Yakety Crex.

Grey Herons are a traditional early autumn migrant on Fair Isle. This one appeared to have just arrived at South Light and it promptly pitched onto the first rocks it found and rested amongst the loafing gulls.

Southeasterly gale force 8 continuing...

That's always a promising shipping forecast, so we headed out into the gale with our hopes high. However, it soon became clear that there either weren't a lot of birds in, or (our hope) they were taking shelter at the bottom of the geos and will appear when the wind drops. My census route in SW saw me find no migrants on the cliffs, so it was a surprise when a Corncrake flew out from long grass near Upper Leogh.
After crashing back into the roadside verge ahead of me, the Corncrake came to the attention of a large cat, which dashed towards its hiding place. Not wishing to see any migrant get munched (let alone the best bird of the day!), I ran after the cat to try to shoo it off. At this stage, the Corncrake heard me approaching and flew off again in that careering manner that makes you wonder how they ever manage a long distance migration. With it fluttering along the road, the cat sensed it had a chance of a catch and went off sprinting after the bird again, causing me to run along the road trying to distract the cat. This went on for several metres, with the fat ginger bird being chased by a fat ginger cat, which in turn was pursued by the warden (and yes, I am a red head and perhaps slightly overweight). The Corncrake then flipped over the stone wall, clipped the top of a fence and crashed into a ditch where it was seen to skulk off into the vegetation and then completely vanish, as is their wont. If anybody managed to capture the whole event on video, I’m sure it would look good set to the Benny Hill theme tune, but as it ended with the bird escaping and hopefully being none the worse for its ordeal, I can live with that.
The day’s birding was cut short by a deluge of rain that arrived shortly after lunch and very few other highlights being noted, although there was still a Common Rosefinch (at Midway then Lower Stoneybrek) and a Barred Warbler at the Obs.

A Rosefinch trying to justify its name by perching in roses.

With the easterlies crashing the rain against the windows as I typed this last night, it really feels like there should be some more birds in, hopefully the weather will have improved enough to be able to find them.

Latest Sightings.

Despite the lack of suitable fall conditions, the 24th went on to produce a good variety of migrants after the excitement of the morning trap round (see previous post). Highlights were the Thrush Nightingale (which lingered at the Obs, occasionally showing well), 4 Barred Warblers (2 at the Obs and singles at Chalet and Stackhoull), 2 Icterine Warblers (the bird at the Obs and another at Midway), a Red-backed Shrike (at the Haa), 5 Crossbill and the first Black Redstart of the autumn. Other migrants included: 6 Goldcrest, 20 Willow Warbler, 9 Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 4 Reed Warbler, Redstart, 6 Whinchat, 152 Wheatear , 4 Pied Flycatcher and the first Song Thrush of the autumn.

The Shoveler lingered on the Obs scrape until 25th.

Interestingly, many of the migrants trapped on 24th had high fat scores, perhaps suggesting they may not have travelled far to get here – could the calm weather have encouraged a ‘trickle down’ of birds from Shetland?

The 25th was a whole new kettle of weather fish, with strong northerly winds bringing the first really autumnal feeling day to the island and knocking migration on the head somewhat. There were obviously fewer migrants around (and those that were present were harder to see), which made the discovery of a flighty and vocal Citrine Wagtail (our 3rd of the autumn) at Easter Lother Water all the more surprising (although perhaps we should have expected something as any change in wind direction at this time of the year often delivers a decent bird). Very few other new migrants were noted, although there was the first Yellow Wagtail of the autumn and 2 Crossbills were seen.

One of the Crossbills recorded on the 25th was this fine male trapped in the Gully.

The 26th was pleasant and sunny, with the northerly winds decreasing and a general clear out of migrants. However, if birds are clearing out of Fair Isle, there’s always a chance that they could ‘clear in’ to us from somewhere else and a few new birds were indeed recorded, with a Common Rosefinch at Taft, a Red-backed Shrike at Boini Mire and a Sparrowhawk all noted, Meadow Pipits increased from 196 the previous day to 325 and at least 12 White Wagtails were amongst the 69 alba wags recorded. There were some birds that did linger, including the Thrush Nightingale, an Icterine and 2 Barred Warblers.

