The one that got away ..................

.............. from me at least !

   Every so often, there is something that you see - or think you see - that 'gets away'. This happened on Saturday to me here on Unst. I was over at Valyie in Norwick at the north of the island watching the two species of Redpolls - Arctic and 'Greenland' Common Redpolls. The birds were in the burn on the way up to the croft at Valyie having a bath and preening etc. They were very approachable although not very easy to photograph due to the vegetation around where they were bathing. As I sat watching them, I saw a small bird that looked like a cross between a Redbreasted Flycatcher and a Redstart fly in and land low on the fence behind them around 50ft away. Raising the bins', I saw a small bird with very obvious orangey brown flanks. My first thoughts were that it was something special and I should gets some shots. A split second later as I carefully got it in the viewfinder, the bird took off and despite an hour and a half of searching, I couldn't relocate it. On checking my Collins book, my initial thoughts were confirmed, it was (or had been) a Redflanked Bluetail ! I phoned both Brydon and Mike P, with my thoughts and despite searching again for several hours the following day, I couldn't find it. Unfortunately for Unst birders, it was relocated today by a visiting bird tour and the 'word' didn't get out until it was almost dark. Hey ho win some, loose some. At least I know, that I saw it first :)

   I had to go over to Fetlar today to look at some work, so once done I had some time for a bit of birding. My first port of call was to Funzie to see if the Siberian Stonechat that Brydon Thomason had found yesterday. Sadly that bird had gone, but I did see a Chiffchaff and a Barred Warbler and also bumped in to a friend and his brother who are up for a few days. I then got a call from Brydon to say he'd got an Arctic Warbler down at Tresta. Arriving later, I soon saw the bird along with Goldrest, Yellow-browed Warbler, Brambling, Redwing etc.

Arctic Warbler

  From here we visited an number of other sights looking for migrants and found a number of commoner birds, probably the best (after the Arctic) was a Jack Snipe which flew up from a marshy area. It was here also that a small warbler - in flight it looked Sedge Warbler like - that could have been any one of a number of species from common to very rare. Unfortunately, the area was a large area of tall iris and sedge which made trying to find it again impossible. Hey ho.

   Returning home later, I had a fantastic sight of at least 800 - if not more - Golden Plover circling around behind our house before they landed again in the field nearby in which they're feeding.

      Robbie

Working with Redpolls

  Well not actually working with Redpolls, to be more precise, watching Redpolls while I worked !

  Heading off at around 7.30am, it was a lovely sunny morning and flat calm on Balta Sound. Along the shore road near Buness House, a group of 8 Common Snipe fed amongst the seaweed at the tideline and most unusually, they didn't fly off when I slowed to a stop - although they weren't that close.

Common Snipe

  Going on to work at Norwick this morning on a new roof, I arrived a bit early and so took a walk along the road to where I could hear some Redpolls calling.  What I hadn't bargained for was that the midges would be out - and the midge stuff for some reason had solidified in the bottle. For half an hour or so I followed the birds around a couple of small fields as they fed on seeds. They were really confiding and on occasions had the Arctic Redpolls sitting less than 6 feet from me. As well as the two Arctic Redpolls, there were at least a dozen Common Redpolls of the Greenland race and a Redsart, Blackcap and two Willow Warblers.

Common Redpoll (Greenland race)

Same species (virtually full frame)

Arctic Redpoll

Willow Warbler 

  I have certainly had worse days at work and then later having them feeding of seeds just below the scaffolding, made me forget all about the midges ! During the migration period way down south, some call it the 'Scilly season' - as in the Isles of Scilly where loads of twitchers/birders go at this time of year, up here I have heard it called the 'silly season' - but without the 'c' ! Today was the first day this autumn I'd seen cars with birders in from off the island - the 'silly season' has started !

  Robbie

A couple of good birds

Sunday 19th September

  It was a pleasant morning today, so, after a lazy start, I asked Rona where would she like to go for a walk and surprisingly she said Skaw - a result !

  We had a very pleasant time, walking out around the end of Skaw Bay, missing the showers and just enjoying the time out of doors. As far as birds go, there were a few Shags drying their wings, a young Gannet doing the same and a calling Tree Pipit and that was it.

