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Showing posts from October, 2015

Goodbye Fair Isle.

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It is time to leave Fair Isle. Overall I have been on this magnificent island for five weeks, with a break to go to all of the RSPB nature reserves on Shetland in the middle. Highlight birds :- arctic warbler 2 citrine wagtails pallid harrier 109 yellow-browed warblers 4 common rosefinches 3 Richard's pipits red-flanked bluetail lanceolated warbler (my only lifer) radde's warbler ortolan bunting pallas' grasshopper warbler Siberian rubythroat Blyth's reed warbler 2 red-breasted flycatchers Lapland bunting 3 long-eared owls over 20 short-eared owls many jack snipe masses of redwings bramblings  Greeted by very curious fulmars and bombarding bonxies (great skuas). There were 300 of them when I arrived in September; now down to ten. Then it is also goodbye to the Bird Observatory staff, the birders and the Fair isle residents. It has been wonderful to see Neil Thompson again, especially when he has been playing one of his guitars. Many, m