Gulls, Geese and an Owl.

20th February

The Kumlien's Gull in fading light (hence it looking somewhat darker than it actually is in this image).

A generally quiet period, with some beautiful days but also some more SE gales and heavy rain. After the ‘transport chaos’ of January, things returned to more or less normal, with the Good Shepherd managing its scheduled sailings before heading off for its annual maintenance and flights making it in on most days. A lot of the island is still rather sodden, so we’ll hopefully get a dry period before the spring starts, but the rather mild winter continues – no snowmen this year by the look of it.
Wet and windy weather is thought to be more damaging to the Fair Isle Wren population than cold snaps (their preferred seaweedy habitat rarely freezing anyway), so it will be interesting to see what the result of this year’s breeding survey will be. The first Wren was heard singing in the Havens on 17th, although it’ll be another month or so before territories are properly established and the survey starts.
Also on the breeding bird front, Guillemots have been around in numbers (but have not yet been returning to the cliffs), although small numbers are still being washed up dead. We also got news from the BTO that one of our breeding Puffins (ringed as an adult in 2012) was amongst the casualties of a wreck affecting birds in the Bay of Biscay; more pressure on our already beleaguered seabird populations.
Migration was as slow as would be expected in mid-February, with some passage of Greylags noted (peaking at 142 on 19th), which also saw the 5 Tundra Bean Geese depart from Utra (they were last seen on 16th). Other wildfowl records included a Long-tailed Duck and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers sheltering amongst 75 Eider during stormy conditions on 15th.

Greylags on the move. The sheep is probably thankful for some peace and quiet.

The most unexpected migrant was a Long-eared Owl (18th), whilst there was also the first Rook of the year (13th-17th) and 2 Cormorant (18th). There were still just single figures of Skylark and Meadow Pipit, whilst small numbers of thrushes saw Fieldfares peak at 52 (19th) and there were up to 19 Twite, 12 Snow Bunting and the occasional Woodcock.

Long-eared Owl. Always a beautiful bird and an especially nice surprise at this time of year.

Lingering birds included the juvenile Kumlien’s Gull throughout (with occasional sightings of other white-wingers peaking on 15th when there were also two juvenile Iceland Gulls and an adult and juvenile Glaucous Gull), Coot (until 13th), Woodpigeon, Water Rails (at Lower Stoneybrek, Setter and Da Water), Merlin and Peregrine (a hefty female that was seen taking a male Teal off Da Water).
So it’s steady away as we prepare for the start of the new season; as ever there is plenty to do but things are progressing nicely. We’ll hopefully have news on the 2014 team by early next week, and maybe news on a few migrants soon as well.

With a lack of many new birds to report, here's another picture of the Coot (picture by Deryk Shaw).

Gulls, geese and a few hints of spring.

11th February

We made it back: after a FIBOT Directors’ Meeting, a fortnight in Tenerife, a nephew’s Christening and a weather-induced extra week off Fair Isle (spent in Sunderland, Boat of Garten, Ellon and Lerwick), we got back home on Tuesday. Since then we’ve been catching up with emails, post, messages etc and, more importantly, catching up with people and birds!

There are no holiday pictures here (I might do some of the birds in the next day or two), so straight onto Fair Isle news.

January had already started well with the first live Velvet Scoter since 2011 on 1st, but went on to produce two other birds that didn’t feature on the 2013 year list: Little Gull (an adult on 22nd and 30th) and Tundra Bean Goose. The latter starting arriving on 21st and peaked at 15 on 23rd, with smaller numbers still present.

With only 31 individuals previoulsy recorded on Fair Isle, this adult Little Gull was a real winter bonus (picture by Deryk Shaw).

These two Tundra Bean Geese are part of one of the largest ever arrivals of this species to Fair Isle (although not approaching the record influx of November 2011).

The other star birds were Pochard (a male on the Haa pond on 29th, only the second record in the last six years) and not one, but two Coot! One was on Da Water from 29th (still present to 11th at least), with another on the pond at the Haa from 31st January to 6th February. The Haa pond is only a couple of square metres, but has already hosted Eider and Scaup amongst others, so is getting a very impressive list! The Haa also hosted a Waxwing on the 23rd, one of an increasing number of mid-winter records.

