Good Will Bunting

30^th April – 2^nd May

Cretzschmar's Bunting (photo by Steve Minton). It's been showing well!

Although it is still roaming the island and can be elusive at times - it took Grace three attempts to catch up with it, but she finally did after dinner on Wednesday.

For the most part, it’s been the same birds present, which has kept several people very happy indeed, with three charter planes having come up for the Bunting/Stonechat double as well as a few Shetland birders having come across. There are planes due in Saturday and Sunday as well if the Bunting hangs around, although surely it’s going to realise this isn’t the east Mediterranean soon?

Charters one, two and three coming into land. All left happy after good weather and good birds.

It’s been a remarkable spring in many ways, not least of which has been the long-staying tendency
of several of the birds, with the Cretzschmar’s Bunting, Caspian Stonechat, 2 Short-toed Lark, 3 Wryneck, Kumlien’s Gull all lingering to 2^nd at least and the Red-breasted Flycatcher and Great Grey Shrike staying to 1^st. Another long-stayer was the Eastern Subalpine Warbler, which surprised everyone by reappearing in South Felsigeo on 2^nd – its half grown tail and shiny BTO ring leaving no doubt to the fact it is the same bird.

The Caspian Stonechat has continued to show very well.

The Short-toed Larks have been a bit harder to catch up with - this is the flighty Meoness bird.

There have also been new arrivals, although not on the same scale as the now famous 27^th April. Chief amongst them has been our earliest ever red-spotted Bluethroat (a male in the Walli Burn on 30^th April – 1^st May), our fifth ever spring Richard’s Pipit (1^st), Goosander in South Harbour (30^th and our first of the year, rounding off a very good month for ducks) and only the second Waxwing of the year (2^nd).
There have also been a reasonable scatter of migrants around, with Greenshank (30^th), 18 Barnacle Geese (1^st), 2 Black-tailed Godwit and Goldfinch (2^nd) noted amongst the more regular warblers, thrushes and finches which have remained in reasonable numbers.

A good scatter of common migrants has included several Redstarts.

This female Wheatear was ringed in autumn 2012 as an adult and has returned both years since to the area by the Finnequoy mills where she presumably breeds.

After a couple of days of cooler northerly based winds, we’re set to enjoy another spell of south-easterlies for the next few days. The charts seem to show that these won’t be quite as productive as the weather that swept rarities all the way from the far reaches of the continent, but with clear sky over the coast of France and mainland Europe and a wind to drift things across the North Sea, we’ll surely be expecting a few more birds. Whether it will be enough to bring back any of the folks who’ve popped in once already this week remains to be seen…

The 100 year old Statsraad Lehmkuhl passing the Obs on her way back to Bergen this week and providing a distraction from birds for a short while.

Cretzschmarvelous.

28^th-29^th April
After the mixed feelings of the 27th, when dipping a 5th for Britain was only partially compensated for by finding another 5th for Britain (I can find reference to records in 1985 in Cornwall, 1993 in Suffolk, 2006 on Shetland and the Scilly bird last autumn, so my previous reference to the Caspian being a 6th for Britain may have been wrong – let me know if you know otherwise) and a fantastic day’s birding, Sunday saw us determined to track down the Cretzschmar’s. We were given fresh hope when checking the references on the previous records saw mention of the fact they were both elusive (and indeed the first bird wasn’t seen for three days after being discovered) and that they often frequented heathery areas and cliff edges. Surely we hadn’t overlooked it yesterday by skimping on coverage of Brecks and the Rippack…? However, against that was the ‘big bird blindness’ that had affected the Wardening team so far, with the literally big birds (Crane, Buzzard and Hen Harrier) all being missed and now being joined by the ‘big bird’ in the more conventional birding sense of the term.
After the planned Tystie survey was abandoned due to fog, the Wardening team swept across the areas less well covered on 27th, but to no effect. Eventually, we decided on the best option being to get back to regular census and hope it would turn up somewhere for us…
Things started well after lunch, when the fog cleared for good and a ringtail Hen Harrier was picked up circling over Ward Hill, perhaps most significantly it was seen by the whole team – the ‘big bird blindness’ had gone, surely that was a good omen! 

