Ticking along nicely

10th September

It's always nice when office work is interrupted by a Red-backed Shrike just outside the window.

A relatively quiet spell as westerly winds kicked in (and were rather strong by 10th), although a Fair Isle ‘quiet spell’ can still see a few good birds and so it proved, with new arrivals on 9th lead by a Barred Warbler at Schoolton and Red-backed Shrike at Field Ditch and 10th headlined by an elusive (but quite vocal) Little Bunting at the Chalet (our earliest autumn arrival since 1997) and an Icterine Warbler near South Harbour. The Subalpine Warbler was still present to 9th at least, whilst other lingerers included Red-backed Shrike at the Obs (so two were present on the island on 9th-10th), 2 Common Rosefinch still at Kenaby and Lapland Buntings (which increased to 10 on 9th). A Pintail on Utra scrape briefly on 10th and 2 Little Stints on the same day were also worthy of note, but mostly the last couple of days have seen a decrease in most migrants, with only a few dozen Wheatears remaining and Meadow Pipits down to a ‘mere’ 363 yesterday. Today has started calm and with drizzle, it’s not ideal conditions, but the first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year pitched up on Shetland yesterday and there could well be one or two birds lurking out there today.

8th September

8th September

Several people have asked about Storm Petrel ringing recently. After discussions last month with the BTO, it was agreed that we would continue to catch Storm Petrels no more than once a week (and without the Swinhoe’s tape being played) for the duration of the normal Storm Petrel season. Now that we have got to the second week of September that season has come to an end, so there will be no more Storm Petrel ringing sessions this year. We hope that all visitors to the island this autumn will understand and respect our statement on this, which has been agreed in consultation with the BTO Ringing Unit and Chair of Ringing Committee.

Now for the bird news: there is no news. Well, that’s not strictly true but, although the autumn is well and truly upon us, it is fair to say that yesterday was not quite what we were hoping for. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very pleasant day’s birding, but there were seemingly few new arrivals despite the apparently good conditions.
I was fortunate enough to be in South-west census, which seemed to hold the bulk of the limited number of migrants, but the totals for the whole island were fairly scant with just 2 Redstart (the first of the month), 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 4 Garden Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 3 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Whinchat, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Swallow and 6 Siskin. There was also an increase in alba Wagtails, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit (690), Rock Pipit (111) and Twite (238).

Some migrants had increased in numbers slightly, such as Spotted Flycatchers, but generally it was surprisingly thin pickings.

The highlights were mostly lingering birds, with a Red-backed Shrike still at the Obs, Subalpine Warbler still at North Shirva, 4 Common Rosefinch (one up on the previous day) and 9 Lapland Buntings.
Technically, the bird of the day was Little Stint (the first of the year), with birds seen at North Haven, Barkland and South Light (although possibly just one individual was involved in all the sightings).

The long-staying Subalpine Warbler (it first arrived on 5th July and is now the longest-staying Subalp in Fair Isle history) has now started showing a bit better, usually around North Shirva. It has comfortably outstripped the stay of even 'Albi' the eastern Subalp, who remained at the Obs for around 5 weeks in spring 2011.

A small number of Common Rosefinches are now roaming the island. 

The other birds of note were the first Red-breasted Merganser for a while, a blue Fulmar circling in Grey Geo and the 2 Tree Sparrow that have been with us for the whole summer (although sadly there is no sign of any youngsters!).

The clear waters around Fair Isle attract a few people in for a swim

As we’re into westerly winds now, it seems likely that it will remain quiet for a while, but one of the great things about birding Fair Isle is that you just never know…

Here we go...?

7th September
A relatively quiet day on 6th was enlivened by an Arctic Warbler at Pund which proved to be the third individual of this species in three days! The other highlights of the day were a Red-backed Shrike at the Mast that was presumed to be the same bird that was seen later at Field ditch and three Common Rosefinch, with one at the Obs and two together at Midway (one at Shirva was presumed to be one of these two, but could possibly have been a fourth bird). The Subalpine Warbler was also still present, whilst a Merlin was newly arrived.

The Arctic Warbler at Pund showed a lot better than the somewhat elusive bird the previous day on the cliffs near North Light. Plumage details indicate that this was a new bird (and yesterday's individual seemed to have an injured right wing).