Coot! The first ever 'Fair Isle rare' I twitched, so it still gives me a thrill to see one on Fair Isle (albeit distantly in this case!).

Typical winter fodder included a few sightings of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, with one of the Icelands (present from 29th January) ticking all the boxes for Kumlien’s.

With it's fairly extensive dark markings on the primaries, dark bill and chesty appearance, this darkish juvenile Iceland Gull shows all the characteristics of 'Kumlien's Gull', (which are probably a hybrid swarm of Iceland and Thayer's Gulls).

An unusual winter influx of Common Gulls from late January peaked at 180 on 31st January (a rather appropriate count for Deryk to get given his success at the Dart's club social whilst we were away!) and included up to four Black-headed Gulls, but nothing from the Arctic… A Little Auk was found very expired on Utra scrape on 5th, with Water Rail at Setter, occasional Merlin sightings and the lingering Woodpigeon present throughout.

The year list slowly increased with a variety of more expected returning birds including: Skylark, Twite, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Cormorant and Peregrine, whilst a Bar-tailed Godwit and Knot were less usual for the time of year.

Numbers of wildfowl were fairly typical with around 100 Greylag, 2 Pink-feet, 2 Barnacle Geese (on 1st Feb, a less usual winter occurence), 8 Wigeon, 13 Teal, Long-tailed Duck, 2 Common Scoter and a Red-breasted Merganser, with wader numbers including 8 Lapwing, 3 Dunlin, 15 Purple Sandpiper and singles of Jack Snipe and Woodcock.

The sheltered waters of the Havens often attract a few wildfowl in the winter, with a pair of Common Scoter lingering for several weeks this year. Sadly, the beaches of the Havens are seeing several dead birds being washed up at the moment, with Guillemots featureing most prominently, but Razorbill, Shag and Fulmar also logged this week.

Wintering passerine numbers were unremarkable, with up to 35 Fieldfare, 18 Snow Bunting and 2 Robin and only a few Blackbird and Redwing.

Today is being dominated by strong SE winds and rain, which was the predominant weather whilst we were away, with the galeiest spell for around 20 years hitting the island. The ground is pretty sodden in many places around the island, whilst the Good Shepherd was unable to sail for almost a month (which appears to be the worst disruption to the service for over 40 years according to the Fair Isle Times) due to the wind and swell. Thankfully, a calmer day on Friday saw the crew put in a gruelling double shift and two runs to Grutness has seen most of the backlog cleared from the store – Stackhoull on Saturday morning was a sight to behold! There are a few hopeful signs that things might be improving now (notwithstanding today’s weather which has seen travel to and from the island again cancelled), with Dave Wheeler reporting that yesterday’s 4.7hrs of sunshine made it the sunniest day on the Isle since 1st October!

OK, just the one holiday photo then. An American Coot jostling with Moorhen and Coot for some doughnut. Whilst watching this bird (we were passing within about half a mile of Loch Flemington, so it would have been rude not to pop in) in the sunshine with the family, a Red Kite flew over and Sunderland scored twice against Newcastle. With various oddities turning up around the UK, there's still hope of the unsettled weather bringing an early Mega to Fair Isle.



Wind woes

Just a quick note to say that we're back from holidays, but with the gale force south-easterly gales causing transport problems for the island (the Northlink ferries to and from Lerwick were cancelled last night and the Good Shepherd hasn't managed any sailings whilst we've been away) we've not made it back to Fair Isle yet. We're going to try for the start of next week, but until then we'll not be able to pick up messages, emails etc, so thanks for your patience if you're waiting for us to get back to you.
It sounds like most of the island has stood up to the worst of the weather fairly well, the Obs is still there although the Ringing Hut (which in fairness, had seen better days) has been blown away! There have been several additions to the year list (thanks to updates from Deryk and Tommy), with more regular stock inlcuding Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher and winter highlights of Waxwing (briefly at the Haa), an adult Little Gull and at least 13 Tundra Bean Geese. These latter two species join Velvet Scoter as species that failed to appear on the island in 2013 but have already made it in 2014 - could the year list record be on?!
Hopefully we'll be back soon (I might bore you with a few of my holiday photos when we make it) and hopefully I'll not miss anything big before then (Lesser White-fronted Goose, Ross's or Ivory Gull or Bittern could all be possible given the forecast...).

