New Year

A few 'padders' around the patch on New Year's Day - 1w Glauc, 3 Skylark, a Meadow Pipit and a Shelduck as well as the usual winter stuff.
Merlin around the Garden on the 2nd and a Kittiwake, Mallard x Pintail hybrid and a Red-breasted Merg on the Loch on the 3rd.

Great Northern Diver

Long-tailed Ducks

Mallard x Pintail Hybrid

Supermoon on the 1st

The view on the 3rd

Patch Gold

New birds still coming in to the patch, star bird today was 2 Goldfinches feeding on thistles along the side of a track - proper scarce at Scatness. Around the rest of the patch, Red-breasted Flycatcher (still in the garden), 3 Blackcap, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Redwing, 1 Robin, 2 Swallows, 3 Wheatear, 1 Jack Snipe and a rather showy Short-eared Owl. Another bird of note was the male Pintail x Mallard hybrid has returned.

Goldfinch

Mallard/Pintail Hybrid

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Short-eared Owl

Wheatear

Trog

'Shetland' Wren and other bits and bobs from the patch -

Golden Plovers

Shetland Wren

Hybrid Duck

New Birds

As if yesterday's Dunnock wasn't odd enough, on the patch today - 2 male Gadwall and a Song Thrush, two species I don't normally see until March/April time. Other year-ticks today were Grey Heron, Pintail (with the hybrid) and Tufted Duck (with the Scaup). Aside from that bit of excitement, there were 6 Common Scoters in West Voe and no Iceland Gulls (apart from the remains of a dead one).

Gadwall

Mallard x Pintail hybrid

Pintail

Song Thrush

Sunless Saturday.

A fine start to the day with a Long-eared Owl going past the living room window towards Garth's Ness, this was followed by a text from the missus (who was on the bus to town) saying that 'SuBo' was watching a Buzzard somewhere over the bay, a quick phone call and a mad dash into the garden with the 'scope and Rough-legged Buzzard, though to be fair it was no longer near the bay and was circling somewhere between Quendale Farm and the Noss cliffs.
A good few hours were then spent on the patch trying to avoid the heavy rain showers, 33 Lapland Buntings were in the usual spot, 6 Common Redpoll and a Brambling were in the 'secret' crop along with about 60 Twite, 2 Fieldfare out on the headland, 2 Whooper Swan and the returning Mallard x Pintail hybrid were on the Loch and 2 Bonxies were in Quendale Bay.

Mallard x Pintail hybrid.

Common Redpoll.

Rough-legged Buzzard

It's Grim Up North.

Owing to the fact there was sod all at Scatness (just a female Chaffinch and a pair of Linnets), a trip up north to Unst for the Black Stork was in order. The bird was initially in the burn at Burrafirth and then decided to fly all over the place getting mobbed by Bonxies and Oycs. Better views than the 2008 Ronas Hill bird, with a couple of fairly close fly-bys.
A brief stop on the way home for a quick look at the Hybrid thing at Sandwater, to see what the fuss was about - and well, it is a very odd looking thing that seems to be a Pochard x Pintail !

Black Stork.

Hybrid Duck.

Chaffinch.

Linnet.

Hybrid moments.

Another desperate day, with only the Mallard/Pintail hybrid, 16 Dunlin and 2 Linnets being the best of a pretty useless day.


Mallard/Pintail hybrid.

Dunlin.

Swans.

A few hours birding around Scatness in the sunshine ! 20 Whooper Swans, Mallard x Pintail hybrid, 73 Wigeon and 14 Tufted Ducks on the Loch, 17 Golden Plover, 350+ Greylags and the Pink-footed Goose in the fields, 1 Meadow Pipit still braving the winter around Colonial Place, Merlin and 40+ Snow Buntings around the house and the Robin still in the garden.

Whooper Swans.

Snow Buntings.

Meadow Pipit.

Mallard x Pintail hybrid.

Greylag Goose.

Hybrid Duck.

Spent a couple of hours at Scatness, seeing very little - 3 Goldeneye, 2 Whooper Swans, 4 Tufted Duck, Mallard x Pintail Hybrid and 92 Purple Sands, 12 Great Northern Divers in Quendale Bay.

Missed the M.O.D.'s controlled explosion of the flare found on Sunday.


Mallard x Pintail Hybrid (uppermost bird).

Common Gull.

Curlew.

Shag.