June 07, 2005
Summer time and the blogging is cheesey
Finally the northerlies have eased off again up here, and the sun is out and we're up to a balmy 12.5deg C. Which feels bloody hot here, believe me. Some signs of migration on Shetland as a whole, with a couple of good warblers (Subalpine and Sardinian), and a pair of Red-rumped Swallows, one on Fair Isle and one on our island. JL phoned me about it on Saturday evening, unfortunately just as we were leaving the house to catch the ferry to Mainland to go out for a meal with P's folks. B had found the bird, and by all accounts it was fairly confiding for a few hours that evening.
I didn't feel too chastened to miss it - after all, I've seen plenty overseas, a few in the UK, and even found my own at Porthgwarra whilst in Cornwall on my honeymoon in 2001. So not exactly deprived of them! But it would still have been a good bird to see had it stuck around (sadly, it didn't). Can't imagine how I'd be feeling had this been a Needletail!
Anyway, summer feels like it's here after a fashion, despite the fact there's still a lone Iceland Gull sweating it out here in town, sitting in a field at Gremista and wondering what the hell it's doing there. A few more records of Trumpeter Finch from northern Europe - they're now being seen in Scandinavia, so there's hope for us yet.
Follow the Weather Starling for a forecast, or see Shetland live on the NAFC webcam… 
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Come back soon!
Posted by Stercorarius at June 7, 2005 02:13 PM