Thursday 30 October 2008

Farewell Fair Isle . . . last day & promised birds in!
Our last day on Fair Isle proved to be a very enjoyable one! An increasingly fresh North-easterly wind & sunshine throughout most of the day made birding the Island a pleasure. A Waxwing made a brief appearance in the New Obs Plantation first thing & later in the morning Phil trapped a Siberian Chiffchaff (Tristis) in the Obs heligoland. Deryk took all the necessary  biometrics & I photographed it (see more pics in The Ringer Blog). In the afternoon I approached a group of Shag which were busy fishing in the Havens.  The Shags were a mix of adult & 1st year birds & showed well for photographs in the shallows. Dusk came too early (around 3.30) as I headed south to catch up with a Bluethroat at Quoy. In the half light I re-found the bird which was very well marked & managed a few record shots before darkness set in. Other birds noted today included Woodcock, Greenfinch, several Chiffchaff (including Abietinus) & Blackcaps but notably less Thrushes about. Looking forward to a weekend on Shetland with good friends before heading south again (temporarily) . . .