Blyth's on the Beach

A fairly quiet & often overcast day but the highlight was spending time sat in South Harbour beach watching & photographing this smart Blyth's Reed Warbler as it fed up on insects on the seaweed with numerous Chiffchaffs (including at least 2 Tristis types). After the crowds had dispersed, I also had a brief moment with the Radde's, this time in much better light showing the apricot undertail coverts off nicely & the general warm plumage tones. Other notable birds today included 2 Slav Grebes in South Harbour, lots of Lap Bunts & a Little bunting. The Barred Warbler is still tucking into apples at the Haa.

Tarts Tick!
Today has turned out to be a brilliant one for me. Firstly I enjoyed fabulous views of a superb Long-eared Owl in the shop garden. I had wanted to photograph another Long-eared Owl since 2004 when I was AW & had several sat about in the open during the season. This one today was my first photographable bird since that time! I photographed it firstly on the window sill of the shop greenhouse & after lunch returned to see it had moved to an attractive lichen covered rock outside the garden walls. Apart from getting irritated at a sheep which got a little too close for comfort, the owl sat fully exposed on the rock all afternoon, it's ears getting buffeted by the increasing winds. Delighted at the owl encounter I decided to head south & work a few crofts. I was soon at Schoolton & seeing the garden was being watched by a birder, moved along the outside of the garden to the crop below. As I worked through the crop I was nearly at the end when a small warbler flew up & landed for a second or two on a fence wire. With this brief view I knew at once I had a Dusky or Radde's, though I thought at that time it was more likely a Dusky. It flew fast towards Quoy and dropped into grass & out of view near the road. I called Phil who was with Deryk & beckoned over 3 birders (including Gary Taylor :-) I could see not far away. On arrival of Deryk & Phil we searched for the bird again. After a few minutes I relocated it at the back of Quoy. I had another brief view on a fence & this second glance gave better views to deduce that it was in fact a Radde's, something then confirmed by Deryk & Phil as it showed again for another brief moment behind quoy. This was a British tick for me & a bird I had wanted to see for a long time! Fantastic! Twenty or so birders saw this elusive bird throughout the late afternoon as it moved over towards Kennaby & adjacent fields before the light rain set in & the light conditions started to fade. I don't think there can be a better feeling than finding my own British tick & photographing a LEO all in one afternoon.

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!

Monday 11th - OBP day. . . .

The new week dawned with a fine OBP in the south, found my Jack. This particularly unconfiding bird was briefly seen at Quoy & Schoolton throughout the day. Several Yellow-browed Warblers were a welcome sight along with the over-tame Barred Warbler which sits on Tommy's window sill at the Haa, feeding on peaches & apples. Brief views of a Blyth's Reed Warbler in Iris beds south of the Haa livened up our possible vagrant optimism! . . . .

Fair Isle - Autumn 2010

Shetland - October 2010
Our annual and long awaited Autumn trip to Shetland is now underway! After 3 hours sleep in a Luton airport hotel and 2 flights we were at Sumburgh breathing in the sea air and heading off to see our first rarity of the Autumn - the Syke's Warbler at Channerwick. This was a tick for me and although a very elusive individual, good views were eventually obtained. A great start! We stayed with Paul Harvey & were soon back in the Sumburgh Hotel catching up with Helen, Newton, Rob Fray & Mark Reeder.
We spent the 7th and 8th on Unst staying with Brydon, Vaila & little Casey in their new home. I really loved Unst, a place Phil used to live, and the birding was fine with good numbers of common migrants & a few rares. An unexpected encounter with a big male Otter at Haroldswick one evening was just magic! Birds of note included 2 Little Bunting, 1 Lanceolated Warbler, 1 Richard's Pipit, 1 Arctic Redpoll, 1 Pallas's Warbler & our first Yellow-browed warblers of the Autumn.
We left our Unst friends on Saturday morning to catch our Sumburgh flight to Fair Isle - where we are to be until the end of the Obs season :-) superb . . . . .

Traill's Flycatcher - Blakeney Point - Norfolk - 26th September.
On Saturday 25th September I was in Covent Garden, London, catching up with girlfriends from my university days. Although a great day, a voicemail from Phil slightly hampered my enjoyment - he was on his way to Blakeney Point for a Alder/Willow Flycatcher! I was delighted for Phil when I heard he had seen the bird although the mammoth trek out to see it did not sound very tempting. I decided to wait for news the next morning once I was back in Woodbridge and had the day free. I was half expecting it to have gone although I guess the torrential rain and storm force winds were likely to put off the movement of any small passerine which had only just touched land and was busy feeding up in the Blakeney 'plantation'. I felt highly motivated on Sunday morning and on news, soon had the 2 hour drive behind me and the 3 mile hike ahead. The weather conditions were even worse than the previous day with horizontal rain and high winds lashing in off the sea, my calf muscles got a serious shingle workout! Drenched to the skin and with boots full of water it was a real relief to finally get to the 'Point' and within a few minutes I was watching this superb flycatcher flitting about in bramble scrub and a sycamore - a fabulous bird! I braved getting my camera gear out and soaked but was happy with the record shots I obtained considering the conditions. A Garden Warbler and a male Brambling were also present and feeding up.
The 3 mile walk back to the car park was in constrast an enjoyable experience with no pressure and sticking to the beach paid off with a Grey Phalarope whizzing past as few feet above my head and a nice Little Gull and Arctic Skua heading up the coast.

TAIWAN TRIP - Update
I visited Taiwan in September for 9 days on behalf of the Taiwanese Tourist Board - I was not to be disappointed. Taiwan or 'Ilha Formosa' means the 'beautiful Island' and indeed it is, from lowlands to high mountain peaks up to 3000m and many large scale national parks offering a wealth of bird life including over 24 Endemics and numerous Island subspecies. I was surprised just how intact the majority of Taiwan's natural habitat still is and the warm, friendly Taiwanese people who seem to have a good grip on conservation and the importance of the habitat, wildlife and bird life the country has to offer. We started in Taipei, the countries capital in the North and travelled through the central and West parts of Taiwan to the Southern tip before returning to Taipei. Our first and last mornings at Wulai not far from Taipei and the Taipei botanical gardens were great locations to get stuck into the birds, with nearly every species a new one for me on day one I did not put my bins down for a second! Wandering through the Shilin Night market was an incredible sight and smell and real eye opener to the Taiwanse culture and love of food (the second best thing about Taiwan after the birds!). Highlights included visiting the Daxueshan National Forest and Mt Anmashan area and Huisun Forest Station. Here we tasted true Taiwanese mountainous forested habitat and the unforgettable Swinhoe's Pheasant and several Mikado Pheasants.

The true highlight for me however came with finding my own most wanted bird of the trip, the 'Flamecrest', surely the king of all 'Regulus' species in the world! flitting about within trees drenched in lichen and with wisps of cloud floating through the canopy - (just my kind of habitat) in the Yushan National Park area. The South saw us on the wooded and scrub dense coastline, on raptor platforms, where we were surrounded by Taiwanese raptor counters. Here we had a taste of migration as over 450 Chinese Goshawk in various groups, circled on thermals overhead, a male Eastern Marsh Harrier cruised past us at eye level, a Besra made an appearance along with a Dollarbird and butterflies the size of dinner plates floated past. In all we saw over 130 species in 8 full days, 22 of which are Endemic to Taiwan and many more Endemic subspecies with further splits in the pipeline. I will be making a full report of this extraordinary trip and will be running future bird tours to what was an exciting new location and one I can't wait to return to . . . .here are a few more images from a great many taken!