Escape to the tranquility of Fair Isle, a unique holiday experience for the birder and non-birder alike.Stay at the world famous Bird Observatory, with its warm comfortable accommodation, friendly welcome, good home cooking and family atmosphere.

Visit the Fair Isle website for more details click here

Special thanks to Trevor Codlin at the London Camera Exchange whose generous loan of the digital camera to Fair Isle Bird Observatory allows Surfbirds to bring you photos from their ringing room.

Many thanks to Deryk Shaw for providing these updates.

Rarities
Olive-backed Pipit; singles on 2nd, 19th, 26th & 27th, 2 on 3rd( 4 individuals involved).
Red-throated Pipit-1st winter; from 2nd to 7th(trapped on 6th).
Pacific Golden Plover-juvenile; from 2nd to 12th.
Mute Swan-5th record for Fair Isle; from 8th to 15th.
Brown Shrike-1st winter; 21st(trapped).
Black-bellied Dipper; 30th(trapped).

Scarce migrants
Great Northern Diver; 2 on 3rd & 12th.
Slavonian Grebe; 2 on 8th.
Sooty Shearwater; 2nd, 3rd & 9th.
Quail; 5th & 6th.
Iceland Gull(ad); 11th.
Glaucous Gull(1st winter); 4th.
Short-toed Lark; singles on 10th, 11th, 14th, 23rd, 25th & 26th, 2 on 12th.
Richards Pipit; singles on 14 dates, 2 on 8th & 3 on 7th.
Bluethroat; 5th.
Barred Warbler; 17th.
Yellow-browed Warbler; singles on 1st, 3rd, 13th, & 23rd, 2 on 2nd & 12th.
Red-breasted Flycatcher; 13th, 2 on 12th.
Red-backed Shrike; 1st to 5th.
Great Grey Shrike; 5th & 22nd to 24th.
Ortalan; single all month, 2 on 2nd, 5th & 6th.
Little Bunting; singles on 11 dates, 2 on 1st & 2nd.
Pallas’s Warbler; 16th.

5th November:
Its getting cold here now, and birds are getting scarce (except for Thrushes). Yesterday (4th) however produced two BLACK REDSTARTS and a GLAUCOUS GULL (1stW), whilst today turned up a late COMMON ROSEFINCH and the BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER again as well as a GOOSANDER and 21 LITTLE AUKS and a GREAT-NORTHERN DIVER on a seawatch.