A Perfect Storm . .
Birding has been quiet the last few days with daily reductions in common migrants & only a couple of elusive Arctic Redpolls giving a rarer flare to the mixed flocks of Common (Mealy) & Lesser Redpolls. Increasing northerly winds produced a scattering of northern Redwing & a few Waxwing but surely the highlight came on the 20th with the most incredible weather conditions I have ever experienced on Fair Isle! The day started very cold with purple-grey clouds building up out to sea, followed with a prolonged heavy burst of pea-sized hail & the odd bolt of lightning & thunder. In the afternoon, the Island still covered in hail stones, was shrowded in darkness as high winds & a full-on blizzard
arrived! Not very productive birding & photography weather! This extreme weather continued with a spectacular highlight in the form of 3-4 tornado style huge 'Water Spouts' seen out to sea from the South! These monster formations lasted for some minutes & you could see the water being whipped up & rotated a few hundred feet through binoculars. . . . .

A Rough Day in Paradise .
Friday saw intermittent showers & a cooler feel to the Island. Numbers of birds were down but the Little Bunting still frequented the Iris-filled ditches around the Haa & the Blyth's Reed Warbler was still enjoying the feeding frenzy with Chiffchaffs on South harbour beach. Friday also saw the arrival of friend's Lois, Martin Culshaw & Alan Bull :-)
Saturday was a superb day. It started with Phil tape luring in a whopping 67 Redpolls, the majority of which were Mealy but there were 8 Lessers amongst them. After ringing these fabulous birds the day progressed with a probable flyover OBP at double dyke just before news & then views of a harassed Rough-legged Buzzard which at one point hovered 15 ft above Phil at Setter! After lunch & photographing my first Waxwing of the Autumn along with a Yellow-browed Warbler in the Obs plantation, I walked to the back of Buness where I caught up with the King Eider ( a Fair Isle tick) before getting a lift to the south for the 2nd Rough-legged Buzzard of the day! I photographed a small flock of Siskin late afternoon which were very approachable & in beautiful light before heading to Busta for a smart Black Redstart. The highlight of the day however came with Simon's find of a stunning Red-flanked Bluetail between the airstrip & the mast! A knackering hike up the hill soon saw the assembled crowd enjoying great scope views as it sat looking back at us with the odd tail quiver & yawn on the hillside. A great way to the end day!

Tuesday 12th October -

A much quieter day for birds as the winds veered a cooler NE, though it was a calm, enjoyable day to work the Island. I searched for Simon's Arctic Redpoll for sometime but to no avail. However this smart Mealy Redpoll was at South Light and I photographed another large NW type at Burkle. Good numbers of Lapland Bunting are still roaming the Island & after photographing 1 from a flock of 20 near Utra, I spent time in South Harbour photographing a dozen or so Chiffchaffs frantically feeding up on flies on tideline seaweed. The Scaup which was at Field Pond late afternoon was later 'dazzled', caught & ringed, an incredible duck to see in the hand!