This magnificent Short-eared Owl was the highlight of yesterday's ringing. Only the 4th to be ringed in the last 30 years on Fair Isle. Look at those eyes!
Anyone who has visited Fair Isle will know how hard Susannah works to keep the Obs going and make sure everyone enjoys their stay. Today she was well and truly rewarded by finding this male SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT at the Meadow Burn whilst taking a guest to look for a Bluethroat!
Grace was a bit late to School yesterday when we caught a Long-eared Owl on the walk in. We set off earlier this morning and caught another one - this time with a Finnish ring!
SONG SPARROW in the Vaadal Reservoir this evening. Remarkably, the fifth record for Fair Isle (previous records were in 1959, 1979, 1989 and 2018) of nine UK occurrences.
This juvenile Redwing is one of at least three chicks that has just fledged! The only previous breeding record on Fair Isle was a pair in 1935. Both breeding records have involved the Icelandic subspecies.
Some times you have to work hard for your birds. Other times, you're staring out the window whilst on the phone and a Blyth's Reed Warbler lands on the wall and stares right back at you.
We hoped the blast of SE winds would bring some late migrants, but River Warbler (left) and Eastern Olivaceous Warbler at the Obs (18th and 4th records respectively for the Isle) seems a bit greedy! Also Quail at the Obs. Photo by
@harris_sjh
FIBO logo modelled by
@MaxHellicar1
We've just heard from
@_BTO
that this Chiffchaff we caught on 4th April this year had been ringed at Revtangen in Rogaland, Norway (416km from Fair Isle) the previous day. Just our second Norwegian-ringed Chiffchaff.
A crazy day of birding here on Fair Isle, with White's Thrush and a Baikal Teal - read all about it on our latest sightings page --->
📸 by
@Naturalist_Sam
- the smile on
@AlexPenn_1
's face says it all!
Some great news - the barge and 2 tugs have arrived with the cranes and first load of new Obs modules. A major milestone in the long journey since the 2019 fire.
Nobody predicted yesterday's Crag Martin, and nobody expected the follow up to be SONG SPARROW! Trapped by Richard in the Plantation this morning and released at Obs. Fourth for Fair Isle following birds in 1959, 1979 and 1989! All the others have stayed at at least 13 days...
CALANDRA LARK at Bergaroo this morning. A very pleasant surprise on the way to seabird monitoring! The previous six Isle records were in 1978, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2014 and 2016 and spanned the period from 20th April to 22nd May, making this the latest Isle record by a month.
A calm night at the beginning of the week coincided with short-eared owls arriving in
#FairIsle
- the perfect time to set a net! We caught six in the evening, a third of the birds seen throughout the day. A trio were caught almost immediately, leading to an excellent photo…
A Fulmar ringed as a chick on Fair Isle on 10th August 1977 was found dead at Schiermonnikoog in The Netherlands on 5th December 2017. At 40 years, 3 months and 25 days it was just 7 months short of the oldest ever BTO-ringed Fulmar. What were you doing when it was ringed?!
The extent of the yellow wash to the underparts varies with light/angle etc, but it's always very noticeable, whilst the strong wing bar, super reaching the bill and long-looking primary projection all point to this being Fair Isle's second GREEN WARBLER, at Vaila's Trees now!
"While we seem to be over the hump of the drift event, it's still been completely magic to bird a foggy Isle with cliffs lit up by gleaming Wood Warblers and glowing Redstart tails". More of yesterday's antics here:
Pic A Penn
Thank you to everyone who has been in touch about the fire at FIBO. The Obs website is updated with the latest news (including a fuller list of thanks that we can't fit on Twitter).
In the meantime, the birds carry on - the sightings page is now up to date on the website.
Nice! One of the 10 (ten) Two-barred Crossbills present on the Isle today. This lone male was on the north of Troila Geo, with a flock of 9 (6 males, 3 females) at North Gunnawark. The previous best years for the species on Fair Isle were 2008 (15 individuals) and 2013 (9).
On a day with seven additions to the year list and increased counts of several migrant, there was no doubting the star bird, this stunning male Citrine Wagtail. Full details of today's sightings at:
The latest news on the Observatory rebuild is now available on the FIBO website. With the completion of the roof and cladding, we have reached a significant milestone whereby the building is now wind and watertight.
