Shetland Misfit: Great Tit

Showing posts with label Great Tit. Show all posts

Friday, 22 March 2013

Hell 'n' Dale 'n' That

Now that it's light enough in the morning to go birding after work, I've been checking Helendale, Clickimin and Seafield before the 9 O'clock bus home. This week was a bit like being back south, with 2 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Wood Pigeons and 3 Chaffinches in Helendale. Seafield a bit disappointing with just a few Redwings and Blackbirds.

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Blackbird

Sparrowhawk

Saturday, 31 December 2011

November

A few highlights from November -

Buzzard - over the patch on the 27/11, not only a year tick, but a patch tick !

The Great Tit remained in the garden until the 20/11.

Scaup, Gadwall, Pochard and Goldeneye - a nice selection for such a small Loch.

Short-eared Owl - 1-3 birds around the patch until the 19/11.

White-fronted Geese - 4 birds on the marshy bit behind the loch on 13/11 and 19/11.

A few other highlights were - Green-winged Teal on the 19/11 and a flyby Lapland Bunting on the13/11.

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Pom de Terror

Just as everything in the bay was getting used to not being harassed by Bonxies, a fine juv Pomarine Skua turns up, initially about 10 yards out to sea at the back of the Loch, and then kicking hell out of the Kittiwakes later on. Other than that the patch was pretty quiet with the Great Tit still in the garden along with a female Blackcap and 2 Robins, plus 4 Whooper Swans and the Little Grebe still on the Loch.

Pom Skua

Resident Great Tit

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Owl Town

At last the wind has died down a bit, only 25mph today as opposed to 45 yesterday. After noticing that the Great Tit was in the garden and flushing a Long-eared Owl out of the honeysuckle hedge, I set off around the patch. As soon as I got over the fence 6 Short-eared Owls came out of the field by the house, followed shortly afterwards by a Little Auk out from Scord Beach, and then the 'bastard bird' of the autumn - a locustella kicked up 3 times from the dunes by Scord, before it just disappeared into the marram grass, despite extensive tramping and thrashing the grasses with a stick, the bird was never seen again. Around the Old Scatness dig another 2 Short-eared Owls were put up, and anothe 3 came in off the sea down at the south end of Scatness - making 11 in total for the day ! Elsewhere around the patch were - 120 Barnacle Geese, a Robin, a Blackcap and a late Wheatear.

Short-eared Owls - inc a couple coming in off the sea

Great Tit

Barnacle Geese

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Tit Movement

After 2 days of south-easterly gales, birds are at last beginning to show up. I was a bit fired up yesterday after it was south-easterly all night, but all that was on the patch was 2 Fieldfare, a Redwing and a Skylark ! A bit better today, but still 40mph winds, with 100+ Fieldfares and 30 or so Redwings in the fields on the patch, but today the garden came up with the star bird - a Great Tit ! I know that may sound a bit crap to anyone from 'down south', but since I've been on Shetland, Great Tits have been rarer than Olive-backed Pipits ! And this is the second record for the garden, so I'm well overdue an OBP. Also in the garden were 2 Bramblings and a Blackcap.

Today's Great Tit

and the Great Tit from March 2006

Brambling

Redwing

About Me

Sometimes I try to do things but it just doesn't work out the way I want it to, and I get real frustrated and then like I try hard to do it, and I like, take my time but it just doesn't work out the way I want it to. It's like, I concentrate on it real hard, but it just doesn't work out. And everything I do and everything I try, it never turns out. It's like, I need time to figure these things out, but there's always someone there going “hey Steve, you know we've been noticing you've been having a lot of problems lately, you know? You need to maybe get away. And like, maybe you should talk about it, you'll feel a lot better.” And I'm all like “oh, nah, it's ok, you know. I'll figure it out. Just leave me alone, I'll figure it out, you know? I'm just working on it by myself.” And they go “well, you know, if you wanna talk about it, I'll be here, you know? And you'll probably feel a lot better if you talk about it. So why don't you talk about it?” I go “no, I don't want to! I'm ok. I'll figure it out myself!” But they just keep bugging me, they just keep bugging me, and it builds up inside.I was in my house and I was just like staring at the walls thinking about everything, but then again I was thinking about nothing. And then my wife came in, and I didn't even know she was there. She called my name and I didn't hear her and then she started screaming “Steve, Steve !” And I go “what ? What's the matter ?” She goes “what's the matter with you?” I go “there's nothing wrong” She’s all “don't tell me that ! You're on drugs !” I go “FFS, I'm not on drugs. I'm ok, I'm just thinking, you know? Why don't you get me a Pepsi?” She goes “No! You're on drugs!” I go “I'm ok. I'm just thinking.” She goes “No! You're not thinking, you're on drugs! Normal people don't be acting that way!” I go “just get me a Pepsi ! Please, all I want is a Pepsi !” And she wouldn't give it to me! All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me! Just a Pepsi !I'm sitting in my house, when a couple of my mates came in. they pulled up a chair and they sat down. They go “Steve, we need to talk to you.” And I go “ok, what's the matter?” They go “we've noticed that lately you've been having a lot of problems, and you've been going off on one for no reason, and we're afraid you're going to hurt somebody, and we're afraid you're going to hurt yourself. So we decided that it would be in your best interest if we put you somewhere where you could get the help that you need.” And I go “wait, what are you talking about, WE decided ? MY best interests ? How do you know what MY best interest is ? How can you say what MY best interest is ? What are you trying to say? I'm crazy ? They say they're gonna fix my brain. Alleviate my suffering and my pain. But by the time they fix my head, Mentally I'll be dead. They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to give me the needed professional help, to protect me from the enemy, myself !
Doesn't matter, I'll probably get hit by a car anyways !!!!