The second Hen Harrier of the spring circled over Ward Hill with a few Bonxies, but was generally ignored as it gained height and headed north towards Shetland.

About 15 minutes after receiving a text to that effect from Ciaran, I took a call from Richard, ‘I’ve got the bunting, it’s in the Gilly Burn feeding with a Wryneck’. A smooth scrambling of vehicles and people saw everyone catching up with it shortly afterwards and enjoying great views in the sun of a stonking male Cretzschmar's Bunting. If Deryk’s pictures yesterday had been jaw-dropping, the field views were awesome – it was so blue and orange! A couple of Shetland birders took advantage of the Good Shepherd sailing a day early (to avoid high seas on Tuesday) to get in to the island late on and enjoy great views in Boini Mire for a couple of hours before dusk.  It was present again on 29th, usually in Boini Mire, although it could go missing for periods as it presumably wandered the island again. What a bird and what a great start to the spring!

Cretzschmar's Bunting. An absolute stunner (photo by Roger Riddington).

The general theme for the 28th was of birds lingering, with not much new in: the Caspian Stonechat, Red-breasted Flycatcher, 2 of the Short-toed Larks, Great Grey Shrike, 5 Wryneck, Blue-headed Wagtail and Tree Sparrow all still present, whilst slight increases were noted for Swallow (38), Sand Martin (6), Blackcap (27) and Lesser Whitethroat (6), all enjoyed in the lovely sunshine of a perfect spring afternoon (temperatures soared to about 12 degrees), surely this is one of the best ever spells for April on Fair Isle?

The Caspian Stonechat showing its distinctive tail pattern. Of the four previous records, three were autumn birds, with the only previous spring record being found by Roger Riddington and Paul Harvey at Virkie (just 'up the road' from Fair Isle) in May 2006 (photo by Roger Riddington).

The morning text from Paul Harvey (one of the successful twitchers, along with Roger Riddington) that there was a flighty male Mandarin in South Harbour on 29th was, technically at least, the most significant from a Fair Isle point of view, being only the second island record (the Caspian Stonechat currently languishes as the 42nd Siberian Stonechat for the island, although it would be nice to think there was a chance of a split in the future…) but was dipped by a slightly groggy (the bunting celebrations perhaps going on a little later than ideal) FIBO team. I think it’s safe to say that, nice bird though I’m sure it was, if we were going to miss anything this week, that’s probably the one that we’re least concerned about!
The day went on to produce a similar total to the 28th, with the Cretzschmar’s and Caspian Stonechat both leading the line, and 2 Short-toed Larks, 4 Wrynecks, Great Grey Shrike, Blue-headed Wagtail (with a female flava Wag also present), Tree Sparrow and 2 Iceland Gulls all present, but there were perhaps a few more arrivals, with Short-eared Owl, Goldcrest, 2 Grey Wagtail, 4 Siskin, 12 Reed Buntings, 3 Pink-footed Geese and 35 Purple Sandpipers all new (or increased in numbers), along with a slight rise in Blackbirds and Robins.

Another gratuitous Cretzschmar's Bunting shot. After being so elusive for 24 hours, it showed very well in Boini Mire at times later (photo by Roger Riddington).

The Caspian Stonechat went missing for a large part of 29th, before being seen at Burkle in the afternoon, and adding another species to Deryk's impressive garden list!

There are still reasonable numbers of common migrants around. This Collared Dove was flushed from Dronger before sheltering in Wester Lother. Given the other birds present this week, it's tempting to wonder whether this bird could have come from somewhere in the Middle East and be a 'pioneer', like the birds that first colonised the UK 60 or so years ago. We had news back from the BTO recently that a Collared Dove ringed on Fair Isle in July 2013 was found dead in northern Highland earlier this month.