This flighty Red-backed Shrike only allowed for 'atmospheric' photos to be taken! With the entourage of Twite and Meadow Pipit, hay meadow, baling in the background and backdrop of the cliffs of Malcolm's Head, it hopefully gives an impression of the pleasant experience that is birding on Fair Isle in early autumn.

So a good few days, especially considering the weather, but with raging SE and rain headed our way and a mini-invasion of Greenish Warblers on the English east coast today, could we hope for something better tomorrow.

There are still plenty of seabirds lingering. Although the breeding season is over for many of them, there are still a few Bonxie chicks yet to fledge, most of the Gannet and Fulmar chicks are still in their nests and a few Shag chicks still have a way to go. Although overall numbers are not great, it looks like productivity will be quite good for the monitored Shag nests this year.

Good Start...

With NE winds forecast for the weekend, we were hopeful that there may be a few birds tomorrow, but it looks like a few things have arrived ahead of the weather. Morning traps this morning produced a Thrush Nightingale and an Icterine Warbler, we're just off on census now, so we'll soon find out whether there's anything else out there...

Our third Thrush Nightingale of the year, this juvenile was in the Gully.

Icterine Warbler, caught in the Single Dyke.

Duck of the day.

Although Barred Warblers can be amongst the skulkiest of migrants, on Fair Isle they often show more readily - as this bird photographed from the kitchen window shows.

No sign of the Arctic Warbler today and there appeared to be not too much new in on the passerine front, although there were 3 Barred Warblers around the island, including a showy bird at the Obs. Tree Pipits increased to 6 and a few other migrants remained including Pied Flycatcher, 4 Whinchat and 2 Reed Warbler amongst a scattering of others.
Technically the bird of the day was a juvenile Shoveler that arrived on the Obs scrape in the afternoon, the first of this species to be seen on Fair Isle this year. There was an increase in some of the commoner waders, with Ringed Plover increasing to 52 and Dunlin to 20, whilst 6 Ruff, Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and a Whimbrel were also seen.
The calm seas allowed the best day of cetacean watching so far this year from the island, with 5 White-sided Dolphins off Buness, 2 White-beaked Dolphins off Meoness and a scattering of Porpoise around the island totalling at least 24 animals, including several small calves.
A drier night tonight looks like it should be ok for Storm Petrel ringing, so we're about to head out and try our luck...

Lightning Strikes Twice?

Our attempts to have a Storm Petrel ringing session tonight have been somewhat scuppered by the approaching thunder and lightning - probably not a good idea to be waving eight foot metal poles around under the circumstances. Up until then the weather had been fairly pleasant (although there were lingering fog patches, especially on the hills) so it's a bit of a blow that we can't get out. Still, at least we'll get an early night!
On the bird front, there are clearly things still on the move but, like Sunday, there seemed to have been a bit of a clear out. Remarkably, like Sunday, the best bird of the day was an Arctic Warbler. Jason found it just before dinner as it fed along a drystone wall by the Hjon Dyke trap before it made its way along Gilsetter and eventually settled at Setter where it showed quite well this evening. Initial impressions were that this bird's median covert bar was very weak, so it may be a different individual to that seen in the Kirn o'Skroo on Sunday. Hopefully it will show itself tomorrow and allow some photographs to be taken, which may help to prove whether this is indeed a remarkable double appearance.
Other sightings from the last two days include: Barred Warblers at the Obs and Plantation on 20th with birds at Stackhoull and the Haa today, Common Rosefinch trapped in the Vaadal on 20th, a new Wood Warbler on Ward Hill (20th), the first Song Thrush (20th), Goldfinch (21st) and Black Redstart (20th) of the autumn,
2 Sand Martin and 33 Swifts today and reasonable numbers of warblers and other migrants still present. Also today the Good Shepherd crossing produced 2 Storm Petrels, a Minke Whale and 2 White-sided Dolphins, whilst at least 9 Porpoise were seen around the island.