EDIT:  I was close - Bittern turned up in Shetland later in the day I wrote this (a species still missing from the Fair Isle list). Fair Isle weighed in with some good birds as well with Coot (virtually annual in recent years, but always a good one to get) found by Deryk on Da Water and, Pochard on Tommy's garden pond. The Pochard is a rare bird on Fair Isle, with the one last year (which I thankfully jammed in on, seeing it on its last day on the day I got back from holiday - although I almost wasn't told, as nobody realised how scarce they are on Fair Isle!) being the first for about five years. There are also a few more Bean Geese, one or two Iceland Gulls and plenty more Kittiwakes. I seem to recall in the olden days, a winter influx of Kittiwakes was always thought the best chance of finding a Ross's Gull, so I'm hoping that, if it happens, it waits until Monday when I (hopefully) get back.

New Year, New Birds, New Jobs...

Susannah and I would like to wish Friends of Fair Isle, visitors to the Obs and readers of the blog a very Happy New Year, all the best for 2014 and we hope to see you up here at some point!

The birding has got off to a good start, with a very respectable 45 species recorded on New Year’s Day, despite a feeling that there wasn’t that much about. It was helped by the sunny and quite pleasant conditions, as the mild, but at times very windy, weather has continued.

The undoubted highlight was the Velvet Scoter, which flew out of Furse and past Buness, not only a Fair Isle tick for me, but the first live one to be seen from the island since 2011 (a freshly dead bird was found in 2012). It’s remarkable that after one of the best ever years for number of species seen in 2013 (the current total is 214 if everything is accepted by the relevant committees), we should record a species that didn’t make it onto the year list just a day later. Does it bode well for the year ahead? Maybe…

Other birds of interest as the New Year broke included a first-winter Glaucous Gull, 3 Little Auk off South Light, a Chaffinch (a male that arrived at the Obs on the 1st and is still present), a scattering of thrushes including around 20 Fieldfare, a few wildfowl including a couple of Long-tailed Ducks, a Whooper Swan and a Common Scoter, 2 Jack Snipe (flushed from Boini Mire with around 40 Snipe) and unseasonal Woodpigeon, Meadow Pipit and Dunlin. Since the 1st there has been little of note, although Merlin, Water Rail and Guillemot have made it onto the year list, whilst Tysties were just offshore and whistling in good numbers on an almost balmy 5th. It’s interesting that Guillemots have not made it onto the cliffs yet – this time last year they were regularly present in early January.

Some other news:

• Staff and volunteer vacancies are now available for 2014, check the relevant page on the blog.
• The 2012 Annual Report is out (having had a few weeks waiting at Grutness!). It contains the systematic list, ringing report, seabird report , details of other wildlife and write-ups of Eastern Grasshopper Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Siberian Rubythroat, Eastern Subalpine Warbler and much more. Send a cheque (made out to ‘FIBO’) for £11.50 (inc p&p) to the Obs if you’d like your copy, or join FOFI to receive a copy every year.

FIBO's very own version of Santa's elves get to work sending Annual Reports all around the world.

• Get your thinking caps on for the 2014 Prediction Competition, as we'll get that up and running from February. The same rules apply as already posted, with just a few species to change their predictability status (Great Spotted Woodpecker isn't predictable anymore, but Brent Goose is, I'll check if there are any more when I get back).

We’re away now until the end of the month, so we’ll try to answer all our messages as soon as we can in early February.

Right, I best go and pack…

December Birds

I'm dreaming of a white-horses Christmas. The view from the Obs on Christmas morning - another windy day. The weather has been rather wild over the winter, with the Good Shepherd unable to sail for 19 days at one stage.