  Heading back up the hill, the phone regained an Orange signal and then it rang. It was Rory, he'd found a couple of Arctic Redpolls down at Norwick and they were showing well and were quite approachable. Arctic Redpolls (of the Hornemann's race) are stunning birds and I would go to see one no matter how many times before I'd had the opportunity. As we approached Norwick, I could see Rory's car, and then Rory rushing across a small area of rough grass/nettles/thistles - he must have seen something good. After half an hour of following the bird around and Rory, Mike and Mickey checking out what it was, it was decided that the bird was a Melodious Warbler. I was fortunate that at this time, several of my girls school friend had just arrived to visit a relation nearby and had asked if Sula and Rona wanted to go and play with them - that was a bit of luck ! Both species (in fact there were two Redpolls) showed well in the end and allowed good views and the chance to get plenty of shots.

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll

Melodious Warbler

 Finally, after an hour or so at Norwick we headed off for lunch, before going out again, this time to the westside. My girls and I had another good walk at Lund, the only birds of note were a Blackcap and a Willow Warbler in the nettles behind the beach. I was very surprised to only find one dead Gannet about the tideline. One of the other disheartening results of rough seas and gales is the amount of rubbish that is thrown up on the beaches. If you are so inclined, its possible to find everything from the smallest piece of plastic or cotton bud right up to huge pieces of fishing nets or tree trunks. This one picture below taken with my camera phone, was on the beach at Lund and is almost entirely made up of the plastic banding used for wrapping packages etc.

         Robbie

Gannet and Seal update

  While the kids were at parties this afternoon, I took a drive over to Westing to look for the Seal and also the Gannets at Lund. As the storm has now past and the wind prediction for the coming week is good, I'm hopeful that things will be better for the gugas. At Westing there was no sign around the coast line of the young seal, so lets hope it went back in the water at the last high tide and is ok.

  Over at Lund, there were 30 or 40 young Gannets in the bay and none on the beach although the Ravens were still around.

  Despite not doing much birding today, I did get a Barred Warbler and a Siskin by the post office as I went to post a letter which was rather nice.

       Robbie

The morning after the night before.

  Well as you may have seen from yesterdays post, it was a bit wild here over the last 24 hrs. I was due to take the kids over to Yell after school yesterday, but decided against it due the prediction that the wind could go to severe gale force (I didn't want to get stuck on Yell) It turned out to be a good decision as an articulated lorry was blown over on the way to the ferry at Belmont and the road was closed for 3 hours from 5 - 8pm (no alternative route either)

  With this in mind regarding the overnight weather, after dropping off my daughters at school this morning, I made a slight deviation along the road to Westing. There was still quite a blow, but now at least, the rain showers were much further apart. On the way around the side of the bay, I came across an otter feeding in the water below me and seemed to be very successful at fishing as almost one in three dives it came up with a fish or small crab. I don't know why, but again today I didn't think I'd need the long lens and now regretted not carrying it with me. I would say that 95% of the time it's on the camera, so the last few days must have been the 5 % when it's not ! I had taken the 70-200 +1.4ex which did give me a little bit of 'reach' - but not really enough when the otter was out in the water. On one occasion it did come to shore with a crab, which enabled me to get a few shots 'for the record'. In this case, 'for the record' is to try and get shots showing under the chin as many otters have white spots which often help with identification of individual animals.

'A good scratch' 

  Unfortunately at this spot, the cliff edge is around 15ft and vertical, so I couldn't get down and get any closer. Heading on along to the end of the bay, there were at least 8 young gannets (guga) on the rocks either resting or trying to dry out their feathers in the wind.

'Air drier'

  As  I turned to return back, I saw a local guy I knew and went over for a chat.  He had been born at Westing and often went there for a walk and today he was looking for any storm blown timber etc. He asked me if I'd seen the live young seal on the beach, when I said I hadn't, he showed me where it was. Judging by the size and colour of it (off white and about 3ft long) I presumed it was a pup born this summer. It looked like it had either been in a fight or hit its head hard as there was a small cut on the back of its head. It was well up the beach and close up to a rock which would give it a lot of protection from the elements. I was advised by several people, that, due to the stress caused by moving them, it's often best to let nature its course - which is often easier to say than do...............