Bird movement started early on 7th, when at least 4 Greylag were calling so noisily as they circled the Obs at 1.45am they woke every staff member on the east side of the staff corridor! By the start of census though, the strong North wind had brought light drizzle and poor visibility as fog dropped over the hills, with very few birds noted. In the South-east census area I had managed brief views of a Common Rosefinch at Burkle and a Whitethroat at Haa, but otherwise was completely migrant-free, with similar stories from South-west and North. Combined with a cack-handed attempt at jumping a ditch in Boini Mire that left me with boots full of water and dropping my notebook down the cliffs of Meoness (where it thankfully landed in a rescue-able area of the South Harbour beach), it seemed like one of those days. A Siskin coming in off the sea at Klinger’s Geo raised hopes that things were about to kick off (I was desperate for any positive signs!) and when I ran the Gully trap on the way back to the Obs there was a Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Blackcap and 2 Siskins in there! As the wind eased and the fog eventually lifted in the late afternoon, it became clear that this wasn’t a remarkably localised fall; there were migrants starting to appear around the island. An hour or so chekcing the crofts before dinner produced: 14 Willow Warbler, 5 Garden Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Whinchat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher and 9 Siskin, whilst another Common Rosefinch around the traps may have been newly arrived.

This Blyth’s Reed Warbler was a surprise find in the Gully, although it has now occurred for five consecutive autumns on Fair Isle, with this bird being about the 35th for the island (subject to acceptance and the acceptance of a couple other birds still under consideration).

With the wind now in the east and tomorrow looking set to be a pleasant day with the wind still from the right direction, there is a real sense of anticipation buzzing around the Obs tonight, so let’s see what happens…

Arctics on a Roll

5th September
Another pleasant day's birding, with the North grabbing the lion's share of the best new birds. Top of the pile was an Arctic Warbler on the cliffs between North Light and Kirn o'Skroo (on a section of cliff that, remarkably, seems not to have an official name - although North Hol o' Kristal Kame would probably be close). Richard discovered this elusive beasty just before lunch and, although it could go missing for long periods, it showed well at times. Crucially, it showed well enough that the abscence of a ring was noted - so it was obviously not the previous day's bird.
Two Barred Warblers in the North (including a showy bird at the Obs) were also new in, whilst the day's roll call also included Corncrake (flushed from Furse, so another one for Richard in the North!), Common Rosefinch (at the Obs), the male Western Subalpine Warbler (I think they're just about split now...), 2 Icterine Warblers (Double Dyke and Stackhoull), 4 Lapland Buntings and a Wood Warbler at Upper Stoneybrek (the first of the autumn).
Counts of some migrants increased slightly with 4 Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Sedge Warbler, 5 Pied Flycatcher,  5 Cormorant, Kestrel and Woodpigeon all noted, whilst the impressive Meadow Pipit passage of the last week or so saw numbers rise to 976 today! There were also 9 Storm Petrels seen from the Good Shepherd (in Fair Isle waters).
The prediction for the east coast to keep a look out seems to have been a reasonable one as the Farne Islands scored a Yellow-breasted Bunting (see photos here), reminding me of the last bird there in 2003, which I missed as it turned up on the day I was travelling back to the islands from holiday. Formerly a 'Fair Isle special', with virtually annual records (there was only one blank year in the 1980s and 1990s), the decreasing European population has seen records drop off alarmingly and, since 1999, there have only been records on Fair Isle in 2001, 2003 and 2006. Another factor that may have had an impact on Fair Isle records are the much smaller number of oat crops grown on the island now, making an YBBs that do turn up harder to track down. The Obs crop strips have not grown well this year (seemingly a combination of weather and Rock Doves), but we do have some left over seed that we'll be broadcasting amongst them this afternoon to see if we can lure one of these stripy beauties for ourselves.

Cheeky Arctic Monkey

4th September
When I was birding on the east coast, I remember that any spells of good weather in the autumn always seemed to strike Shetland (and Fair Isle in particular) a day or two before they reached us; a fall on Shetland always made things seem more promising for the next morning’s birding. If that’s still the case, then gird your bins for a potentially rather interesting weekend. With easterly winds set to kick in from Friday, we were hoping that maybe a bird or two might get pushed ahead of them and arrive on Thursday (when the forecast is for very light north-westerlies), but things seem to have started earlier than we expected.
A Common Rosefinch on Wednesday at North Light was the pick of the new birds for the day, seemingly swept along on the never ending supply of Meadow Pipits that are pouring south at the moment (around 100 were counted from the Good Shepherd as it made its way to Grutness yesterday for example), but today saw a notable (albeit small) arrival of birds.

