Still a tad breezy

The wind has dropped a little bit, it's only gusting 45mph now! Checked everywhere around the patch today - all the gardens, fields, every stone wall, all the cliffs, all the beaches, every nettle and thistle patch, the docks and everywhere around Old Scatness. Good totals for the day - 1 Bean Goose, 1 Brent Goose, 55 Barnacle Geese, 5 Whooper Swan, 1 Pintail, 70 Wigeon, 2 Short-eared Owl, 1 Wood Pigeon, 3 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 21 Song Thrush, 110 Redwing, 80 Fieldfare, 1 Reed Bunting (on the cliffs this time), 4 Siskin, 1 Common Redpoll, 2 Brambling, 1 Swallow, 3 Goldcrest, 13 Robin, 3 Woodcock, 2 Wheatear and the Pied Wheatear (now showing stupidly well in Stinky Geo).

Bean Goose

Brent Goose

Bramblings

Common Redpoll

Goldcrest

Pied Wheatear

Redwing

Song Thrush

Wheatear

Cliffs

Most of the birds were on the cliffs at Scatness today, I did all the cliffs from the end of the 'island' and worked my way north - 1 Ring Ouzel, 2 Wheatear, 6 Robins, 1 Brambling, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Linnet and a Common Redpoll all along half a mile of cliffs!
Around the rest of the patch - 2 Blackcap, 5 Whooper Swan, 2 Fieldfare, 12 Redwing, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Great Northern Diver and a Swallow.

Whooper Swans

Common Redpoll

Garden Birds

Sedge Warbler singing in the garden this morning and a Common Redpoll yesterday.

Common Redpoll

Sedge Warbler

Other Bits

A few other bits and bobs from Fair Isle -

Pied Flycatcher

Common Redpoll

Waxwing

Trickling in

On 12 hour nights from now on, so patching is restricted to the little time that I'm awake at home. A few new birds added to the year-list this week - Brambling, Willow Warbler, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Common Redpoll.

Brambling

Common Redpoll

REV

So, a first for Shetland on Unst ! Pissing with rain and blowing a gale, still ya gotta give it a go, so off to Vaylie on Unst for Red-eyed Vireo. After waiting for nearly 3 hours, finally got a good view of the little beast in the horse chestnut tree that it had be favouring - cracker ! Also kicking around Vaylie were 2 Common Redpoll and a few Willow Warblers. Cheers Robbie for letting me use your pics on here.

Red-eyed Vireo - top photo taken today, other two yesterday (copyright Robbie Brookes)

Common Redpoll

May Update

A bit of an update for May, Common Tern and Arctic Skua added to the year-list on the 5th and Whooper Swan and Swallow on the 7th. A bit of a fall took place on the 8th, with House Martin, male Pied Flycatcher, 2 Whitethroats, male Ring Ouzel, Dunnock, Redstart, Song Thrush, Lapland Bunting, 2 Tree Pipit and Wryneck on the patch, plus a long overdue garden tick - Reed Bunting ! Between the 17th and the months end a few more minor falls took place, Kestrel and Redpoll on the 17th, Crossbill and Common Rosefinch on the 20th,  2 Red-backed Shrikes, Icterine Warbler and Avocet on the 23rd and a Little Egret on the 30th.

Avocet

Common Rosefinch

Common Redpoll

Icterine Warbler

Little Egret

Lesser Whitethroat

Reed Bunting

Red-backed Shrikes

New and improved ?

With Blogger doing a new and improved version of things, it meant that for several days I couldn't do any updates, plus a couple of posts have gone missing into the ether, and finally, when everything was supposedly OK I couldn't log in !!!

So here's a summary from the last few weeks -



Common Redpoll - one in the garden for a few days, and a year-tick.




female Pintail on the Loch on 25/5




Barnacle Goose on the Loch for a few days towards the end of May




Garden Warbler in the Hotel Garden on 26/5




Icterine Warbler at Sumburgh Head on 26/5




Sedge Warbler in the garden on 26/5 - garden tick !!!




Whinchat - another year-tick on 26/5





Mutes Swans - up to 8 have been on the Loch during May




Wood Pigeon - the only migrant on 4/6