Yesterday's big surprise was Stone-curlew, the ninth record for Fair Isle and first since 2009. Turtle Dove was also new for the year. Full details of yesterday's sightings now on the FIBO website.
First Fair Isle mega of the autumn...
Kingfisher in the Haven! The second Isle record, after an 'untwitchable' bird off South Light in September 1999. A suitably sizeable turnout of islanders, visiting family members & German yacht crew followed. "As good as a first"!
📸J Fisk
40 Glaucous Gulls ringed over the history of Fair Isle Bird Obs including this one in 1998. Photo taken by then-warden Paul Baker. One recovery - a bird ringed in 1951 reported in the Faroes 2 months later. Ringing is an important part of our research
#FairIsleFriday
@chas_holt
The first non-BBRC Arctic Warbler for Britain is at the Obs today! Although virtually annual on Fair Isle now (2016 is the only blank year since 2007) and having amassed 97 previous records, this is only the fifth July record for the Isle and the first in this month since 2002.
A satisfying sequel to yesterday's blockbuster spring arrival, with phenomenal numbers of migrants from dawn til dusk.
Highlights included 95 Pied Fly', 10 Wood Warbler, 8 Wryneck, 6 Red-backed Shrike, 4 Bluethroat, 4 'Ickies'... Read more here:
Keith Pellow adds to his impressive Fair Isle finds list (Moltoni's Warbler and Black-browed Albatross in recent years) with this CRAG MARTIN in the North Haven this evening. First for Fair Isle and Shetland and we owe Keith a pint!
What more can we say? Fun in the sun and a midweek Marmora's Warbler bouncing on remains of dykes near Steensi Geo. The first for Fair Isle and 8th for Britain, following one in Shetland in 2018. Wee write up of the day here:
📸A Penn
Although we've been hoping for a Long-tailed Skua amongst the loafing Arctics on the airstrip, we were even happier to find 'AHJ' today. AHJ was the only chick to fledge from the 30 pairs of Arctic Skuas breeding on Fair Isle in 2017, so we're delighted it's survived so far.
FRANKLIN'S GULL! The 392nd species for the Fair Isle list was found 3km south of Fair Isle from a visiting cruiseship by Laurens Steijn of
@birdingbreaks
. A few hours later it was relocated opposite Barkland (relief all round!) before heading off NE at 1140am.
Thanks to
@docmartin2mc
and
@comicterns
for their speedy analysis of the DNA of the warbler present in Klinger's Geo on 17th-18th October. They have confirmed that it is Fair Isle's 9th RADDE'S WARBLER. Pictures by Deryk Shaw.
With more wader clutches hatching with each day, we spent this afternoon locating a few more Lapwings to ring. Here, the staggered hatching between clutches is blatantly apparent!
Mealy Redpolls have bred for the first time ever on Fair Isle this year. This morning's exciting news is that there are at least two recently fledged chicks present. Did anyone involved in establishing the Obs plantation back in 1996 ever imagine this would happen?!
Bluethroats were well spread across the south of the Isle yesterday (although the only one in the North was a male in the Wirvie Burn). A quick rummage through the archives shows that yesterday's total of 16 was the highest count since 14th May 1988 (when there were 55).
If you're only going to catch two birds all day, it may as well be a Lancie and a Richard's Pipit! Richard (appropriately enough) caught this stonker in the Gully on after-dinner trap round. Just the 15th to be ringed on Fair Isle.
There are literally 3 (three) Arctic Warblers on the Isle. Great work by Tom in running between sites then getting other observers to simultaneously watch birds at Shirva and Leogh whilst one remained at Muckle Jarm's Geo.
#Arcticgeddon
#HarctrickWarbler
#TomarcticSauce
Well, yesterday was not one to be a Shetland Bee or a Silver Y here on Fair Isle, as the second-largest arrival of Red-backed Shrikes in Obs' history, touched down on fenceposts, heather hillsides and Rosa bushes from north to south. More here: Pic A Penn
Pallid Harrier the highlight from yesterday's impressive birding. Full details on the latest sightings page. A few new migrants around today, along with Pallid Harrier, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Wryneck, 2 Common Rosefinch and 3 Yellow-browed Warblers still.
