Veery Nice

Friday and news of a Veery on Foula sent a number of birders, saturday morning ,either by boat or plane. that very same day,come noon yet another Veery came out,this time from Whalsey. Five minutes after the news broke,I was on the road,heading for the ferry out to Whalsey.
Two hours gave probably a maximum of 20 seconds of viewing time.
But special non the less.

Eye of the Taiga (Fly Stalone)

What a week!

The news of a Taiga Flycatcher in Shetland,being just the third for Britain.

Started a journey at 4am, for the "red eye" ferry.

The sky was clear and the wind had dropped overnight. My thoughts-the bird had gone.

But waiting for the second ferry of the morning, a text came through,the bird was still on Fetlar.

Taiga Flycatcher

On the way back through Yell, a derelict house and overgrown garden was the temporary home for a Arctic Warbler

Shetland Wren

Meanwhie back at the ranch a Yellow Browed still performed for the crowds

Autumn migration in 1/8th swing

Rock Pipit

Wheatear

Pink footed Geese

Greenshank on Burra

Yellow Browed Warbler,still puts on a show,dispite the gales and lots of Birders.

So Far this week

Yellow Browed Warbler

The Garden Turned up a Willow Warbler first thing in the morning,that in its self was nice, as the lack of migrants due to the Westerly winds makes anything seem special.
Then later in the day I heard the distinctive call of one of my favourite birds
Yellow Browed Warbler. But then it made it even more special , as I obtained a shot I had been after for years , but happens so quickly, hovering underneath a leaf.

Willow Warbler

4 Pied Wagtails came to roost in the garden.

Turnstones save the day

Having spent a couple of hours in the morning visiting some of the best Migrant hotspots.

With nothing more than a Whinchat, in fact only a Whinchat.

I decided to visit one of my favorite local sites.Nothing special, but at least the Turnstones and Rock Pipits, helped me burn some data onto a cf card.

Crossbills and Boats

After a few hours trying to relocate
the Booted Warbler.
Returned back to base to find these
Crossbills on my local patch.

A friend invited me out on his boat.

Quiet an experience, as its not the biggest boat in the world.

All these images hand held