Weekend Birding trip, The 13th & 21st of April

After hearing about a Coal Tit in the South Mainland, my Dad and I headed down for a look, stopping off for any other birds along the way.

Sadly there had been no sighting of the bird the past the past few days so we headed of to Virkie instead and found these.

 Shelducks

A Bonxie eating a fish

(I was told that the white patch around the eye is a good indication of an old bird)

Bonxie chased by a Swaabie

A "happy" couple

Left: 1 adult spring Sandwich Tern (a new tick for me).

This bird has a ring on its right foot you can't see it on this photo

but I looked at another photo of the same bird from a nearby birder showing a ring

that looked like EIF it was hard to tell because it was at quite a distance.
Update: This Bird was ringed at the Ythan Estuary, North of Aberdeen by the Grampian Ringing
Group on the 10th of September 2010 it's ring reads ETF not EIF

Right: Black-headed Gull

 Common Gull at Grutness

 

After visiting Virkie and later Grutness we headed over towards Quendale

and found 1 Sand Martin, 4 Blackbirds and two House Martins.

Other Birds Today:

Virkie- 2 Swallows

4 Sanderlings

9 Shelducks

Grutness- 1 Red-Throated Diver.

Now here is some photos from my South Mainland trip on the 13th of April with Paula and Nat.

First we headed along the coast towards Spiggie Loch (through Bigton) finding 1 Red-throated Diver.

On arriving at Spiggie Loch we spotted a Moorhen, about 40 Wigeon and 5 Shelducks.

Meadow Pipit

Meadow Pipit again

 Lapwing

Greylag Goose

Shalder

a Common Maa

After finishing our spin around Spiggie we went to Grutness looking for a Coot

 and we found it, a great adult bird

Female Mallard aka a Stock Deuk

 A male Stock Deuk

 Shetland Pony

 a Shetland Wren

a Turnstone or Steynpikker

and a Sanderling one of five birds seen today.

Spring Trip

For the Easter Holidays I went into Fair Isle with my Dad, Step mam and family for a spot of birding and visiting.

The 3rd

 View from Inside Crow Stack

An circular egg found at the bottom of Tommy's Pond, some people thought it was a chickens egg, does anyone know what it is?

Skylark at Lower Stonybrek

Common Frog

A long distance photo of a Sparrowhawk flushed from a tree near the Plantation Trap at Gilsetter, thanks to Henry, A new tick for me!

Here is a Rock Pipit with green colour ring on its legs.

This bird was originally part of a colour ringing project in Rosehearty, Aberdeenshire.

It was first ringed as a first year on the 7th of November 2011 with a wing length of 92mm and it was last seen at Rosehearty on the 28th of February,

It was then seen breeding at South Haven, Fair Isle on 17th-21st of April 2012 and then was back at Rosehearty on the 28th of September 2012 to the 27th of February 2013 later returning to Fair Isle on the 31st of March 2013.

This is the only known British Rock Pipit to undertake a regular migration.

lots of Frogs

Before Tea, My Dad, Step-Grandad Stewart and I went for a spot of birding and found the Sparrowhawk from earlier that day on the side of Ward Hill.

Sunset from the bottom of Malcolms Head

Puffins

At about 9:30 that night Stewart called me out to the show me the C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) Comet

which was still showing after several weeks, if you looked carefully you could see the Andromeda Galaxy and the comet in the same binocular view.

The 4th

 Icelandic Horse

"You came to the wrong park"

Twite from Henry's window

Male Pied Wagtail

A tailless Collard Dove

Lapwing in action mode

A male Twite ringed at the Bird Obs, male birds have a pink rumped unlike the females.

 male Shag in North Haven

male Eider also in North Haven

Skylark at the Bird Obs

The 5th

 Since it turned out to be such a lovely morning we decided to walk to the top of Malcolms Head, at the top is the remains of an old World War Two building and its a good place to sit and look at Orkney.

Dad looking out towards Orkney

From Left: Mairi, Laura, Steve and Logan

(photo Abby Bisset)

 Grey Seal pup

Cat hunting rabbits

After a rest at Quoy we headed to Ward Hill but took a detour towards the banks for a look at some places we hadn't been before.

Small pond on Burrashield

Burial mound

After 2 previous attempts that day trying to photograph Snipe this one final stood still long enough for me to click my camera.

Communication Mast AKA The Mast

The Friday afternoon plane

The 6th

While Dad was cleaning the lumb (chimney) of Haa I went for a walk around Meoness

Action Maalie on Meoness

Male Reed Bunting at Aesterhoull

One of two male birds

Ringed Wren on South Haven

 Snipe right outside Quoy 

The 7th

A Devil's Coach-horse Beetle 

Lower Leogh

Today we decided to take a walk up Ward Hill again.

The North Light

  

World War Two Huts

If you can see the left line going up the hill, that is an old railway line connected to a winch.

From top left: Taft, Museum, Chapel, Burkle.

From bottom left: Skerryholm, Auld Haa

(photo from Crow Stack)

South Light 

(photo from Crow Stack)

A large Sea Anenamoe in Crow Stack

 Sea slug sp caught at South Harbour by Henry

Another Sea slug sp caught by Henry at South Harbour

(Photo is very zoomed in)

Curlew at Quoy

The 8th

Here is some of the photos we took on our flight back to Shetland.

Foula

Rain cloud south of Sumburgh

 Bridge end

looking east over Burra at Wester Quarff and Bressay

Scalloway pier

Scalloway quarry

The plane coming in to land

After arriving back in Shetland I headed back to Yell,

At 8 o'clock I got a call saying the Bearded Seal was at the Mid Yell marina,

Me and my grandad Tommy rushed down hoping not to miss it.

By the time we got there it was still lying on the walkway, I slowly walked up to it until I was about two feet away and got a few shots of its face on my camera

luckily the seal didn't look like it had much experience with people and so it let me take lots of photos.

Me and the Bearded Seal

Also this Otter was cashing in on some fish left on a fishing boat.

List of Species seen in Fair Isle:

Woodpigeon

Black Guillemot (Tystie)

Turnstone (Steynpikker

Shag (Scarf)

Fulmar (Maalie)

Snipe (Snippick)

Rock Pipit (Banks Sporrow)

Teal

Rook

Twite (Lintie)

Skylark (Leverrek)

Stirling

Eider (Dunter)

Blackbird

Rock Dove

Sparrowhawk

Wren (Sisti Mus)

Redwing

Fieldfare

Lapwing (Tieve's Nacket)

Merganser (Herald Deuk)

Collard Dove

Puffin (Tammie Norie)

Kittiwake

Herring Gull

Common Gull (Perrie Maa)

House Sparrow

Greylag Goose (Gros Gos)

Mallard (Stock Deuk)

Raven (Corbie)

Hooded Crow

Curlew (Whap)

Pied Wagtail

Oystercatcher (Shalder)

Ringed Plover (Sandiloo)

Common Guillemot (Longvi)

Razorbill (Wilkie)

Reed Bunting

Woodcock

Great Black-Backed Gull (Swaabie)

Song Thrush

Redshank (Ebb Cock)

Bonxie

Meadow Pipit (Hill Sporrow)

Common Scoter

Gannet (Solan)

Total Species= 46

New Species= 1, Sparrowhawk