The Obs Icterine Warbler,which showed well outside the library all day.

The day started with an Icterine Warbler at the Obs (with the lingering bird still at Midway), and quickly stepped up a notch with an Arctic Warbler in the Gully just after breakfast. A BB rarity (for now at least) on not especially promising conditions (a brisk southerly wind following days of westerlies) as one of the first birds of the day – nice. A Corncrake in the Plantation was also good, whilst a Common Rosefinch at Lower Stonybrek may have been yesterday’s bird relocating down the island. The first Lapland Bunting of the autumn was on the airstrip and other migrants either appeared for the first time in the month or increased in numbers, with 20 Willow Warbler, 5 Garden Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler, 7 Whinchat, 3 Pied Flycatcher, Tree Pipit, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and 8 Swallow. Also increasing were Meadow Pipits, with 913 (exactly!) counted on census.

The supercillium stopping short of the nostrils, large bill, mottled ear coverts, prominent square wingbar on the greater coverts, second wing bar on the median coverts and dusky underparts are all  useful identification features of this classic Arctic Warbler. Wing, bill length and bill depth measurements also fell outside the range of Greenish Warbler, in this particularly robust individual.

Hopefully it’s a promising taster of things to come, I suspect there’ll be a few more good birds (and hopefully good counts of common migrants) to report soon – and a few more things arriving down the east coast as well. Good luck and enjoy it!

Early September update.

3rd September (early am update)

The second Swinhoe's Petrel was retrapped again last night, when weather conditions were good for catching petrels. This was the first ringing session since the night of 16th/17th August, and was carried out following the guidelines from the BTO. Only Storm and Leach's Petrel tapes were used, at our usual site. After about an hour, and after catching 8 Storm Petrels, the Swinhoe's was caught. At that point, and again following the BTO's guidelines, trapping operations ceased - the tape was turned off and the net furled. The Swinhoe's Petrel was processed and released quickly; no photos were taken. As agreed with the BTO, we have contacted them to report the recapture, and we are now waiting for further guidance. Until we have that there will unfortunately be no more petrel ringing sessions.

Our third Citrine Wagtail of the year was found in strong westerly winds at Easter Lother Water on 31st (although it was probably heard at Wirvie the day before during a day of alba wagtail passage, when 107 were counted) and was still present to 2nd. Other highlights included the Thrush Nightingale, which relocated to Schoolton and remained to 30th, the Icterine Warbler which continued to show well at Stackhoull until 2nd, Corncrake sightings on 30th and 31st and a Common Rosefinch still on 29th.
With the weather conditions over the last few days generally rather unpleasant, other than a brief break yesterday evening, there have not been a lot of new arrivals with most passerine migrants being lingering birds (including over 600 Meadow Pipits, although some southerly passage of this species was still being observed). Some new things did sneak through, with 7 Crossbill (30th), a Sedge Warbler and Woodpigeon (both 30th), whilst Tree Pipits peaked at 6 on 29th when there were also 29 Swallows.
The westerly gales brought another fresh pulse of waders and wildfowl to the island with the undoubted highlight being the three Pintail that flew east past South Light amongst a small group of Wigeon on 1st. Although an annual visitor to Fair Isle in very small numbers, these were the first I’d managed to connect with, so it was well worth spending 90 minutes in the back of the Transit (the preferred seawatching location when it’s raining so hard you could drown standing up) with Richard! Other counts included up to 45 Teal, 33 Wigeon and 4 Greylag, with a Tufted Duck seen on 1st.
Seawatching was otherwise fairly quiet, although there were 3 Sooty Shearwater on 31st, 5 Storm Petrels seen from the Good Shepherd on 29th (with a rare diurnal land-based sighting from Buness on 31st) and a ‘blue’ Fulmar on 29th. There were also small numbers of Kittiwakes offshore, along with 3 Arctic Terns (1st) and another arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls to the island, peaking at 47 on 1st.
There were no rare waders discovered (yet), but counts included up to 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Ruff, 45 Golden Plover and singles of Knot, Greenshank and Whimbrel. There was also a peak of 8 Grey Heron (30th).
One of the most impressive sights of the period was a day of multiple cetacean sightings on 30th. The initial call of ‘dolphins, distantly off Buness’ got people running out the Obs and the speed picked up a bit when 5 magnificent Killer Whales, including three huge bulls, surfaced a bit further out (it was especially pleasing for those visitors whose plane was delayed and were therefore able to see these special cetaceans, rather than just flying over Buness on their way home wondering what the crowd was looking at). The dolphins came closer and revealed themselves to be 40 White-beaked Dolphins and by the end of the day, there were another 2 White-beaked Dolphins seen, along with Minke Whale and 4 Porpoise.