Deryk found two Rose-coloured Starlings together at Utra yesterday and took these rather splendid pictures. Plenty sightings to report today, we'll let you know when the website is updated.
We've just heard from
@_BTO
that this Rose-coloured Starling ringed at FIBO on 3rd June was found dead 12 days later in Borg, Iceland! Only the 4th ringed on Fair Isle and the first recovery. Any chance of a Gyr Falcon in exchange please
@BirdingIceland
?! (image
@ijandrews1
)
This is 2A56, a Bonxie ringed on Fair Isle as a chick last year. The photo on the left was taken by Max Hellicar on 21st August 2017 on Fair Isle, the photo on the right was taken by Miguel Rouco during a pelagic off Isla Cristina, Huelva, Spain on 11th August 2018!
It's not long until the start of another season... We're recruiting two Assistant Wardens and a Ranger for 2020, so have a look at if you're interested in joining us.
Today, we mark the 75th anniversary of the official opening of Fair Isle Bird Observatory on 28th August 1948. Read more on our website as we celebrate this milestone and encourage you to share your memories:
CALANDRA LARK at Utra Scrape found by
@AlexPenn_1
- showing extremely well! Along with Knot, Sanderling and Redstart, that makes 4 year ticks for Fair Isle in about half an hour. The magic of
#GlobalBigDay2021
!
Good selection of birds yesterday including 4 new for the year: Blackcap, Long-eared Owl, Swallow and Green Sandpiper. Also 2 Hawfinch, 3 Ring Ouzel (one pictured with a Blackbird), 14 Chiffchaff, 13 Mistle Thrush, 710 Blackbird, 2 Black Redstart and Black-bellied Dipper still.
Fair Isle's fourth Green Warbler was a lovely way to round off a drizzly evening yesterday as it fed in the gardens of Schoolton & Quoy. It follows birds on Unst and in Northumberland already this spring.
📸L Marriner & A Penn
Yesterday's pleasant weather has given way to NE gales, but it's brought lots of gulls to the island including a remarkable 22 Glaucous Gulls (17x 1CY, 5x 2CY). With several of the large gull flocks partially hidden, the actual total could be higher...
Three Grey-headed Wagtails, a Rustic Bunting, a Subalpine Warbler sp., 30 Red-backed Shrike, 14 Icterine Warblers, 8 Marsh Warblers, a Wryneck, four Bluethroat & a couple of Dotterel were among today's highlights. Read a full account here: 📸A Penn
Details of the very pleasing news that the planning application for the rebuild of the Obs has been approved. Many thanks to all those involved in getting the process this far. We'll be updating the website with details soon.
Eight years ago today, Fair Isle scored a classic east-west double, with Magnolia and Lanceolated Warbler. Surely one of your most memorable day's birding if you were lucky enough to be on the Isle that day.
#FairIsleFriday
is back! Here's our founder George Waterston weighing a Whooper Swan, back in the 1950s. The look on both of their faces says it all! 🦢
There's some lovely things turning up in these north easterlies, with a smart frosty northern race Treecreeper found by Rich on the cliffs near Muckle Uri Geo and brief views of Great Grey Shrike, The Black-bellied Dipper and Shorelarks are also still with us.
A special ringing record for
#FairIsleFriday
- yesterday the team successfully caught an adult winter Red-throated Diver that had found itself on Easter Lother Water, leading to the second ringing record in
#FairIsle
! The first was ringed in 1996!
📸’s
@Georgia_Platt_
Third record of Black Kite for Fair Isle today, picked up by Richard heading up the coast over Ward Hill and out over North Light. It definitely wasn't hanging around, even a bit of mist offshore didn't deter it from carrying on north.
Every cloud and all that... Running out of bin bags meant a dash to the shop in miserable weather just before it closed, but on the way, Susannah found this very smart Rose-coloured Starling at Upper Stoneybrek! Hopefully it will stick around until the sun comes out.
Another one for
#seabirdsaturday
- how cute is this Razorbill patiently waiting for it's biometrics to be taken 😍 taken yesterday down at the monitoring plot at Easter Lother
@TheSeabirdGroup