After the excitement of the Rubythroat down on Mainland a couple of weeks ago (its still there and is the longest stayer for the species in the UK - 29th Oct) all eyes and ears where looking at the forecast for the following week(s). It was predicted for almost a week of south easterlies and strong ones at that, consequently folk were wondering what might come in on those winds if a Rubythroat could arrive on lesser ones. Well for the first part of this last week it was pretty wild here; however,even though this is only our 4th winter here, I've seen worse. Due to the winds, finding any birds was hopeless either because the vegetation was thrashing about or it was a job to stand upright! Even so, I don't mind wild weather , even if there is not much else going on the sea is often spectacular to watch anyway.....................

 The 'Bears Head' (use your imagination) at Norwick

 Skaw

 Norwick

Lamba Ness looking south west towards Norwick

 On Tuesday I had a trip across to Yell to the dentist again. I suppose it could be an unfortunate place to have a dentist, however as it was at Mid Yell, it wasn't too painfull  :) I didn't have much time to spare due to ferry connections and also as there was only one ferry running due to a mechanical breakdown, the ferry wasn't staying for long at the pier before heading back across. On the way back, the boat was loaded earlier than normal (usually it's five minutes before departure) and then it waited for a few minutes for some reason. As I stood at the stern of the boat, an otter came out on to the breakwater, shook itself, disappeared in to the rocks then reemerging a few seconds later. I grabbed a few shots but as the light was rather poor, I had to push up the ISO to 4000 in order to try and get a half decent hand holding shutter speed for the long lens...............

  By Thursday, the weather had improved no end, slightly less wind (Force6 -F7) and sunshine. There were a few birds around but mostly large numbers of Fieldfares, Redwings and scores of Blackbirds. Also, throughout Shetland, there was an influx of Jackdaws which are thought to originate from Scandinavia. They were mostly in ones or twos but today (29th) I had a flock of 17 here in Baltasound. Some of the birds have a distinct pale collar, which apparently is a sign they are of Scandinavian origin.......................

..... another low light, 4000 iso picture !

 On Friday I was still hopeful that something could have come in on the winds so I headed to Skaw again. Walking around the croft, I put up a pipit which flew on to a nearby fence. Looking at the bird I thought 'well, it's not a Meadow' or  Tree', what is it?'  As it flew off it called and I then thought 'blimey, it could be an OBP' (Olive-backed Pipit). Quickly going and getting the camera, just as I did, the heavens opened, rain, hail and sleet and with a driving wind at that ! Fortunately I managed to re-find it a get a couple of record shots - far more important than any creative portrait type picture in this situation. After the first couple of pictures, it then dived in to the long rough grass in the marsh area, at which point I left it alone. Seeing the pics, I was sure it was an OBP, but later I did contact Brydon - just for confirmation.................

Olive-backed Pipit (OBP)

  There were also a few other new birds in - albeit common ones - Blackcaps, Redpolls, a Goldcrest, Bramblings and several Robins................

Female Brambling

  If you look closely at the eye of the Brambling, there are some black dots. When I zoomed in, I discovered they look like small mites or such like.

For most of today (29th), the weather has been grey and windy again. Sula was off down in Lerwick so Rona and I had a trip up north - but it was more about looking at the landscape rather than finding wildlife etc. We also had a trip over to Westing to take a look at the 'Stenna Carron' which was passing by again - which I have also mentioned here......................

The mobile drilling ship 'Stenna Carron'

 I do quite like this time of year - especially when there is good light. The low angle of the sun can create a lovely atmospheric landscape and one of my favourite locations is on the way to Belmont at the south of the island..................

 In the last couple of days, the media has been 'discussing' a proposal for possibly moving the clocks forward an hour permanently. Several folk - on Radio Scotland - were totally against it for a number of reasons. When we thought about it on a day to day basis, we didn't think it would actually make much difference up here. In mid winter it gets light at around 8.30 -8.45 and is going dark again around 2.45 -3pm, so moving it an hour probably wouldn't affect the normal working day very much at all...............

Midday Christmas Eve 2008

    Robbie