http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/ en-us 2006-10-21T23:47:48+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/004190.html Walked over to collect the eggs late this afternoon and the first bird I clapped eyes on was a Red-flanked Bluetail. Like you do. It obligingly lobbed into B's mistnet, so was released in the plantation, where it might... Stercorarius 2006-10-21T23:47:48+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003976.html Really haven't felt like adding to this recently after inadvertantly causing offence to a birder elsewhere in Shetland and being on the receiving end of some personally offensive comments on the blog, but life goes on and there's nothing... Stercorarius 2006-06-13T11:26:49+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003906.html Was busy being a domestic goddess (well, hoovering anyway) on Saturday morning when P interrupted me with the phone - DC had kindly called to let me know there was a White-throated Sparrow at Sumburgh Farm. He's an absolute... Stercorarius 2006-05-15T14:37:02+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003899.html Curses. Shetland got off to a roistering start to the spring over the past few days, starting with a smattering of Subalpine Warblers, picking up pace with a Collared Flycatcher, and then finishing in a shuddering crescendo with a... Stercorarius 2006-05-11T16:27:43+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003877.html A shameless piece of link-pilfering, but this is so touching, so poignant... it deserves all the publicity it can get. Courtesy of Tom at Skills Bills, a heart-rending tear-jerking tribute to the plastic Black-winged Stilt that was the bedrock... Stercorarius 2006-05-05T22:07:50+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003860.html A couple of other birding websites that I’ve been meaning to flag up here for ages. In no particular order (actually, that’s a great big lie with knobs on. The first one comes first because I’ve met the man... Stercorarius 2006-05-02T10:55:34+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003814.html On my way back to catch the ferry home yesterday, driving through the wilds of the east side, I came across a most unexpected and out-of-place sight for Shetland, a plumptious male Pheasant. Obviously I accelerated hard at it... Stercorarius 2006-04-20T13:54:03+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003813.html Shocking news came through to me on Sunday morning from DC – a drake Hooded Merganser had arrived the previous day on Unst. Why oh why not West Loch?! Like a fool I’d left my mobile to run down... Stercorarius 2006-04-18T12:35:20+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003765.html Just got in after a very long hike around the south end of Bressay, on a classic Shetland spring day – the full mix of bright sunshine, driving rain, flat calm, hail, a screaming wind you could barely stand... Stercorarius 2006-04-06T16:50:04+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003748.html I can't believe I'm about to climb up into the cold and lonely heights of the moral highground, but there you go... somebody's got to say something. But first there needs to be a disclaimer; what follows may smack... Stercorarius 2006-04-04T11:20:08+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003740.html There’s a definite feeling that Spring is in the air at last; actually, that’s kind of a lie, as this morning the Lang Kames had a sprinkling of snow on their northern faces, and there’s a chill north-westerly doing... Stercorarius 2006-04-03T11:05:19+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003538.html It's all been a little quiet on the birding front up here for the past few weeks. Not even a hint of the white-winged gull influx of last winter either to sustain me. Still, undaunted I set out on... Stercorarius 2006-01-10T14:23:44+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003419.html Winter's here, and I for one am welcoming it if it means birds of the quality of this: Brunnich's Guillemot Brought JL down from the island with me this morning, and went straight to Victoria Pier in Lerwick. Just... Stercorarius 2005-12-01T14:58:39+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003365.html Well, it's back to work for me now, and this time the autumn really does seem to be over. I'm settling into my winter routine now, getting up in the dark, making an arse of feeding the hens and... Stercorarius 2005-11-15T20:31:07+00:00 http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/Stercorarius/archives/003310.html Miracles. They happen sometimes, only very occasionally, which is what makes them so miraculous. Yesterday I bumped into JL down the island, and in an idle moments conversationwe speculated what could conceivably be found by either of us today.... Stercorarius 2005-11-04T23:33:34+00:00