Fair Isle managed to avoid the Ivory Gull ‘influx’ during December, although Susannah and I came close; being in Sunderland when news broke of one there. Sadly, despite spending an afternoon checking fish quays, beaches and car parks in a few of my old County Durham haunts, it had moved on. To then get a call a few days later from the Farne Islands wardens to tell me they were watching two Ivory Gulls in Seahouses (by which time I was in the car park of Sainsbury’s* in Bedford [*other supermarkets are available for receiving gutting bird news in]) didn’t help. The Yorkshire bird then turned up a couple of days too late (we’d already driven past it) and there was no chance of getting to Orkney or the Hebs birds (although we possibly sailed past the former on our way home). As the Parnaby family are off on our travels again through January, I’m hoping the Ivory Curse (good movie name there if anyone wants it), doesn’t strike by delivering one to Fair Isle whilst we’re away. I’ve a suspicion that somewhere in Shetland will get one of these Arctic beauties sometime in February/March, so fingers crossed one of the dead seals around Fair Isle will do the job for us then.

Not on Fair Isle. This fine ad Med Gull was at Marsden on the Durham coast and one of four or five we saw during our failed search for something even better (although Med Gull would have been a good enough bird in Durham itself back in my day).

Anyway, amongst the birds that actually turned up in December, there were Iceland Gull sightings on 9th and 17th-19th and Glaucous Gulls on 5th, 18th (3) and 28th, whilst one Black-headed Gull lingered through the month. There was a scattering of wildfowl, although we never get large numbers, with up to 2 Whooper Swans, 3 Pink-feet, a Barnacle Goose (to 3rd), 20 Wigeon, 5 Teal, 2 Long-tailed Duck and singles of Common Scoter, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser. Whilst out at sea there was Great Northern Diver (26th) and a very unseasonal Puffin (29th).
Also unusual for the time of year were Black-tailed Godwits on 5th and 19th (spilling over from the North Ron wintering flock perhaps?) whilst other waders included peaks of 130 Turnstone, 30 Redshank, 13 Curlew, 5 Lapwings, 15 Purple Sandpipers and a Jack Snipe.
Typical wintering fodder were up to 15 Redwing, 10 Blackbird, 2 Fieldfare, a Song Thrush, 5 Robin, 6 Twite and 28 Snow Bunting, although a Meadow Pipit on 29th was less usual, as this species is largely absent from Fair Isle in the winter (only a few of the smaller birds tough it out, with the wintering passerine list above being added to only by Starling, House Sparrow, Rock Pipit and Fair Isle Wren). Birds lingering from earlier in the year included Grey Heron (to 13th), Merlin and two Water Rail (the latter two species seeming set to winter), whilst a Woodpigeon from 22nd was no doubt a bit puzzled as to where it had ended up.

Any other wildlife? New Year guising.

We hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year, we certainly did! Best wishes to you all for 2014 from all the Parnabys and everyone else from FIBO and thanks for your support during the last year.

Remember, remember, the blog in November.

Bonfire night was put back due to poor weather, as November has seen a succession of windy and wet days, interspersed with some pleasanter weather, although the island is still pretty soggy.

Ok, sorry it's been a while. Despite what you may think, we've not been hibernating. Far from it in fact; Susannah and I have had to learn to look after ourselves now that the Domestic Team have all left! In between remembering how to cook, clean and look after the children, I kind of forgot to update the blog. It wasn't helped by Susannah popping off the island for a night and eventually making it back about a week later, but, as we're heading off for a couple of weeks, I thought it was time to finally catch up. So make yourself a brew, settle down and catch up on the goings on of the Parnabys and life on Fair Isle during the last month.


We don't get to go out much as a family during the Obs season, so whatever the weather, we try to make the most of the winter.

 So what’s been going on…

Let’s start with the birds. There was a general theme of a few lingering highlights at the start of the month, then things quietened down before an unexpected late fall on 12th then a gradual decline in numbers and variety again as another fabulous autumn finally drifted away to be replaced by the typical winter fodder of wind, few birds and a ridiculous amount of paperwork (over 70 descriptions amassed this year – sorry if I’ve mentioned that before, but between that and Annual Reports, it’s fair to say that I’m not exactly sitting back with a cigar on at this time of year!).

Sparklers - better than cigars!

