Fair Isle mini blog: Resplendent Great Northern Diver

This, our fifth day on the island has had the feel of the quietest day so far. The thrushes that arrived on Friday have largely moved off, continuing their migration further south. Brambling numbers have also fallen and there seemed to be little evidence of migration. However, between us we have pretty much covered the whole of the island, and even though it is approximately three miles long by one-and-a-half miles wide it is no mean feat.

Despite there being no real indication of migration, the Hen Harrier have doubled from two to four, along with the Short-eared Owls, rising from four to eight. A small flock of Barnacle Geese headed south and four Whooper Swans visited the island briefly.

The surprise of the day was a full summer plumaged Great Northern Diver giving close views in the harbour by the observatory.

So what of the mystery warbler from yesterday? Despite extensive searching, it has not been seen again. Unless it pops up again over the next day or so it will be the one that got away.

The forecast for tomorrow is for gale force north-westerly winds with some snow and hail. We will have to don several more layers and go in search of any arctic waifs that might get blown this way.

Andy Clements

Fair Isle mini blog: an unexpected rarity

We awoke this morning full of anticipation, there had definitely been an arrival of birds yesterday and there must be more to find. On getting out in the field though it immediately became clear that a lot of yesterdays birds had left overnnight, or at least the Fieldfare had, numbers were down by half. However, as we moved further away from the observatory it also became clear that Snipe were everywhere where you might expect Snipe to be, a big increase on yesterday, there also seemed to be more Skylark and, for the first time Brambling were feeding in double figures and Snow Bunting trebled. 

Whilst this is a sure indication that winter is just around the corner, there are still summer visitors to be seen. At least two Whinchat, a Whitethroat, three or four Chiffchaff, including a fantastic grey and white Siberian Chiffchaff, and a small number of Blackcaps and Wheatears still give a taste of summer.

New birds in have included a Grey Phalarope, a Yellowhammer, apparently rarer than Lanceolated Warbler here, half a dozen Crossbills, a couple of Common Rosefinches and three or four Short-eared Owls.

The wind this morning was blowing very strong from a southerly direction and by mid-afternoon it began to rain, quite heavily by late afternoon, curtailing any further determined searching.

The rarity value today came in the shape of yesterday's Bluethroat, which only showed to a third of the group (PAS and Andy Mason), if you don't count the Yellowhammer, which only showed to the same third of the group.

The forecast for tomorrow is mostly bright with a few showers, and the wind a brisk south-westerly. It feels like there are still birds to be found.

Andy Clements

Fair Isle mini blog: an awesome reputation

We all arrived on Fair Isle this morning after a 6.30am start and a fruitless search for the Buff-bellied Pipit. On stepping from the plane we were immediately greeted by a ringtail Hen Harrier and a large number of Redwings and Fieldfares, apparently fresh in today. There had only been a small number of these winter thrushes here during the previous week, which shows that things are now happening.

For  most of the day today it has been difficult to contain our excitement; it is Fair Isle in mid-October after all! We are here to experience migration and we have not been disappointed. Both summer and winter migrants are present. A Whinchat shared a fence with three Brambling at the island shop and just up the road from here was our first Yellow-browed Warbler of the day. The nearest this sprite breeds to the UK is eastern Russia. Although it is mid-October there are still a few warblers about and we caught up with several Blackcaps, two Chiffchaffs and a Reed Warbler, but none of these could beat the Blyth's Reed Warbler that was trapped and ringed early afternoon.

While there is still a taste of summer, the winter visitors outnumber the summer migrants and we found a flock of fifty Snow Buntings, several small groups of Bramblings, one Short-eared Owl and experienced a small arrival of Woodcock.

So even though we are here to enjoy autumn migration, Fair Isle has an awesome reputation for rare birds and it upheld this today. Alongside the Blyth's Reed Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Bluethroat, Little Bunting and Olive-backed Pipit were all found, unsurprisingly given the wind has quite a bit of east in it, all these birds have an origin from that direction.

As darkness falls the wind is still in the east - what will tomorrow bring - no doubt even more excitement.

Andy Clements

Here come the nomads

Over the last few days we have seen an arrival of Short-eared Owls at many East Coast sites, suggesting these are birds arriving from elsewhere in Europe. We receive a substantial influx of Short-eared Owls most autumns, with numbers increasing from August through to November. Information gleaned from ringed individuals suggests that many of these birds will be from Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Low Countries. Interestingly, the BTO ringing database also holds records of one from Iceland and one to the Faeroes, highlighting the wider origins of some birds.

Wintering Short-eared Owl, by Amy Lewis

Short-eared Owls have a reputation for being wanderers, avian nomads that seek out the opportunities offered by prey populations whose numbers can change dramatically from one year to the next. This nomadic behaviour is not restricted to the autumn and winter but can also be seen in breeding birds. The numbers breeding on favoured moorland sites across northern Britain may vary considerably between years as the birds respond to the availability of small mammal prey, particularly Field (or Short-tailed) Voles.

Birds that breed on our moorland will move to lower ground come autumn, favouring downland, rough grazing land and coastal marshes, where they may mix with individuals that have arrived from further afield. Some of our breeding Short-eared Owls will themselves make a sea-crossing, choosing to winter in France and Spain, again highlighting the fluid nature of this wandering owl.