More Shameless Self-promotion

As I may have mentioned a while back, I've been intending for a long time to create a separate website for my pet portraits. After a lot of messing about, it's now live, so in the interests of getting at least one in-coming link to it, here it is:

www.ukpetportraits.com

Feel free to link to it, share it, Tweet it, like it on Facebook etc.

Religious Persecution by Mustelids?

This could easily have been Photoshopped, but I swear this is a genuine screengrab from the BBC's Nature UK page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/) today. No doubt it will have disappeared by Monday.

Shetland Days 9 - 12

9th

Back to near gale force westerlies, accompanied by heavy showers. There are now pretty much no migrants anywhere (apart from an arrival of Redwings and Fieldfares overnight), and the only bird of note we saw all day was the Buff-bellied Pipit at Quendale.

10th

Decided to go a bit further afield today, so we drove to Lerwick, where several Purple Sandpipers and a Long-tailed Duck were new for the holiday list, but Helendale and Seafield were devoid of migrants. Fladdabister produced the only warblers we've seen for a few days – a Garden Warbler and a Blackcap, and 1 Chiffchaff was the only migrant at Hoswick (as an aside, we've seen more Willow Warblers than Chiffchaffs here since we arrived, which is very unusual).

We were then reduced to twitching the Citrine Wagtail again, and I managed to get a photo for a change, although it was being blown about a lot in the wind. Finally, back at Pool of Virkie, a Curlew Sandpiper was new for the holiday list, and 6 juv Arctic Terns were also here.

11th

Our last full day was mostly spent driving around South Mainland trying to think of somewhere that might be hiding a migrant, but apart from 3 Snow Buntings on the top of Mossy Hill, we largely failed to find any. Saw the American Golden Plover again at Dunrossness, and the Isabelline Shrike again at Fleck.

12th

Mark totally gripped me off this morning with a brief Robin in Exnaboe, the only one of the trip. Apart from that though, our last couple of hours produced nothing in flat calm, sunny weather. Strange how, every time the wind's dropped below about force 7, we've been travelling and haven't been able to take full advantage of it. Our flight from Sumburgh was delayed due to a fault with the plane (we actually had to get off and board a different one after farting about on the runway for half an hour), which meant a fast walk across Glasgow Airport to catch the connecting flight, but apart from that the journey home was uneventful.

So, a bit of a mixed bag this year - saw some good birds (certainly more than in 2008, when we didn't see a single BB rarity!), but nothing really outstanding, and once again we failed to find much, despite trying hard. It would be an understatement to say that the weather wasn't in our favour though! Probably shan't be going next year, so book your flights now - it will no doubt be mega....

Shetland Day 8

Typically, the day we left Unst it was relatively calm. The wind even went easterly for most of the day, although it wasn't really coming from anywhere, and most of the remaining migrants seem to have taken the opportunity to leave.

Stopped off at a few places on the way south, the most productive of which was the excellent garden and plantation at Sandgarth, where we found a Lesser Redpoll (the rarest of the redpolls in Shetland!), 4 or 5 apparent Mealy Redpolls, a Greenfinch (also scarce here), a Lesser Whitethroat and a few Blackcaps. Kergord was absolutely dead as usual.

Sandgarth plantation

Arriving in the birder-infested south, we quickly cleaned up on all the rarities in the area: juv Citrine Wagtail and American Golden Plover at Fleck, and the Isabelline Shrike at Brake, but decided to give the Buff-bellied Pipit at Quendale a miss until the crowds had died down.

Shetland Day 7

Went back to Fetlar today to look for the American Golden Plover, Dotterel and Pec Sand Martin Garner's lot saw yesterday at Tresta (where we didn't look on Monday). Found the Golden Plover flock. Nothing else with them.

Golden Plover ignoring the weather and pretending it's still summer

Looked for the Black-headed Bunting at Belmont. No sign.

Last couple of hours of daylight at Norwick – Pied Fly and 2 Rosefinches still at Valyie, and a juv Hen Harrier by the beach, but nothing new.

Forecast still bollocks. Tomorrow we leave Unst and head for the apparently birder-saturated and almost equally birdless South Mainland. I can't wait.

Shetland Day 6

Notice how the posts get shorter as the week goes on...

More of the same – strong westerly winds and showers. Went to Norwick first thing and saw the same birds that have been there all week – 2 Rosefinches, Pied Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler and several Bramblings.

South to Uyeasound, where all we could find were a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher (valuable holiday tick). The OBP was still at Baltasound late afternoon, but again no photos worth keeping.

With the forecast is still stuck on strong westerly winds coming from nowhere, it's hard to see anything new turning up at the moment. We may be reduced to twitching Fetlar again tomorrow...