Its been a while!

Finally, following hours of pursuing them and listening to one excuse after another, BT have got us back on-line! NOT great service!
However, birders out there have not really missed much. June was relatively quiet with small numbers of common migrants and the occasional Common Rosefinch, Red-backed Shrike, Marsh Warbler, Bluethroat with highlights of a Honey Buzzard (6th), Blyths Reed Warbler (10th), Rustic Bunting (15th), Common Crane (16th), Turtle Dove (22nd), Shorelark (23rd) and a Hobby (28th). July too has been predictably quiet. Waders are beginning to return south, including Green Sandpipers (3rd, 9th) and a few parties of Common Crossbills (max 18 on 10th). We have been delighted to note that several pairs of Swallows are nesting, with nests in the new Obs garage, the airstrip shed and the buildings at the Communications Mast!! We also have a few summering migrants, including a Robin, three Chiffchaffs and a Common Whitethroat.

Following the troubles of the builders going into receivership, leaving us in limbo and several islanders owed money we are trying to sort out getting the project finished. However the legalities of it all take time........Meanwhile we are delighted to be able to be open for guests and listening to all the appreciative noises they make. Of course with a new building there are always teething/snagging issues (such as showers draining into the bedroom!!) but on the whole it is a fabulous place. Luckily, the bulk of the work still to be done does not affect the guesthouse side of the operation.

At Burkle, where we barely spend any time now.........just returning there at night to sleep, Lachlan is in charge! Luckily, the three younger ones have gone south with grandma for a couple of weeks and as always they are having a great time, including a trip to Eurodisney!!! Lachlan & Lubo are left to their own devices, but manage to turn up at the Obs at lunchtime and dinnertime!!
The other animals haven't had much attention either but we have had to de-mite the hens and their house AGAIN! Our sheep are waiting to be clipped and the ponies waiting to be ridden but we have barely had time to even think about these things. All the Obs crew helped out with the Hill gather though and virtually everybody had a go at hand-shearing a hill ewe, with one of our team preferring to tackle the big hairy fellas!!!

(Where's your) Spirit of Adventure?

Just one bird worth mentioning today - a stunning male Red-throated Pipit at Lower Leogh, found by volunteer Becki Rosser as she was making her way home to the Puffinn late this afternoon. Nice! It certainly lifted spirits on a day of cold NW'ly winds!

Speaking of spirits, the NTS Cruiseship The Spirit of Adventure arrived today with 280 passengers onboard. We were all up and ready to meet them at 0830 with Welcome Packs, to give them Guided Walks and with a wonderful dispaly of crafts and tasty treats at the Hall. However, as in every year they never managed to get ashore (due to a slight swell) and eventually gave up and sailed away. What a waste of a morning for all concerned!!

For Spinners & Historians

With just over a week left in the auction for the historic spinning wheel made by local master craftsman Stewart Thomson, the current highest bid (in aid of FIBOT funds) now stands at £800. Anybody who knows Stewart's work will know that it is a beautiful, fully-functioning piece of art made from wood from the old & new Observatories and will be a much sought after piece of history, whilst also producing perfect yarn. Get your bids in by 31st May by e-mailing fibo@btconnect.com or phoning 01595 760258

Posh 'n' Bex!

The weather, as is often the case, has turned from warm bright sunshine, to mist and drizzle! Although this has hampered visibility, the feeling is that there has not been much in the way of new arrivals - apart from that is of waders and Dunlin in particular. A very good count of 39 yesterday became a record island count of 172 today, scattered around the Skadan! A total of 39 Ringed Plover were in with them, but unfortunately nothing else. A couple of Wood Sandpipers and a Green Sandpiper were on the scrape and a Greenshank flew over.

Highlights of the past few days have been thin on the ground but the first Swift floated around in the mist on 21st and a Rosefinch graced Vaila's Trees the following day - a touching tribute!

A reeling Grasshopper Warbler at Schoolton was nice and a handful of other common warblers were dotted about but it was Hirundines, totalling over 100 (mainly Swallows) that dominated migrant passerine counts.

Our friends Phil (Harris) and Becca (Nason) have arrived for a week with us at Burkle - as the Obs is NOT READY! Its really nice to see them, but its a shame for them that the birding has quietened down again. They are on a mission to (try and) relieve us of the stress over the Obs building work. Much needed after this latest setback......

Earlier this week, the builders informed us that the Obs is not going to be ready for the (next) target date of 26th May. I had already had to postpone opening on 1st May and cancelled a whole load of bookings and was told that 26th May would be "No problem!" Apparently, building control have some issues with some of the door frames and they must be replaced. I have thus had the unenviable task yet again of having to contact a second suite of bookings and give them the bad news. Most people have been very understanding of our plight but I am fretting because there are three people on my list that I have not managed to contact! I have cancelled all bookings up to 12th June so far and will have to wait and see how long this work will take to complete to see if they can make this next deadline. I'll keep you posted....

Things are Hotting Up!

I can't believe its been a week since my last posting!! There has been alot happening in that week as not only has the temperature improved markedly (reaching a scorching 15 C today), so has the birding with a flurry of arrivals.