We couldn’t manage a last hurrah, despite there being Short-billed Dowitcher to the south, Dusky Warbler to the North and, perhaps most gallingly of all, Little Egret to the west (Foula leaving us as one of the few main Shetland islands not to have recorded a Little Egret, surely one of the commonest vagrants to Shetland not to have turned up here yet. In fact, with 4 Purple Heron, 2 Night Heron and a Little Bittern on the Fair Isle list, it’s bizarre that there hasn’t been a single Egret or a Bittern yet). In fact, the only new addition to the year list since the Siberian Rubythroat was a Shorelark at North Light, a lovely highlight in the fall of 12th (although it disappeared shortly after discovery as a truly evil hailstorm swept the island. It’s not often I attribute emotions to the weather, but these hail stones really did want to hurt people, they were nasty – I was left whimpering on the ground trying to hide behind a rock on the exposed clifftops of Easter Lother).
The 12th also produced counts of 37 Woodcock, 646 Blackbird, 164 Fieldfare, 93 Redwing and 11 Robin (including the Dutch-ringed bird that seems to be attempting to overwinter at the Obs), although with only two people covering the island, these are likely to be underestimates, particularly of Woodcock which were probably spread thinly across the whole island.

Thrush numbers have dropped right off since the fall a couple of weeks ago. Fieldfares and Song Thrushes are now pretty hard to come by, whilst just a couple of dozen or so Redwing and Blackbirds are hanging on.

There were few other signs of new arrivals, although there were 3 Goldfinch on 2nd and 2 from 20th-25th (rather late records for this species). There was also Kestrel (4th-15th), Short-eared Owl (6th and 12th), Jackdaw (7th-10th), Moorhen (19th-20th), Knot (3rd), Linnet (14th and 17th) and Black Redstart (2 on 2nd with one to 4th), whilst a Wren trapped on 5th appeared not to be one of the local birds.
Lingerers included the Olive-backed Pipit (to 2nd), Richard’s Pipit (to 12th), Bullfinch (to 2nd), Grey Wagtail (to 16th), Hen Harrier (to 9th), Chaffinch (with 2 still present), Brambling and Mealy Redpolls (up to 10) to mid-month, Chiffchaff and Blackcap (both to 19th), Goldcrest (1st), Woodpigeon (to 2nd), whilst the last Bonxie was seen on 8th and the Tree Sparrow that turned up in mid-June finally departed (it was last seen on 6th).

At least one (probably two) Hen Harrier remained into November, with one spending most of its time on Gilsetter, so it could be seen most days from the road on the School run.

Typical winter fare included up to 2 Glaucous Gulls on 5 dates, Iceland Gull (sightings of juveniles on 1st, 14th, 20th and 23rd), Water Rail (at Lower Stoneybrek on 7th, in what appears to be a quiet autumn and winter for this species), a maximum of 98 Snow Buntings, 3 Little Auk on 5th (with another on 10th) and up to 3 Jack Snipe amongst good numbers of Snipe (which peaked at 142 on 7th). 

In the absence of any of its friends, this Whooper Swan did the best it could and started hanging out with the sheep on Suka Mire.

Wildfowl are also usually prominent at this time of year, with highlights including 3 Goosander (21st-22nd), a few south-bound Whooper Swans (13 in total, including one lingering from 19th), Greylag passage peaking at 365 on 4th, with 303 on 19th, up to 8 Barnacle Geese (until 17th) and up to 17 Pink-footed Geese, mostly early in the month. At sea there were up to 10 blue Fulmar and a Sooty Shearwater from the Good Shepherd (5th) and a Great Northern Diver off South Light (12th).

Not quite an annual species on Fair Isle, these Goosanders were the first since the wintering bird of 2012/13 was last seen on 1st January.

Aside from the birds, we’ve also been keeping an eye on the Grey Seal population, which seems to have done a tiny bit better this year, although pupping was rather late.

A few updates from wildlife sightings from the last few weeks, starting with those immense Killer Whales that appeared at the start of the month. Andy Foote from NAKID has identified the individuals as a group that are regularly seen in North Scotland and the Northern Isles (and as far as the Faroes) in the winter and spring, with the male being about 19 years old and the youngest a calf from the winter of 2009/10.

The animal on the right is older than a few of our volunteers this year. The slight haziness of the photo is due to the animals swimming through a rainbow!