Small numbers of Snow Buntings are also still scattered around, with the males appearing increasingly monochrome.

 The main surprise was a Little Bunting near Steensi Geo, the first spring record since 2010. With early records of Red-flanked Bluetail (possibly 2), Red-breasted Flycatcher and this, there seems to be some backing of the theory that a good autumn for eastern migrants, followed by a mild winter, may result in records of those species returning north. With north-easterly winds for a day or two yet, will there be more, and what will be next: Olive-backed Pipit? Yellow-browed Warbler? or something even rarer?  It feels like anything is possible at the moment…

It's not all about the rares; the seabird breeding season will shortly be upon us and Puffins are now back in good numbers. Hopefully the birds and weather will coincide to allow us to have a full count of the island population this week, which may give an indication of whether the winter storms have had an effect on our numbers; we recently received news of two more of our birds (ringed as a chick in 1998 and an adult in 2010) found dead in France this winter.

 

Bunting tells me I'm into something good.

27th April

Cretching: the terrible feeling resulting in having missed a major bird, from the ‘churning’ and ‘wretching’ feeling felt in the pit of the stomach

Well, where to start? The day began well, with a calm, sunny day and Ciaran finding a Short-toed Lark in the Havens before breakfast. More migrants were around and the next highlight was found by Richard just before lunch – a Red-breasted Flycatcher at Burkle.

The Red-breasted Flycatcher that started everything off today...

All good so far and, when Sunderland won 4-0 at lunchtime, it seemed like the day was just perfect, what could possibly go wrong...
Then things started to get a bit crazy. Deryk phoned to say he had a Cretzschmar’s Bunting at Burkle! Amazing stuff and the FIBO team were soon on hand, but sadly a few moments too late – the bird had flown. It turned out that Deryk had been photographing the Red-breasted Fly (an addition to his Burkle list no less), when the bunting crawled out the grass in front of him. Lucky? Well yes, but birding generally involves a fair chunk of being in the right place at the right time and if anyone has earned their birding luck on Fair Isle it’s Deryk.


Wow. A nice surprise to find in your garden (well, lambing paddock next to the house). Photo: Deryk Shaw

Although Fair Isle has recorded half of the previous British records of Cretzschmar's Bunting, this is the first since 1979. Photo: Deryk Shaw

We set off scouring the suitable bunting habitat in the area (which is most of the island it turns out), but despite six solid hours of pacing fields, ditches, beaches and anywhere else that looked like it might prove a hidey hole for this outrageous eastern rarity, there was no sign of Fair Isle’s third, and Britain’s fifth, Cretzschmar’s.
However, with all the attention being paid to the south of the island coinciding with more birds clearly arriving, it was no surprise that more was found. There were several sightings of Wrynecks, a Short-toed Lark at Midway was proved to be a second bird when the original was found back on Buness, then a third was discovered on Meoness, and there were generally migrants scattered across the island. With hope (and light) fading, a very pale Stonechat hopped up onto a fence at the Meadow Burn, before turning and showing a pure white rump and, most importantly, a ‘wheatear’ tail pattern. A Caspian Stonechat, the sixth for Britain, and not a bad consolation prize for a whole day in the field.

The intial view showing the distinctive tail pattern.

The huge white collar and white rump were obvious.

A really smart bird and a better way to end the day after the despondancy of missing a huge rare.

The overall pale appearance and orange restricted to the upper chest made for a distinctive bird even before the diagnostic tail pattern was seen.

 

The left wing appeared not to show any damage, which would  suggest that this was not the bird seen in Sweden and Norway recently, which had a chunk missing from the seventh primary (despite that birds trajectory putting it directly on course for a Fair Isle visit).

