The Deskbound Birder: Fair Isle

Showing posts with label Fair Isle. Show all posts

Friday, 12 June 2015

Fair Isle and Shetland - 1st June

I awoke at 04:00 to head out but it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale so I went back to sleep until 05:00 but it was still raining heavily, I eventually got up at 05:40 and headed out into the field in a now stiff south-west wind with occasional heavy, squally showers. Heading down to the south of the island this was my last morning to find a mega. I decided to mainly bird the road as after a nights rain the fields and ditches were very wet, I walked as far south as Shirva. At the shop a pallid looking bird flicked over the wall from the garden and circled around me to land back in the garden, a Common Rosefinch. One had been heard yesterday and seen briefly this morning at Haa, I presumed this was the same bird. A summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit was mixed with the non-breeding flock of 61 Oystercatcher present in the field opposite the shop. I headed back to breakfast seeing very little on the way.

After breakfast I pretty much repeated my earlier walk with a diversion to Pund. When I reached the shop I had another look for the Rosefinch, I heard it singing and then eventually obtained good views of it perched on the boundary fence of the shop garden and on the road. It was flushed and flew to Lower Stoney Breck so I followed it to try and obtain some better photographs. It was showing fairly well feeding on Dandelion seeds so I rattled some shots off, some more birders appeared over the ridge and I waved them down and they joined me. The Rosefinch sang some more, quite a beautiful song for a bit of a heap bird. I then glimpsed an Acrocephalus warbler in the Rose beds in the garden, on my brief view I thought it to be a Reed Warbler but the next view when it was more in the open I was struck by its general palor and lack of rufous tones – it had to be a Marsh Warbler or Blyth’s Reed. Over the next hour or so we got brief in flight views and a brief view of it perched on a gate. As I was leaving for my 11:50 flight the bird flew and became 'trapped' against a fruit cage, I instinctively raised my camera and rattled off as many shots as I could while the bird flapped against the fruitcage. The wing formula in the shot below helped to nail the identification - the beauty of a digital-SLR.

Common Rosefinch - At the shop

Common Rosefinch - Feeding on Dandelion at Lower Stoney Breck

Common Rosefinch - Lower Stoney Breck

Marsh Warbler - Lower Stoney Breck. Note the cold yellowish tones, long primaries with pale tips and long bill

Marsh Warbler - Lower Stoney Breck

Marsh Warbler - Lower Stoney Breck. The lack of an margination on P4

eliminates Blyth's Reed Warbler

My flight left more or less on time at 11:50 and I was joined by Keith Pellow who had come off early after seeing a poor forecast tomorrow which looked as if it would ground all off-island transportation. We picked up my hire car at Tingwall and headed down to Boddam towards the south of the island where a Corncrake had been present. Within 10 minutes or so the bird began calling and over the next 45 minutes we had great views of the bird which has been reported as being very showy although it wasn't as showy when we were there as others had reported. We then headed further south to Loch of Hilliwell where up to two Ring-necked Duck had been present recently we scanned through the Shoveler (1), Pintail (2) Tufted Duck (8), Whooper Swan (6) and Wigeon (2) and eventually located the male Ring-necked Duck preening on the near (but still rather distant) shoreline. I picked up a Quail calling in the fields below but it was distant and difficult to pinpoint and despite trying to get closer we had to call it a day. I dropped Keith at the Sumburgh Hotel and headed for my flight to Aberdeen at 16:35, my onward flight from Aberdeen to London was delayed and I departed at 19:05 rather than 18:35, I was home by 21:30. While my list of birds lacked the mega I had hoped for I had a great trip and I have to say the Arctic Skua's on Fair Isle stole it as my birds of the trip - hands down!

Corncrake - In full 'crex'

Corncrake - In typical lurking pose

See Also:

Fair Isle - October 2014

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Fair Isle - 31st May

The forecast from last night came true and I awoke at 05:30 to a sunny morning and a stiff easterly wind blowing. The sun was shining and expectations were high. I bumped into David Parnaby as I left the observatory, David had had the nets open since the first hours of daylight and had caught a Blackcap and a Dunnock, both new birds in so I decided to head off south before breakfast. I birding along the road bumping into a chap at the plantation who was staying at the south light, he mentioned a Great White Egret he had seen at Da Water and we both wondered how rare the species was on the island although both of us assumed that they must be fairly rare so I sent a text back to the observatory and went to have a look at the bird. As I walked around the corner by the school I saw the bird being harassed by Lapwing and almost immediately it saw me it took flight circled above me and disappearing to the south over Malcolm’s Head. I decided to bird back to the observatory for breakfast via the east coast, Field Ditch, Bulls Park and the Gully seeing a couple of Redwing, Blackcap and Raven but little else. Back at the observatory my text had not been received and when I mentioned the egret not only was it the first Great White Egret but it was the first egret of any species recorded on the island, the observatory team dashed down the island and fortunately they had the bird fly north and disappear over Ward Hill. The bird spent the rest of the day commuting between various water areas in the south of the island.

After breakfast I birded Pund, Gilly Burn, Lower Leogh, across to Ha and then back up the eastern road via Da Water. The sky had clouded over and the wind was now a strong easterly and pretty cold to boot and it made birding a little difficult, I certainly got the impression that while the easterlies may have delivered a few birds they were definitely hunkered down. Numbers were low with four Chiffchaff, two Blackcap, a flock of 34 Oystercatcher and that was pretty much it. Huge expectations on an easterly wind but with nothing to show for it.

