in South Harbour and a Kestrel (from 14^th).

The Green-winged Teal is usually loosely in the company of Teal, although with todays count of eight being the highest Teal count of the year so far, it's not always easy to form a flock.

Cormorant is a scarce, but regular, visitor to Fair Isle. The pattern of the bare facial skin on this bird seems to safely identify it as the commonest British subspecies 'carbo'.

Finally, some more Tysties to make up for the fact I didn't manage to photograph a single Fair Isle Wren today despite surveying them. With only 28 singing males counted it seems that some of them are keeping quiet until it warms up a bit (although the total number of pairs is usually only 30-40).

The North Wind Doth Blow.

Peregrines last nested successfully on Fair Isle in 2009, a pair this year have been seen mating, so hopefully 2012 will see some positive news for this magnificent raptor.

Stiff northerly winds slowed things down again, with the only new bird for the year being a Green Sandpiper for the last two days in Gilsetter. A (very) few migrants snuck in today, with three male Lapland Buntings at Skadan the pick of the bunch. Two Snow Buntings were also seen and a female Brambling was new, as the birds continued in a decidedly wintery manner. Thrush numbers declined, Robins briefly peaked at 20 yesterday, a Merlin and Carrion crow arrived but Wheatear counts were in single figures and, other than a new Chiffchaff, no real summer migrants arrived.
The male Green-winged Teal remained on Da Water, providing a lifer for Becki (returning for her 10th season of work at FIBO - welcome back!) and Gill and David (who were so taken with their visit to Fair Isle last spring that they are back as volunteers this year!).
Twelve Lesser Black-backed Gulls were counted, which is the highest count of the year so far, but a lingering 1^st-winter Glaucous Gull brought things back to the wintery theme. The Bonxie counts showed a rapid rise to over 60 yesterday, reminding us that the summer really is coming, but with a couple more days of northerly winds forecast, it might take a while to get here.

Birds at last!

Well, it’s been quiet. Thankfully today (Tuesday 10th) saw the wind in the east and some rather pleasant conditions that brought in a few migrants at last. Pick of the bunch were our first Willow Warbler of the year (on the same date as 2011) and a superb Long-eared Owl on a fencepost at Springfield. The first small thrush fall of the spring saw counts rise to 39 Song Thrush, 37 Redwing, 25 Blackbird, 14 Fieldfare and singles of Mistle Thrush and Ring Ouzel (with Will scoring a full house of thrushes on North census!) and associated with this were 13 Robin, 10 Wheatears, four Woodpigeon and single Brambling and Woodcock.

Bramblings are always nice birds, especially in the spring

Lingering birds included the Green-winged Teal (back on Da Water after an absence of two days, will it hang on for Becki’s arrival tomorrow?!), three Common Scoter, two Pink-footed Geese and a White-front (amongst the flock of Greylag which is remaining unseasonably high at around 160 birds).
Other sightings today saw Bonxie arrive in numbers for the first time (with 44 counted), 66 Common Gulls moving north and one each of Glaucous and Iceland Gull.

A Reed Bunting has been wandering around the island for at least a week, showing a particular fondness for the Obs garden.

Pick of a quiet week prior to today included our first Greenfinch (9th, with the same day also producing Shelduck, Merlin, Sanderling, Woodock, Collared Dove, Dunnock and two Linnet). There were also a Mealy Redpoll (5th – 7th), a smart male Black Redstart (until 7th), Short-eared Owl (6th), Sparrowhawk (8th) and the 7th produced a few birds with four Goldcrest, five Chiffchaff and six Snow Buntings. The 7th was also the first Fair Isle Wren survey of the year, although the dawn start had to be delayed a short while as we waited for the snow to stop! A total of 31 singing Fair Isle Wrens were counted, about the same as last year’s early surveys. The survey also produced 100 Eiders offshore, the first Puffins on land, two Iceland Gulls and the pair of Peregrines that have been lingering on the west cliffs were seen copulating!
With snow forecast for the end of the week, it might be a little while before there’s much else to report, but who knows – it’s spring and this is Fair Isle after all.

Today brought some heavy snow, with quite a lot lying this morning, although it had mostly melted by this afternoon as the sun came out. Census was tricky at times and generally involved enjoying the views rather than seeing any birds.

With the temperature dropping, the Obs garden has been busy. This Twite has been around since early March (when it was caught in the spiral trap): it was first ringed in Orkney in December 2009 and was also seen on Fair Isle in April 2011.