  Almost half way back to the car I saw an otter again, but this time it was a different one and then there was a second one. I think they were the immature ones I saw here a while ago, and now I was able to get down to the waters edge. I did take a few pictures (despite at times being too far way) and then thought of a post this morning by Dave Courtenay on his and Martin Dyer's blog here. You can read it for yourself but basically Dave says that sometimes it's best to just put the camera down and watch the subject and enjoy the moment and I totally agree, and this I did for half an hour.  Dave and Martin's blog is well worth following if you enjoy wildlife and use either Canon or Nikon gear. Their comments on gear is solely based on their own use - good or bad - and not on manufactures hype and is well worth a read.

  Dougie (from Yell) had asked me to let him know if the B t Diver was still around, so before I left the west side, I'd take a look at Lund. Unfortunately no diver, but I was saddened by the sight that greeted me on the beach there. Back up from the tide line were 23 juvenile gannets and a further 5 or 6 corpses and in close attendance were 8 or 9 Ravens. Out in the bay, there were at least a further 20 or more on the water. Hopefully, with the wind due to drop overnight, many of them will survive, I certainly hope so. 

   

               Robbie

A bit of a blow !

  For the last few days, the forecast for today was to be a bit grim and they got it right again. After a fairly good day yesterday of showers (and occasional sunshine), the wind picked up from the north west and by this morning was blowing quite strong and the rain had now become very heavy at times and travelling almost horizontally. I was due to work on a roof, but due to several reasons - not just the weather - I put it off until next week. I love wild weather however and fortunately for me, I don't have to put to sea to earn a living - or I might have a different opinion about it ! As I've mentioned before, the weather plays a part in where and when I go looking for wildlife, or even if I go out at all. Wind direction especially (and not necessarily because I may be looking for otters) is often a key factor if I'm trying for a particular type of shot. I always go to a particular website called Magicseaweed to get the information and I have found that it's usually pretty accurate. For today for instance, it has forecast Force 8-9  (Force 10 up near the Faroes) and a sea swell of 20-25ft of swell rising to 25 -30ft overnight just north of Unst, this has obviously now caused either serve delays or cancellations to the ferries to and from Shetland for today and tomorrow.

  With these weather conditions in mind, I headed off over to Lamba Ness as I knew the sea would look quite impressive. On the way down, around 20 Lapland Buntings were feeding on the roadside, using every little bit of cover to feed out of the strong wind. At the head, the wind was quite strong, but at least I could still stand up !

  The cliffs here are not enormous, but even so, it's quite dramatic (and impressive) to see the results caused by the sea and sea spray crashing on cliff tops that are just under 30 meters high.

This was taken under calmer conditions !

  The next 3 pictures are just to try and convey a feeling of the conditions. Despite what it may look like, I was perfectly safe and some way from the cliff edge...................

............. getting very wet !

  Moving on over to Skaw, I decided to walk along the coast to the headland at the Wick of Skaw. Fortunately the wind was coming from over the hill to the north which gave me a little shelter and the occasional ruined concrete structure gave me shelter between the rain storms. At the end, a group of Shags hunkered down on the cliff side out of the wind but kept an eye on me - not that I'd intended to go any closer anyway. The island at the end - which is called the Holm of Skaw - was taking the full brunt of the wind and waves and I could only guess at the height of the waves breaking on the exposed lump of rock. 

.............and looking back to Lamba Ness ........................

  The spot I was previously standing at, was by the building on the extreme right and looking to the left. In all of this turmoil, gannets were still fishing in the bay at Skaw, how they still manage to spot fish is just amazing.

  Remembering a gannet has a wingspan of over 5ft, it still looks tiny against the backdrop of breakers (and if you can't see it, its the black and white dot in the middle). The sort of shots that I like to try are below from last year and are quite difficult to get right and I often take scores of shots just to get one picture. I really wished I'd lugged the long lens and tripod with me on this occasion as today there was a lot of potential out there. These are from last year.......

Not the best of quality, but you can get the idea.

  Returning back home for a while, early afternoon I thought I'd take a look at Westing on the way to do the school run. If Skaw looked wild, Westing was even more dramatic as there are a few more small islands for the waves to crash over. The problem I had there was that the wind was now very strong and on having the window down on my side, the rain was driven through the car and onto the inside of the passengers windows ! Taking any pictures was not going to be very easy. Down in the surf, six or seven seals bobbed around like shiny barrels and a recently fledged gannet dropped down in the water not far from the shore.