Other updates from previous sightings involve DNA analysis of Chiffchaffs; the count of 41 on 15th October that seemed to involve mostly tristis-type birds has been backed up by the lab work, that showed that the two trapped birds were indeed both of this subspecies. The Arctic Warbler on 14th October (one of the latest Fair Isle records) was also shown to be an Arctic Warbler on DNA (rather than either of the recently split, but possibly not identifiable in the field, far-Eastern warblers: Japanese Leaf or Kamchatka). Thanks as ever to Professor Martin Collinson for providing this information. 

One of the Siberian Chiffchaffs trapped on 15th October.

The Arctic Warbler on 15th October feeding at Shirva having being ringed the previous evening at the Obs. Although a Japanese Leaf Warbler would have been nice, the fact that it looked like an Arctic Warbler (albeit a strong-billed one) made it quite pleasing that the DNA backed this up. Surely that would have been a tremendously underwhelming way to add a species to the British list!

So, I still await the ultimate prize of a first for Britain during my time as Warden, but on the subject of winning prizes (see what I did there?), there are a couple of awards to mention. FIBO itself has won a Shetland Environmental Award in recognition of our work and the green credentials of the building, whilst Nick Riddiford’s efforts in campaigning for a Marine Protected Area were rewarded with a Nature of Scotland Award.

Former FIBO Warden and current Fair Isle resident Nick receiving his award. (c) RSPB

Congratulations Nick, a well deserved award and everyone at FIBO hopes you are rewarded with the prize you really want and thoroughly deserve – suitable protection for the waters around Fair Isle.

It's been generally too cloudy for much Aurora action so far this winter, but there was a good show on 31st October, a great way to end the season!

So, that's all for now folks. As I mentioned, we're away until 17th December (all being well with the weather...), so if the year is going to be crowned by one last outrageous rarity, I hope it waits until then to turn up!

Bonfire night and a great array of hats (note: not all of these are authentic Fair Isle knitwear!).

Seal meat again.

1st November

It's the end of the season, the final guest has left (a day late after the planes were cancelled yesterday) and most of the staff have gone after a very busy season. Many thanks are due to all of them for their efforts this year - it's been another good one, so thank you Will, Richard, Teresa, Ann, Graham, Becki, Tracey, Steffan, Billy, Noa, Kieran, Daniel, Jake, Alex, Livvy, Chris, Rachel, Tim, Maggie, Liz, Jenny, Janet, Sally, Julia, Rob and Tegan and of course, Susannah. The Directors of FIBOT have also provided their usual mix of enthusiasm and expertise, which is so important to the Obs. There are many more people who help the Obs in a crucial way during the year and so thanks are also due to the many islanders who have helped out during the year including Angela, Hollie, Deryk, Raluca, Alice, Iain and Kenny who have all done various jobs at the Obs and for the many others who have helped out in other ways including Robert & Fiona, Jimmy & Florrie, Nick & Elizabeth, Elena, Tommy & Liz, Neil & Pat and Dave. Massive apologies to anyone I may have missed and thanks to all the islanders for their friendship and support. Susannah, the kids and I are very lucky to live on Fair Isle, not just for the birds and the beauty of the island, but especially the people.

Thanks also, of course, to all of you who have helped FIBO to continue its work, by visiting, volunteering or joining the Friends of Fair Isle.

I'll try to complete a more thorough summary of the year later, but as a brief look back, 2013 will be remembered from an ornithological point of view as another poor year for most seabirds but an excellent one for rare migrants. A regular dose of rarities (although a lack of many large falls) has brought us over 70 descriptions (around  half of them for BBRC), a current year list of around 212, with over 3500 birds (of over 110 species) ringed and two additions to the Fair Isle list (Swinhoe's Petrel and Red-eyed Vireo taking the island list to 381: with a few potential splits maybe on the cards [my money is on the Subalpine Warblers, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, and hopefully Eastern Grasshopper Warbler, with a few geese maybe to come as well] I wonder how long it will take to get to 400?).