The Wardening team had a late dinner (a meze style meal, that seemed have been put on particularly to mock our epic dip of a species from the same part of the world as the food) before an entertaining Log trying to get the correct totals of migrants made more complicated by the criss-crossing of the island by all of the team.
The final totals for the day made for an outstanding read, especially for April, with: CRETZSCHMAR’S BUNTING, CASPIAN STONECHAT, Eastern Subalpine Warbler, 3 Short-toed Lark, Red-breasted Flycatcher, 7 Wryneck, Great Grey Shrike, Blue-headed Wagtail, 33 Willow Warbler, 32 Chiffchaff, 25 Blackcap, 3 Sedge Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Whitethroat, 10 Redstart, 3 Black Redstart, Whinchat, 5 Pied Flycatcher, 27 Tree Pipit, 13 Ring Ouzel, 167 Fieldfare, 9 Redwing, 33 Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, 28 Robin, 6 Dunnock, 22 White Wagtail, Tree Sparrow, 51 Brambling, 8 Common Redpoll, Crossbill, Chaffinch, 12 Reed Bunting, 13 Snow Bunting, 41 Swallow, 6 House Martin, 2 Sand Martin, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Jack Snipe, 7 Whimbrel, Kumlien’s Gull, Iceland Gull, 174 Wheatear, 204 Meadow Pipit, 2 Linnet, 2 Collared Dove, 7 Woodpigeon and 2 Tufted Duck.

The second Short-toed Lark of the day, near Midway. After two years of single records, three in a day is a good haul.

Wrynecks are also enjoying a very good spring, this one at South Harbour was joined by another later in the day.

More easterlies tomorrow could deliver more birds, but I’d settle for the Cretzschmar’s being refound – I’d swap the four Sunderland goals today for another chance at it (well, three of them maybe). Clutching at straws, there’s never been a one-day Cretzschmar’s Bunting on Fair Isle (or elsewhere in Britain) so, if there’s still hope that Sunderland won’t get relegated, there’s still hope for us refinding this outstanding mega.

Anas mirabilis

26th April
‘Gadwall going north over the Havens, I’m watching it to see if it lands’. Quite an exciting way to start the day, but Richard’s early morning call was to get even better, ‘IT’S TURNED, IT’S HEADING SOUTH!’. Suddenly, one of my Fair Isle bogey birds was potentially gettable. Sure enough, a quick dash downstairs and, as Richard’s live commentary continued, it turned north again and went bombing over the Good Shepherd. Although I was peering into the sun, the silhouette was distinctive enough (well, it was good enough for a Fair Isle tick, I’d probably not have got a description of it past a committee) and I had my second Anatidae addition to my Fair Isle list in two days.

A Gadwall that presumably looks similar to the one Richard found - although this is one of my holiday photos from Tenerife, not the Fair Isle bird, of which I had slightly less convincing views. It was the first Fair Isle Gadwall since 2011.

The decent early start to the day continued with a couple of Green Sandpipers and a Lesser Whitethroat added to the year list, but then things slowed down as the fresh north-easterly wind brought some heavy showers and conditions deteriorated. Highlights seen before the rain set in included two Wrynecks (one of which may have been newly arrived) and a Great Grey Shrike (which was later trapped in the Vaadal).

Our second Great Grey Shrike of the spring and also the second to be ringed. Spring records are scarcer than autumn ones and this is only the second spring since 1993 to record more than one.

There appeared to have been a clear out of many migrants, with the only increased counts noted being the 9 Tree Pipits and 3 Jack Snipe.

Although Brambling numbers decreased, there were still at least 40 around, with many of them feeding around the Obs.

A few Mealy Common Redpoll also lingered around the Obs. Measurements of trapped birds so far suggests that the recent arrival has been of relatively small Mealies, perhaps suggesting a more southern origin than some of the larger, frostier autumn birds we often get.

Sunday seems set fair for easterlies and sunshine, although it may well bring fog later on, then we're due to have northerlies for a lot of the week, which is likely to slow down migration. However, Dave Wheeler has suggested that by the end of next week, we could have a return to the south-easterlies which seem to have been prevalent this year. It's already been a good start, but easterlies in May could see things getting even more interesting...