  It is a sad fact, that storms at this time of year cause the deaths of lots of young gannets. Last week when I was over at Hermaness, there were still many, many young birds on the cliffs. The warden recently showed me of one part of the colony that was very close to the water and he did say then that if a storm came, the lot would get washed off - nature is harsh sometimes.

Looking south from Westing

Despite all of this, an otter came past me in the water below looking totally at home.

       Robbie

Oops !!!

The forecast for today was to be sunshine and showers, lets say that I saw more of the showers than the sunshine ! I went up to Skaw first as usual, had a quick walk around and all I found was one male Blackcap in the spearmint. On to Lamba Ness, nothing at all apart from a couple of Meadow Pipits. Driving back up the road, a small flock of birds flew up from the grass and started calling as they flew away from the roadside, they were Lapland Buntings. These were my first of the autumn and I'd been wondering if any would show up here after the large numbers that have turned up on the Western Isles and the west mainland side of Scotland. I drove on up the road and had another flock of them (the others had flown in the other direction) in this flock there were around 20 making the total over 30 birds. Below is a picture of one from last year......

Lapland Bunting

Onwards to Valyie. Walking up to the small wood behind the bungalow, two small brown birds shot in to the Horse Chestnut tree and that was all I saw of them. A bird called form in the bushes which turned out to be a Brambling and a small flock of 10 or 12 Chaffinches flew over but didn't stop. I then saw some movement in the undergrowth near to me and up popped an LBJ (little brown job) which was probably a Reed Warbler. I looked at it an tried to check its details in case it could be either a Marsh Warbler, or even scarcer and more difficult to ID, a Blythes Reed Warbler. (Take a look in a book and you'll see what I mean) In the space of around 30 seconds of visibility, my head was spinning trying to remember the various identification points. In the end I came away thinking that it was probably 'just' a Reed Warbler. Now had I bothered to carry the camera and tripod up the hill with me, I could of ID'd it for certain given the time it was in view that would have allowed me to get some pictures.

Returning back home for a while, I then got a call from Rory to say that the diver was showing again at Lund. I thought I'd take another look and try and get some better shots 'for the record'. When I arrived, the bird was way over the other side of the bay again and, at times, was quite difficult to see. One of the best give aways was a small group of Tirricks (Arctic Terns) that seemed to follow it around. After half an hour, it looked like there was going to be a spell between the showers, so, putting on the waterproofs (also on the camera gear) I headed off around the bay. Walking through a large area of nettles and thistles, I flushed several Willow Warblers and as I saw again later, a Whitethroat. 

Reaching the small headland at the end of the bay, the bird was nowhere to be seen. I sat for almost half an hour in the wind and rain but still no diver. Time to go back. Retracing my steps in the now driving rain, I saw again the Whitethroat, but also a pair of Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler and 4 or 5 Willow Warblers. Almost reaching the car, I then saw the diver close to cliffs below where my car was parked. Taking the opportunity to move when it dived, I managed to get a bit nearer the beach, still not close enough, but much better then yesterday.

Black-throated Diver

The time was fast approaching for the school run so I had to leave.

Dropping the kids off for some after school activities, I headed home again. Later, just along the road from our house, I stopped to look at some Golden Plovers to check if there could be an America Golden Plover amongst them (one had been seen on the island at the weekend) I then noticed a small wader feeding amongst the Goldies, Lapwings, Turnstones and Redshanks. It was quite small (compared to the other birds around it) a sandy brown 'base colour' etc etc. Checking the book and then adding '2 +2 and making 5' , I thought it must be a Buff Breasted Sandpiper. I checked the measurements in the book for various size comparisons ie size compared to the Lapwings, Turnstones etc and also the size compared to Ruff and this bird was clearly smaller than these. Oops, I got it WRONG ! 

When I worked for a building firm years ago, one old carpenter used to say to me, 'the bloke that's never made a mistake, has never made anything'. How right he was. What I hadn't put into the equation, was that a female Ruff (called a Reeve) is often smaller than the male, which is why I thought that this bird couldn't have been a Ruff - despite other identification differences. I'm not going to live this down for a long time. Hey ho.

 Reeve

            Robbie