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.
Bonxie
Bonxie
Fulmar - Amazingly abundant on Fair Isle
Puffin
Pied Wagtail
Twite
Buoys in Hjuknie Geo
Barnacle Goose
Female Bluethroat at Bulls Park
Female Bluethroat at Bulls Park
Female Wheatear
Male Wheatear
Pale phase Arctic Skua
Pair of Dark Phase Arctic Skua
Pale phase Arctic Skua
Oysterplant at the South Light
Purple Sandpiper in summer plumage
Purple Sandpiper in summer plumage
Dunlin
Dunlin this bird appeared pale and short billed
Tree Pipit
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