Cheers!

26th April 

Butterfish, butterfish, ra ra ra.

We thought that today could bring more birds, and when 40 Brambling erupted from the garden in the morning and 8 Mealy Redpolls were at the feeders, it looked like we were right! Census in a moderate easterly breeze and fairly regular drizzle was certainly producing the goods, with several migrants scattered around the island. As the skies finally cleared just before lunch, it seemed that we could be in for a good afternoon and that prediction was swiftly realised when Ciaran found a pair of Garganey on Da Water. Not only were these just the 22^nd and 23^rd individuals of this delightful duck to make it to Fair Isle, but they were also a Fair Isle tick for me (which you may well remember meant I could have a pint for the first time since 4^th March!).

Quack! The first Fair Isle Garganeys since 2010 and the first multiple record since 2000.

Other highlights from the morning included year ticks in the form of Pied Flycatcher and Whitethroat (with three of each seen), whilst Great Grey Shrikes were at Gilsetter and the Mast (presumably the same bird, although I suspect that more than one may have been involved in recent sightings) and Wrynecks were at Linni Geo and Roskillie.

The Great Grey Shrike near the Mast, with an accompaniment of Meadow Pipits and Wheatear.

It was straight back into the field in the afternoon and amongst the migrants present, were the first Blue-headed Wagtail (a fine male in the Havens then later at Utra), Arctic Skua and Sedge Warbler of the year, whilst another Wryneck was found, this time at South Harbour.
Not a bad day all in all, but things got even better when the nets, which had been opened in the hope of ringing some of the many finches around, produced a hitherto unseen male Eastern Subalpine Warbler late in the evening.

With a contrast between the brick red throat and the paler underparts and the chunky 'moustache', the Subalpine Warbler looked good for 'Eastern', although the tail pattern appeared ambiguous. However, most of the tail was regrowing, having been lost earlier in the spring, which made interpretting the details more difficult. (photo: Ciaran Hatsell)

The final totals of a very impressive day were:
Eastern Subalpine Warbler, 2 Garganey, Great Grey Shrike, 3 Wryneck, Blue-headed Wagtail, 285 Brambling,  44 Ring Ouzel, 321 Fieldfare, 57 Song Thrush, 11 Redstart, 4 Black Redstart, 7 Tree Pipit,  25 White Wagtail, 7 Crossbill, 10 Common Redpoll, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 22 Chiffchaff, 17 Willow Warbler, 15 Blackcap, 19 Swallow, 3 House Martin, Red-throated Diver, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Kestrel, 2 Arctic Skua, Common Sandpiper, Short-eared Owl, 15 Teal, 64 Snipe, 95 Common Gulls, Iceland Gull and 12 Black-headed Gulls.

House Martin. It's almost art, but mostly it's just out of focus. I must try to take some better pictures tomorrow.

Although Saturday is likely to be quite windy, it’s still from the east and calmer conditions on Sunday could make for a very promising weekend (I’m not quite as optimistic about the football, but at least I’ll be able to drown my sorrows now!).

Building up...

24th April
We went for a good mix of weathers today, with fog and a strong south-easterly, then clearing visibility as the wind eased slightly before fog returned, then brought rain with it, then cleared a bit before the rain became heavier as night fell. Although early indications were that there was perhaps not that much new, things started picking up later on and the prospects are looking very promising for tomorrow.

Not quite a migrant at every turn today, but by the evening, there were certainly birds starting to pop up across the island.

