Shrikes

Woken by bright sunlight at 5am, so got up and out to have first bite of the cherry before any of the others or their visiting mates could spoil the party. Selfish? Well, maybe, but as BT, rarity finder extraordinaire in Shetland once said to me, you’ve gotta be in it to win it.
Of course, [...]

Goatsucker

Only used that title to see if I could lure some of the internet’s bottom feeders here and thereby boost my hit rate by purporting to cater to the more, ahem, specialised blog reader… when disappointingly this is only about a bird. Quite a good one, though, or at least for here.
Left the isle this [...]

The Omen

Finally the good weather’s over, and the wind’s coming from a halfway useful direction. While the rest of Shetland bemoans the end of our warmest driest Spring ever, the birdspotters welcome the return of some more typical Shetland weather. And just in the nick of time as we enter Spring’s hottest (for rares) two weeks.
Came [...]

Going Dutch

Got back last week from a works trip to Friesland in NE Holland. Have been there once before, though in November, so probably not seeing it at its best on that occasion. That trip was most memorable for a drunken evening in a bar with a Dutchman and a Belgian who spent an enjoyable hour [...]

Been a while

Well, it has been. Last week was hellish busy, so never got a chance to celebrate my first new bird since, ooh, ages ago. Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw anything new last year… no, that’s a lie… nothing new in Shetland – it took a holiday trip to Scilly in [...]