Today's plans for a quiet day were somewhat scuppered by the appearance of Killer Whales actually in North Haven. The five animals then spent a few hours hunting seals from Buness to North Light, although they often went missing for spells. What a way to end the season! 

Dum, dum. Dum dum. Du du duu du, du du duu du...



...DA DA DA DAAA.
When Killer Whales are too close to fit in frame, you know it's been a good day.

The North Haven regularly holds small numbers of Grey Seals and, once they are trapped in there by a pack of hunting Killer Whales, their only escape is to stay in very shallow water or haul out onto land. A surge in Killer Whale sightings late in the autumn seems unusual, but perhaps there is a group in the area that knows the seals are vulnerable as they pup and mate on beaches around the island.

Not all the seals were quick enough to get out of the way; the Whales' first foray into North Haven was soon accompanied by a cloud of gulls and a few chunks of floating flesh, evidence of a succesful kill.

Hopefully the photographs may enable us to learn more about the history of these individuals. Five animals were involved in today's sightings, including one adult male and at least one probable immature male.



Don't look behind you! The group then moved into Furse where they spent around half an hour circling this seal trying to dislodge it from its tiny haven.

The scale of these enormous beasts was readily apparent as they repeatedly circled just below the cliffs.

Tail-slapping by one individual in particular may have been a signal to other members of the group, or perhaps it was an attempt to startle the seal and get it to make a break from its precarious position.

 

Close runs by the rock may have been intended to try to wash the seal into the water. At times, all the whales would head off slightly and seemingly regroup, before charging back in. It was as if they were having a little meeting away from the seal's earshot to discuss their next move!

The tense stand off amazingly saw the seal hold its nerve and remain on the rock until after the Killer Whales were well clear (by the time they returned 15 minutes or so later it had gone - and presumably had quite a story to tell all its seal friends). They came back into the Havens at least half a dozen times during the afternoon, presumably hoping to surprise another seal, although they weren't seen to kill anything else.

The bull would occasionally hold back and seemingly watch the rest of the group as they hunted.

After a last, brief pass through the North Haven, the group were last seen heading out past North Light. It's been a tremendous year for Killer Whale sightings, with each one proving an exhilarating experience (not least for Becki, who first spotted them in the North Haven from the Obs lounge window). At one stage, we left Grace at the window to watch out for their return - her prompt shouts enabled us all to get more good views as they made their final return into the North Haven! Whale-spotter is not a bad addition to the CV for a four year old!

A quick update on birds as well from the last few days, which has felt very much like the end of the autumn. A few arrivals still occurred, with Red-breasted Flycatcher and 2 Linnet (27th), and a day of finch movement on 28th brought a new Bullfinch (which remained to 31st), 5 Greenfinch and 3 Crossbill. On 31st there was a Long-eared Owl (in another quiet autumn for the species) and 31 Woodcock. Lingering birds included the Olive-backed Pipit (to 31st), Richard’s Pipit (to 29th). Other lingering species included up to 209 Snow Buntings, 2 Lapland Buntings, small numbers of Common Redpolls, up to 2 Grey Wagtail, a Tree Sparrow (still present from the late spring), up to 2 Black Redstart and small numbers of Blackcap (although the last Chiffchaff so far was seen on 29th). There was a noticeable clearout of thrushes on 31st as the birding started to settle into the winter routine.

Typically, a few white-wingers started to appear with up to 2 Glaucous Gulls (an adult and juv) and a first-winter Iceland Gull (1st), whilst Little Auks on 28th and 31st were also typical for the time of year (although the latter heading over the Kirk was less typical). A Great Northern Diver, up to 23 Long-tailed Ducks and a Sooty Shearwater (from the Good Shepherd on 29th) were the highlights from the sea, whilst the marshy areas yielded an impressive 132 Snipe (28th) with up to 5 Jack Snipe amongst them. A few Whooper Swans and small groups of Pink-footed Geese passed through, whilst a Hen Harrier lingered to 1st at least.

Early November can turn up some cracking rarities, but if the strong SW winds and rain that have set in today continue tomorrow I may well take advantage of the end of the season and have a lie-in and an afternoon listening to the football (which is suddenly looking a bit better as a Sunderland fan, although I'll not upset our many visiting Geordies by saying why)!