Causing a splash. Some of the White-beaked Dolphins hunting off Buness.

After another morning of mizzly fog, things are starting to brighten up and, with White-rumped and Pectoral Sandpipers found yesterday in Shetland, we’re hopeful there’ll be something to be found out there soon...

Hello again.

28th August
Crikey, it’s been a while. Where does the time go? Apologies for the lack of updates recently; especially as it’s been a good spell for birding since my last post. So, what have we been up to? Well, there’s been a lot of Meadow Pipit counting, some good migrants, the visit of two sailing ships with accompanying events and socialising (the ships were somewhat confusingly called ‘The Wylde Swan’ and ‘The Swan’, which are totally unrelated, but have coincidentally arrived within three days of each other) and the normal day to day life of FIBO (which at the moment also includes a seemingly permanently teething Freyja; she’s been teething for so long now I’m sure she must be a shark). The Swan has brought a crew of scientists and artists who are exploring the issues surrounding marine conservation, an especially relevant feature for Fair Isle, where the community continues to campaign for a Marine Protected Area.

The Wylde Swan in North Haven - the world's largest two mast topsail schooner no less.

Probably best if you settle down and make yourself a nice cuppa if you want to catch up on the last ten or so days (or just look at the pictures and scan through for the red and orange species!).
My last update saw us amongst a spell of blasting westerlies, which eventually eased before the wind went to the east for a few days and birds started arriving (although it took a little while for the easterlies to really weave their magic). We were then plunged into fog for four days and new arrivals became harder to come by as the double-edged sword of poor visibility saw birds unable to find Fair Isle and us struggling to locate anything that did happen to blunder into the island. As the fog started to clear, the wind went back to the southwest and new arrivals slowed down again.

Gannets on Yellow Head a fortnight ago...

... and at the weekend. I could still hear them, but conditions weren't really suitable for monitoring!

The highlight of the period was the Booted Warbler that arrived at the Chalet on 22nd before moving to the Obs, then the School, Da Water and then reappearing at Stackhoull on 28th after disappearing for a day.

Rarities on the march. Booted Warbler at Chalet. Images taken at the Obs and School later in the week seemed to suggest that the samebird was involved in all sightings.

A large arrival of Greenish Warblers to the UK saw one day when birds were seen on the nearest land to the north (Sumburgh), south (North Ronaldsay), east (Utsira) and west (Foula) of us, but they seemed incapable of finding their way through the fog to us until 26th when two appeared sat next to each other in the garden at Kenaby, where they remained until 27th. Greenish Warblers are almost exactly twice as rare as Arctic Warblers on Fair Isle and these were the first since a spring bird in 2011. Presumably the more northerly breeding range of Arctic Warbler explains why it occurs more regularly here than Greenish, but why the ratio of these two similar species is so different to Shetland (where Arctic only marginally outnumbers Greenish) isn’t immediately obvious.

Greenish Warblers at Kenaby. The top two images show the two different birds, which sadly never sat quite close enough together to get a picture that showed them both in the same image. 

Another new arrival on 26th was a Thrush Nightingale found by Deryk as it sheltered around the Good Shepherd, which was receiving maintenance in its noost at North Haven. What appeared to be the same bird was at Haa on 28th, although it quickly vanished, so it may yet appear elsewhere on the island in coming days.

Thrush Nightingale, the two images on the left are taken at the Harbour, the two on the right from the Haa. Similarities in the wing, for example, would appear to confirm that the same bird is involved in sightings. The main difference seems to be an addition of a blob of white (paint?) on the tail by the time the bird reached the Haa, presumably picked up whilst hanging around in the Good Shepherd winch house and surrounding area.

Arrivals of scarcities included our second and third Barred Warbler of the autumn (22nd and 23rd), Common Rosefinch (one until 21st then another from 25th-27th), a Wryneck in the Vaadal (23rd, although there was to be no repeat of the large fall of this species that occurred on the 24th August 2011), Icterine Warbler at Utra then Stackhoull (25th-28th), Marsh Warbler at Schoolton on 22nd and Corncrake sightings on 23rd and 28th, with two on the latter date.