This Pied Wagtail has evaded the traps, but a series of photos of it running around in the garden revealed the ring number and showed it to have been ringed at the Obs in June 2010 (when it was aged as having hatched in 2009) alongside two juveniles, so it may well have been a breeding bird from the island. Pied Wagtails leave Fair Isle in the winter, so this bird has put in a few miles over the last few years.

Ravens weren't bothered by the conditions and seemed to actually be enjoying the weather!

Unusually for Fair Isle, the Ravens were in a flock, with up to 16 being rather sociable together.



Various seabirds were still on the cliffs, including these Fulmars which seemed nonplussed with the snow.



A Ringed Plover at North Light, looking as if it is wondering whether it may have been a bit hasty in its northerly migration.

The Green-winged Teal and Ring Ouzel remained today, there were also Jack Snipe, Iceland Gull and Chiffchaff, but otherwise it was quiet. Maybe tomorrow the calmer conditions will bring a few birds, if not there'll be an update in a few days when there's something to report!

Owl in a Day's Work

Dave Wheeler promised snow, and we got it today. Some heavy showers created the occasional white-out and there was even a small amount lying at times. More to come tomorrow we're told.

Today's star turn was this Long-eared Owl, trapped in the Plantation this morning. What a stunner!

A happy Jason rings his first Long-eared Owl, it was a very lively bird given to much bill snapping and attempts to claw anyone handling it!

The wintry conditions have obvioulsy held up most migrants (will we get a deluge when the winds change?), but a smart male Ring Ouzel was near the Plantation, a Linnet was new for the year and a couple of Robins and a Reed Bunting also suggested that a very few birds were still sneaking in.
The Green-winged Teal remained on Da Water, both the White-fronts continued to show well and the afternoon saw lots more auks return to the island, a reminder that spring really is on its way!

April Cools

A cold North-westerly wind and some wintry showers made the day not entirely pleasant and the birds were generally similar to recent days. The Green-winged Teal was again on Da Water, but was slightly more settled this time and everyone got better views. The two White-fronted Geese remained and there are still good numbers of Greylags, with 150 counted today.

A star with stripes. The Green-winged Teal (left) posing alongside a Teal and illustrating the main identification features.

A Lapland Bunting was the pick of the small stuff, just one Chiffchaff and very few thrushes remain - at least it will be obvious when we get an arrival of new birds! The wind may have been responsible for the arrival of at least three Iceland Gulls scattered around the island and a Lesser Black-backed Gull was also new in. The Bonxie count crept up to six, although most of these were offshore and with the forecast of Northerly winds and possibly snow in the next couple of days, it looks like spring is on hold for now.

Teal or No Teal

The balmy conditions have long gone as NW winds, low cloud and showers have brought weather more expected for this time of year to Fair Isle. After the previous mini-rush of migrants, things have slowed down a bit, although a smart male Ring Ouzel was at the mast on Friday.

Census was slightly delayed this morning as we waited for the snow to pass (only a flurry of a wintry shower really, but still not very pleasant) and was interrupted after only an hour or so by a call from Jason to say he'd found a drake Green-winged Teal on Da Water. Jason's been on good form so far this season and, impressively, this was the second Green-winged Teal he's found this winter following one on Holy Island before he got back here. This was only the second record of this American duck for Fair Isle following a male at the same place in 2009.

Despite running back from Wirvie to the Obs and jumping straight in the people carrier, the bird had gone when I got to Da Water, so it was back in the vehicle for a check round the other likely sites ...

Teal often head to the rocky shore around South Light, but searching there produced no sign of them, although this blue Fulmar was seen heading east.

Four Common Scoter also passed South Light, although these are probably lingering birds.

Will turned up a couple of White-fronted Geese at Upper Leogh, but there were no Teal here, at Utra or Meadow Burn.

Thankfully after a couple of hours helping weed and tidy up Vaila's Trees in the afternoon, a quick check of Da Water produced the Green-winged Teal with four 'regular' Teal, although it didn't hang around for long. 

Although I had brief views of it on the water, Susannah (who arrived from the Obs with my camera) only managed to see the Green-winged Teal as it flew away. It's one of these (honest) but would you count it on your Fair Isle list on these views?!

Other birds were generally thin on the ground today, with the highlights from the slim pickings being a 2nd-winter Iceland Gull and a Blackcap.