Fair Isle - Day 9 in The Puffinn Household

Another day of south-easterly winds and very heavy rain. It was pretty obvious from early on that there were new birds in. Lots of Redwings and some Bramblings were immediately evident as well as some Phyloscopus warblers. Unfortunately, the wind, rain and bad light made birding very difficult, with most of the Puffinn crew having to return to base at least once during the day to dry off. Many of the birds around today looked pretty knackered due to their waterlogged plumage. The best find of the day was by Dave who found two Richard's Pipits just inland from The Reevas, whilst Paul and Mark were watching yesterdays bird at Bull Park. Mark also found a probably Siberian (tristris) Chiffchaff at Schoolton. The Reevas and the Western Geos were the busiest places, birdwise, with lots of thrushes (mainly Redwing and Song Thrushes) and a few Wheatears, Goldcrests and Brambling being among the haul. A Pied Fly was seen by most of us in the Bulls Park area, ending up at Setter.

No sightings of 'Sphyrapicus' Steve in the field today - most likely telling the new arrivals about the flocks of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckerss he had in his garden. Apparently, he took some lovely photos of the Bluethroat today. Upon inspection, the photos showed the characteristic dull streaked underparts, dark olive streaked back and black legs. Shame he didn't get it on video - he may have captured the characteristic sharp, high-pitched "tseeeep" call, which separates it from the similar Meadow Pipit.

After the successful rehabilitation of the Meadow Pipit the other day, we have a new guest in the cardboard box. I watched a Common Guillemot very close inshore this afternoon, which was having a hard time of it, being swamped by the surf. It disappeared out of view towards the shore and as predicted was lying on the beach exhausted 10 minutes later. I popped down and pounced on it and it's now snoozing away in my room. I'll check on it in the morning and let it go in a sheltered area somewhere (if it makes it through the night).

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