The Icterine Warbler at Stackhoull proved to be a showy individual after first being found at Utra (by the Finance Director's daughter Katie).

To add to some impressive day lists, the Citrine Wagtail remained until 22nd and the Subalpine Warbler was still present until at least 28th, although for the first time in several weeks it was seen away from Schoolton, going on a wander to Shirva and Stackhoull, before returning ‘home’ on 28th.
A number of species put in their first autumn appearances including on 20th: Garden Warbler (increasing to 7 on 26th), 21st: Grasshopper Warbler, 22nd: Pied Flycatcher (rising to a peak of 10 on 23rd), 23rd: Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat (which peaked at 3), Tree Pipits (with up to 4 then recorded), 25th: Kestrel, Redstart (up to 4 were seen), Whinchat (rising to 7), 26th: Blackcap, 27th: Sparrowhawk, Merlin, (the only other raptor of the period was Peregrine, with a female seen arriving off the sea from the North on 28th), Spotted Flycatcher, Robin (which rose to 3 on 28th) and 28th: Blackbird.


Migrants on the cliffs are always one of the exciting features of a Fair Isle autumn. Here a Pied Flycatcher tries to blend in to the cliffs of Gunnawark.

Although none of these species appeared in particularly large numbers, there were major arrivals of pipits and wagtails recorded throughout, making the island feel very full of birds, which is always a pleasant experience to bird through. There were over 600 Meadow Pipits on 20th-21st, with numbers then rising to 710 on 23rd August. Throughout this time, there were several flocks seen heading south, so no doubt thousands of these birds have passed through the island during the last ten days. The 21st also saw the period’s highest count of Rock Pipits (an impressive 175), alba Wagtails (126) and Wheatears (177), whilst Twite were also arriving and peaked at 240 on 27th. Other migrants recorded during this period included a peak of 32 Willow Warbler (25th), up to 3 Reed Warbler, 2 Crossbill (21st), Sedge Warbler (22nd and 24th), up to 4 Grey Heron, 2 Swallow (26th) 2 House Martin (27th) and Swift (27th).
The stormy weather at the start of the period brought in good numbers of waders, with peaks including 96 Turnstone (20th), 92 Ringed Plover (20th), 70 Oystercatcher (21st), 57 Redshank (28th), 56 Snipe (28th), 49 Dunlin (22nd), 43 Golden Plover (20th), 26 Lapwing (27th), 23 Sanderling (20th), 14 Curlew (22nd) and 4 Purple Sandpipers (27th). Having already seen the previous record highest count broken once this year, Black-tailed Godwits did it again with 37 recorded on 20th and then they got the hat trick when 39 were recorded on 26th (Shetland’s record count occurred a couple of days later when 81 were recorded in the Virkie area). Other scarcer passage waders included peaks of 4 Ruff, 3 Common Sandpiper, 3 Whimbrel and singles of Greenshank and Wood Sandpiper (28th)
August is a good month for the variety of different types of birds on the move, with other high counts including: 137 Lesser Black-backed Gull (20th), 138 Common Gull (25th), 24 Black-headed Gull (28th), 57 Teal (25th) and 16 Wigeon (27th).
Finally, the sea produced a few birds of note, including ‘blue’ Fulmar, 3 Storm Petrel and 2 Sooty Shearwater (all 27th, with another Sooty on 20th).
Other wildlife was also of interest during this period, with a Basking Shark seen off Buness being the pick of the bunch. A sighting in 2004 was the first since the 1970s and was followed by records in 2006, 2009 and 2010, but this is the first since then. The same day also saw a Minke Whale and a Porpoise and a large wreck of Jellyfish in the Havens. We’ve also enjoyed a small influx of Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and a couple of Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell to round off recent sightings.

Part of the large wreck of Jellyfish that washed up in the Havens on 28th, most individuals were rather small, although some approached saucer-size.

So, thanks for staying with me, I suspect there may not be too much to keep you updated on for the next few days as westerly winds really kick in (they should be gale force by the weekend) and migration is likely to grind to a halt. It looks pretty constantly in the west for a while, which may not be great, but as we’re almost in September and the excitement levels are being ramped up then perhaps an American wader is on the cards, how about Fair Isle’s first Wilson’s Phalarope?