Monday 21 September 2009

Bunt-tastic!


With a fresh SSW'ly wind blowing, it was a quiet weekend for birds. The undoubted highlight was the new Little Bunting trapped in the Vaadal, however the Lapland Bunting trapped a few minutes later at the Chalet was also nice - and a ringing tick for yours truly!! A (the) Richard's Pipit was seen on Meoness.

The new Obs is coming on - the panels and flashing to the exterior have almost been completed and electricians and plumbers have arrived to start fitting out the interior. I was able to look around upstairs for the first time and it is an impressive building.

Hollie took the ponies out on Saturday around the east loop (without me!!) along with the kids and Lise. The children are apparently improving their riding technique and the ponies were as good as gold - apart from being spooked by some 'strange' new patches of tar on the road, causing a few sidesteps and snorts! They had their feet trimmed too - the ponies not the children!
A well-attended party at Setter on Saturday night meant Sunday was a very lethargic day, but a 'possible Great Snipe' claim spurred me and Lubo to thrash around Buggarts, Da Water and Boini Mire but to no avail.

Today we are greeted with another blowy grey day as a strong SW'ly makes birding difficult. The main arrivals so far have been Alan Bull and Steve Turner (both ex AWs) off the morning plane. Its good to see them but its been so long since Steve was here that I had to give him a map to find his way round - I'm sure it'll all come back to him pretty quickly though! They immediately went out and re-found the Richard's Pipit at Boini Mire, whilst Simon found yet another (unringed) Little Bunting in North Haven.
A Shetland Wildlife Tour group also arrived this morning so I do hope we can find some birds to make it worth their while, although looking at the forecast it could be difficult - perhaps a nice Dendroica warbler!? The day progressed with parties of Pink-footed Geese passing overhead, totalling some 200 whilst the afternoon plane brought in another ex-FIBO stalwart, Mark Newell. Fun times to be had at Taft the next fortnight!!!!

1 comment:

  1. I'm enjoying reading your blog, especially about the progress of the new OBS. My mom and I are making plans for a visit in the summer of 2010 and we hope to spend some time there!

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