At 13:30 it started to rain and I had an extended lunch finding it difficult to get motivated after high expectations came crashing down with a relatively birdless morning. The rain got heavier and heavier and there was little motivation amongst the observatory birders. Eventually I headed out in pouring rain at just gone 16:00 and walked from the observatory a short way up the Hill Dyke. The birds that I saw were sheltering on the leyward side of the wall, Wheatear and Twite and a single Whitethroat.

And that was it, an easterly wind on Fair Isle, peak spring season and the highlight a Great White Egret, a first for Fair Isle but not quite what I had hoped for. There is always tomorrow……

Great White Egret - A first for Fair Isle and the first egret of any species on the island

And here are some shots taken on my iPhone of island scenery from the last few days:

Sheep Rock from the Observatory

Hjuknie Geo

North Raeva

South of the Island

Croft Land in the South of the Island

South Light

Buness

North Light from the Mast

See Also:

Fair Isle - October 2014

Saturday, 6 June 2015

Fair Isle - 30th May

I was up at 05:30 and headed out to the south of the island before breakfast. As I left the observatory a female Ring Ouzel was feeding on the grass beside the observatory garden, it quickly flew high, circled and dropped back into the observatory garden. I then birded the gully, Bulls Park, Field Ditch and Chalet seeing very little other than the everyday species. I headed back for breakfast at 08:30 and then out again to the south of the island birding down the road and then out to Rippack, down Walli Burn out to the South Harbour and then back north. The weather was glorious, bright sunshine and a light north-westerly but birds were very thin on the ground beyond the resident and breeding species.

After lunch I decided to head to the north of the island for a change of scenery. First, I visited North Haven and spent time photographing the Arctic Tern and Black Guillemot, the latter were catching large goby of some type and were showing well from the jetty. I wandered up to the North Lighthouse via Wirvie Burn and Golden Water and chilled out at the lighthouse for 20 minutes for a little seawatching. It was exceptionally clear and mainland Shetland was very clear and Foula could be seen, the later approximately 50 miles away. There was little to be seen on the water. The Gannet colony on Kirki Stack was busy and on Easter Lother Water there were three Swallow and three Sand Martin feeding while 20 Bonxie bathed in the water. I continued up to the mast through the Bonxie and Arctic Skua colony before dropping back down to the road via Swey and back to the observatory.

Arctic Skua - Pale phase

Redwing - A late bird was hanging around the plantation area

Arctic Skua - A watched these two birds in high speed pursuit that lasted for at least 5 minutes and ranged from the observatory down to the plantation covering much of the centre of the island. All images I have show the birds in the same wing position in almost perfect synchronisation. I am not sure if this was a territorial dispute or a form of display flight - probably the former

Lapwing - A pair was present at Da Water

Starling were busy feeding chicks which were still in their nest holes scattered around the many walls on the island

Ringed Plover - Seven were present at the south light

Fulmar - South Light

Oystercatcher - A few pairs (perhaps 10 in the south) were scattered around the island, this one at South Light

Oystercatcher egg on top of a wall, there were two eggs in this nest right next to the road

Arctic Skua - Pale phase

Arctic Tern - South Haven

Arctic Tern with large Sand Eel - South Haven

Black Guillemot with a large goby in South Haven

Black Guillemot - South Haven

Fulmar - On very soggy looking nest amongst Sea Campion, Spring Squill and Thrift

near to North Light

Various shots of Bonxie near to the masts in the north of the island. The second and third images showing birds in display and the final on a bombing raid

See Also:

Fair Isle - October 2014

Thursday, 4 June 2015

Fair Isle - 29th May

After a much needed sleep I went through the 05:45 alarm and woke at 06:30, the sun was already shining and the wind was a light south-westerly, not ideal weather for a mega but this was Fair Isle. I started the day with a walk over Buness seeing a distant summer plumaged Great-northern Diver and enjoying the Arctic Tern colony which were just in the process of building their nest scrapes. I had some very good views of Bonxie which seemed particularly confiding. After breakfast I headed south down the island, I headed out to Pund and down the Gilly Burn and spent some time sitting on the cliff and staring into Hjukni Geo where birds often gather amongst the flotsam and jetsam on the beach. There was a single Chiffchaff and a couple of Wheatear. I went onto the north and south Raeva’s but there was little here, news broke of a female Bluethroat at Bulls Park so I cut north-east diagonally across the island seeing three Barnacle Geese on the way. When I arrived there was no sign of the bird so I began hunting for it along the walls running along the north and the south of Bulls Park, eventually there it was feeding along the foot of the wall to the north of Bulls Park. I spent around 1.5 hours with the bird, it mainly fed along the foot of the wall and around puddles at the foot of the wall but on one occasion it headed further out into the field and fed amongst the grassland and within the ploughed field of the Bull Park.

After lunch I headed back to the south of the island mainly walking down the road. I spent much of the afternoon around the south of the island photographing Purple Sandpiper (3), Dunlin (2) and Turnstone (6) in the western area of South Harbour. I also paid a visit to the Oysterplant that occur on the beach at Muckle Uri Geo which were just about in flower. I then wandered back up north seeing very little new on the way, a bird that I flushed at the Chalet flew towards Pund I could not initially identify it, so chased it up and it proved to be a Tree Pipit which showed fairly well feeding in the mire to the east of Pund. A short diversion to look for the Bluethroat at Bull Park produced a blank.