It's not just birds on the move, a few migrant insects have been noted. A couple of Painted Lady butterflies have been seen and several migrant moths have joined the resident species in the traps. This Dark Sword-Grass is a  regular migrant to Fair Isle and is a smart wee beastie, although it perhaps would have been better to have had a plainer background to photograph it on!

The forecast is for light winds for a couple of days, which will hopefully encourage a few birds to get on the move, then easterlies at the end of the week and strong NE winds by the weekend. Exciting times indeed.

Ed of the Arctic

A scorcher of a day (described by one of the harder to please staff as ‘muggy yuck’!) saw the Wardening team out a bit earlier than usual to combine a whole-island Eider count with the daily census, and what a pleasant experience it was, although we got the rare experience of being savaged by midges in a couple of areas as the usual sea breeze deserted us and let the little blighters feast on anyone standing still.

Many of the seabirds have left us now, although a flock of around 60 Arctic Terns remains around the South Light area where they are joined by the occasional Common Tern (2nd from right).

A total of 124 Eiders were logged and, although numbers have fluctuated wildly in the recent autumn counts undertaken, this does seem to be on the lower side, which seems to tally with early indications from the survey from the rest of Shetland.

An earlier start than usual was needed to cover all twenty odd miles of Fair Isle's coast to count all the Eiders. This female was accompanied by two juveniles, but only 20 of the 124 birds counted were this year's youngsters.

There was a general feeling that there had been a bit of a clear out of migrants, but as every optimistic birder on Fair Isle knows, that just means there are fewer birds to sort through to find the good bird! A pleasant sunny day with a light SW wind may not seem like ideal rarity-hunting conditions, but (as mentioned in yesterday’s blog), a shift in the wind can often bring a good bird – and it did! Ed (our current JHMF volunteer featured previously in the picture quiz on this blog a few days back) did the business when he found a fine Arctic Warbler in the Kirn o’Skroo. Initially showing only briefly, Ed relocated the bird in the afternoon where it eventually showed well and started calling, to the happiness of the assembled masses.

The fifth year in a row that Arctic Warbler has been seen on Fair Isle, with this being about the 80th to be recorded here.

The assembled masses.

There were a few other migrants new in, with 3 juvenile Crossbills noted, but counts of most species were generally lower, with 34 Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffchaff, 5 Garden Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Whitethroat, 4 Whinchat, 4 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Tree Pipit and a Siskin. The ringed Barred Warbler remained in the Obs garden, but was generally elusive.

This rather fed up looking young Crossbill was making do with the closest it could find to a pine tree in the south of the island.

Three Greylags were newly arrived and visible migration of birds heading south included 20 Whimbrel, 4 Swallows and a Raven. Two Green Sandpipers and 2 Greenshank were the most notable of the rest of the waders.
As I type this, the wind is now a light SE and it's drizzling. Surely we couldn't have more birds arrive tomorrow could we...?

Saturday sightings.

Another day of mixed weather, with blazing sunshine giving way to fog brought in on a SE breeze, which blew away in the evening as a fresher SW wind developed.
Highlights were a new Barred Warbler and a lingering Wryneck, whilst good numbers of migrants remained scattered across the island. Warblers were well represented with 102 Willow Warbler, 6 Chiffchaff, 14 Garden Warbler, 5 Reed Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat and a Grasshopper Warbler logged.
The first Goldcrest of the autumn appeared in Grey Geo and other migrants included 2 Fieldfare, 5 Whinchat, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Tree Pipit, 2 Siskin, Kestrel, 6 Swift and a Woodpigeon.

Despite the rest of the island enjoying sunshine at the time, several migrants (including this Willow Warbler and Pied Flycatcher) preferred the fog-shrouded remains of the WW2 radar station on top of Ward Hill. It really is worth checking everywhere for birds of Fair Isle!

A few waders are also on the move, with the more interesting records including a juvenile Little Stint (on the Sprittery Hole), Ruff, Green Sandpiper, 9 Common Sandpiper, 11 Sanderling and 15 Dunlin.
A change of wind direction can often be a good thing on Fair Isle, so it will be interesting to see whether the recent good run of birds is topped by one more rarity tomorrow. After that, there seems to be a good chance of the winds going back to the east by next weekend - and with September rapidly approaching, things could get really exciting!