The last two days alone have seen the likes of Golden Oriole, Bluethroats, Red-backed Shrike and Rustic Bunting plus 'lesser' year ticks such as Cuckoo, Yellow Wagtail, Garden Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher. Pride of place however must go to the (ship-assisted or not) White-throated Sparrow which Simon discovered on 19th outside the new Obs, where it was still present today. It was an extremely obliging bird, coming to within a few feet of the admiring crowd of Obs staff, Researchers and the Shetland Wildlife Tours group. Although not of the striking black & white striped variant, it being the duller 'tan-striped' morph, it was very much appreciated by all.

The past week has also seen a Short-toed Lark, a scattering of common warblers, including Reed Warbler (15th), a Jackdaw (18th), a few Tree Pipits, hirundines and finches, including up to five Goldfinch.

There has been a flurry of activity amongst the seabirds too with much nest-building and egg laying in evidence, although perhaps not as much as we would perhaps have hoped for!

Aside from birds......Lachlan turned 17!!! and he is in the midst of his Higher exams. The weather has been fantastic for several days - light, warm, dry winds with lots of sunshine meaning Hollie and the kids and the ponies have been able to progress with handling and riding skills. Lubo however is finding it all a bit warm and returns from census each day absolutely exhausted. If only he'd walk some of the way instead of running everywhere he'd cope much, much better! Our 'new' car developed an oil leak and a brake cable leak within days of arrival!!! With help from our friendly Obs workmen, both are (fingers crossed) now sorted.

We have been busy getting the Obs ready, the boys bringing stuff out of storage and the girls cleaning and putting away and its looking great, but...........

Car Trouble!

At last! S'ly winds, well SW'ly actually but good enough! A text from Jack first thing informed me there was a Wood Sandpiper at the Chalet pond. I learnt later that it somehow escaped from a trip-wire wader trap!!! The Heligoland traps did catch a Sedge Warbler, a Chiffchaff, two Dunnocks, a Robin, a male Crossbill and a female Goldfinch. The two Dotterel linger on Busta Brecks and there was a Common Sandpiper in South Haven. Bird of the day however was the male Bluethroat at the Obs!

On Wednesday, Ann Cleeves returned with a couple of German journalists. I showed them around the new obs then took them to see some seabirds and to talk about our work, the island, birders.....and Blue Lightning. This morning I repeated it all again (except for the Blue Lightning bit) with Mark Steven from Radio Scotland's 'Out of Doors' show. If you happen to be up early on Saturday (6.30 am) you can take a listen! If not, its repeated at 11.00am on Sunday!

We're having a bit of a vehicle disaster this month! The people carrier stopped working for no apparent reason yet again, just a couple of weeks after coming back from a three month stint at the garage in Lerwick, wher they could find no fault. It is now back out there but as soon as it arrived, it started first time!! They have agreed to run some tests. Next, the van ran out of diesel ( I shan't embarrass the poor AW who did it by naming him, but its the one with the driving licence!) and as a consequence the fuel filter has now become blocked and it won't start. I've ordered another but it'll take a week or so to get here! Then today, our trusty Mondeo has all but given up the ghost. The clutch has been on its way out for a few weeks now and it has now got so bad that it can't make it up the hills without a huge run-up. Luckily, we have found a temporary replacement - an old Escort that will hopefully keep us going for a few months. Thankyou Rob Fray!!!

Raven is Nine!

Light SE'ly then NE'ly winds brought in a few common migrants on 7th, including a couple of Pied Flycatcher and at least three Sedge Warblers which were both new for the year. A scattering of hirundines, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps plus the odd Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler and a few finches made it feel like something really was happening! A Common Crossbill flew over on 8th and the following day, Adam had a most unexpected visitor to one of his Wheatear feeding stations on the west cliffs - a Little Bunting!!!

The two Dotterel remained throughout, commuting between Busta Brecks and Meoness.

The Ann Cleeves weekend went really very well. Copious amounts of food was prepared and cooked by our Puffinn Ladies and Hollie plus Ingrid Eunson and a few islanders. Shetland Smoked Salmon & Mussels plus wine and Shetland Beer had been provided by our guests. Around 100 people gathered at the Hall on Sunday evening to participate. Everyone ate heartily and there was still loads of food left! We then listened to Ann talking about and reading from her Shetland Quartet of crime novels, interspersed with music from Fair Isle's worldfamous fiddle player, Chris Stout. This was followed with more music from Chris and he even played 'Happy Birthday' to Robyn Wiseman (who turned seven that day) and to our Raven (who was to be nine today). Several islanders then got their instruments out and tunes played on until the power went off at 11.30pm. Some people continued to party after that!!!!!

This morning arrived with a cold cold northerly wind, with brief bright periods between the hail showers and snow showers! It has to be the coldest day in May I have ever known. The first Cruiseship of the season arrived at 08.30 and must have wondered how far north they had actually arrived!!! Nevertheless, all 150 passengers that disembarked seemed satisfied with their views of seabirds, the museum, stained glass windows and the island crafts and enjoyed their chats with FIBO experts and 'the natives'.

Its hard to believe that my little girl is NINE but we barely had time, once the kids were all ready for school, to let Raven open a few presents before I had to go to meet the ship. She opened the rest after school (luckily the postman arrived with some during the day!!). It was a modest pile, I think the toy Lubo (Collie dog) and the Harry Potter DVD set were the favourites but she seemed pleased with them all.

Meanwhile, the ponies must have thought it was their Birthday too as we moved them to a new pasture today, bursting with new fresh grass. We'll have to ration their access to it for the first week or so, or else they will balloon!!!