A Hawfinch over Schoolton was the best of the new migrants and a Great Grey Shrike at Hesti Geo was presumably yesterday’s bird relocating down the island (although given its location and the conditions, a new arrival wouldn’t be out of the question). Also new were the first Grasshopper Warbler and House Martin of the year (both in the famous ‘Wirvie triangle’), whilst an Arctic Tern fishing in North Haven late on was also the first of 2014. Migrants increasing in numbers included 6 Redstart, 10 Willow Warbler, 19 Ring Ouzel, 28 Fieldfare, 16 Brambling, 5 Mealy Redpoll, 10 Reed Bunting, 9 Swallow, 2 Siskin and Grey Wagtail. Surely with that cast, there’s something even better waiting to be found in the morning…
Other birds adding to the interest today including the Kumlien’s and Iceland Gulls, 4 Whimbrel, 2 Jack Snipe, 5 Dunlin, 2 Tufted Duck, Whinchat and 21 Snow Bunting.
Unbelievably, there are still easterlies forecast for a few days yet and, with lighter winds and hopefully improved visibility tomorrow, there’s a growing feeling of ‘anything could happen’.

Wry, Wry, Wry, Delightful

21st-23rd April

Oysterplant in Muckle Uri Geo.

Although the wind remained from an easterly direction, the rest of the weather proved a bit of a mixed bag and hampered the birding at times. Fog on Monday cleared in the evening, then a clear day on Tuesday also saw a rather harsh NE wind before a very promising start on Wednesday was quickly overshadowed by thick fog coming in from the start of census.
The poor visibility on 21^st felt as if it was stopping us unleashing the potential of the easterly winds, with new migrants including the first Tree Pipit of the year, a Stonechat, Grey Wagtail and Black Redstart presumably the tip of the iceberg of what was out there. A few wildfowl and waders were also located, including 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Goldeneye, 4 Whimbrel and an impressive peak of 106 Golden Plover, whilst lingering birds included a Stock Dove and Redstart.
Migrants had clearly increased on 22^nd, but were not easy to find in the strong blustery wind, with the first Wryneck of the year in South Raeva the highlight. There was also a Short-eared Owl, the first Common Sandpiper of the spring, 2 Goldcrest, Tree Pipit, 2 Kestrel and peaks of 8 Willow Warbler and 12 Brambling, whilst other sightings included a badly oiled male Peregrine (possibly the remnant of the breeding pair suffering from skirmishing with Fulmars) and the lingering Kumlien’s and Iceland Gull (with the latter also present on 23^rd). Not a bad day, but it improved further with a timely call from Deryk (about 30 seconds before the start of Log!) to say he’d just had a Crane head north over Quoy. The Wardening team dashed out the Obs and scanned from various high points, whilst Susannah took the more measured and sensible approach of driving down the island with the guests and actually seeing the bird, which headed off towards Hoini into the gathering darkness and out of sight by the time the Wardens made it down the island. Ah well, hopefully there’ll be others this year!
A slightly calmer wind and clear skies saw no sign of the Crane on the early morning of 23^rd, but it was clear there were more birds in, with the morning traps and nets producing a lively selection including a Wryneck, 2 Ring Ouzels and a Redstart.

The Wryneck caught in the Plantation this morning was an early sign that it was going to be a good day.

However, with the wind swinging slightly towards the SE, a real pea-souper came in and birding became quite difficult for most of the day (and pretty much impossible in the North). Still, with birds having arrived early on and a few things probably still dropping in during the day, a healthy total was logged, with the highlights comprising 4 Wryneck, a Great Grey Shrike (the second of the spring) and the first Whinchat of the year.

Further Wrynecks were seen at South Harbour (the bird pictured), Field Ditch and Haa/Nether Taft. After a poor year in 2013 when only 3 were seen, it's good to have got the year off to such a positive start.

Other notable migrants included Redstart, Tree Pipit and Black Redstart, whilst several species increased in numbers and produced counts of 22 Chiffchaff, 16 Blackcap, 30 Robin, 14 Ring Ouzel, 26 Song Thrush, 9 Fieldfare, 5 Common Redpoll and 7 Reed Bunting, with two Kestrels (trying to hunt Twite from the Obs roof) and the lingering Black-tailed Godwit completing the roll call. So, a pretty impressive set of birds (especially considering it’s still only the third week of April) and the wind is set to stay in the east for a few days yet…