Of Harriers and Orioles

We moved to Suffolk on 11th December 1972 when I was 11 years old. Dads old Rover 90 was full to the gunwales. Four kids along the bench seat in the back. Bonzo, my black Labrador, at my feet and a tank full of goldfish on my knee. Suffolk was an ideal place for me to live as a budding young birder. A stream ran through the hamlet we'd moved to and Kingfishers nested along its bank. Pike lurked in some of the deeper pools and it was alive with Minnows and Sticklebacks. We had Marsh and Willow Tits visiting the garden, Nightingales in the local woods (Linneage Woods) and a pair of Barn Owls in a derelict barn. Lesser -spotted Woodpeckers were still common. Fallow Deer were often see from my bedroom window. It was here that my interest in birds was ignited into a real passion. All my free time was spent out birding with my old Prinz 8 x 32 binoculars given to me as a Christmas present several years earlier by my parents.

It wasn't until I went to high school in Sudbury that my birding wings metaphorically spread. I'd got a weekend job at a local boarding kennels - walking dogs, cleaning pens, feeding them and generally looking after the owners other animals. I found a beautiful male Kestrel dead in their chicken run and took it to school to show my Biology teacher. The Kestrel had dived in after some chicks and somehow broken its neck. He introduced me to Nick who was our senior lab technician and had trained at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Nick arranged for a taxidermist mate of his from the veterinary school to  stuff the Kestrel for me and from then on he became one of my most influential birding mentors.  With him, his wife Gwen and one of his local mates (RSPB warden Dave Woods) along with local birder Tony Butcher they took me everywhere! 

One of our first trips was to Minsmere RSPB. About an hour away in Nicks Citroen Diane. At that time there were only three Marsh Harriers in the whole of the UK. A single male and two females. Hard to believe now when they're so widespread. The only place Avocets bred in the UK was Minsmere and Havergate Island. Bitterns were still extremely rare and only found at a few sites along the east coast. Bearded Tits had just started recolonising the area. I was in ornithological heaven.

RSPB Minsmere was established as a nature reserve in 1947. 

The area had been used for farmland before being deliberately flooded during the Second World War as a defence against invasion. Recognising its ornithological value, the RSPB signed a management agreement for the site after the war - primarily as Avocets had started to colonise.

A funny story from that trip relates to Dave who seemed to survive on bottles of milk - no tetrapak or plastic cartons then. Wearing the ubiquitous birders donkey jacket he had his milk bottle in a pocket. We kept hearing Bittern booming but couldn't workout where it was coming from until we realised it was the wind blowing across Dave's empty milk bottle! 

Nick ran the school bird club held in the biology lab weekly at lunch time. Minsmere RSPB hosted an inter-schools bird identification competition and we entered a team. Binoculars were not required, although a few of us had them, and we had to each identify 10 species pointed out by one of the assistant wardens. The prize was a copy of The Popular Handbook of British Birds by P.A.D Hollom. We won with my friend Terry Girling and I both getting 100% scores. Many years later Nick sent me the photo below of the winning team. I was fourteen and wearing one of my Dads old shirts. Terry Girling is to my left and I think the photo was taken around 1975 when I was 14. Terry later went on to be a vet and we're still in contact......... occasionally!

By now I was realising the limitations of the old Prinz and sold my stamp collection to buy a new pair of 10 x 50 Swifts. At that time Swift's were the binocular to own along with the Zeiss Jena Jenoptem. Nick had a pair of Swift Audubons and looking through those was a revelation.

Tony Butcher lived in Sudbury and was a well known local twitcher and birder. I think at one point he was  Suffolk county recorder. During the 70's Buzzard was extremely rare in Suffolk and Rough-legged Buzzard was the default bird in winter. I'd been used to seeing Buzzards at my grandparents place on Dartmoor so when I found one soaring over our local woods it caused a minor twitch. Tony was convinced it would be a Rough-legged Buzzard when he turned up to take a look. 

What is now RSPB Lakenheath Fen was carrot fields with several plantations of poplars which were grown to make match sticks. It was colonised in the late 60's by Golden Orioles and remained their UK stronghold until gradually dying out in 2009. At the peak the population in the UK was 25 pairs with Lakenheath Fen being  the best place to see them. From what I understand there is a species of caterpillar that feeds on these trees but only until they reach a certain age. Since the matchstick industry collapsed new plantations weren't planted and the older trees didn't host the caterpillars which were the major food source for the Orioles.

Understandably I was keen to see these avian jewels and when Nick invited me to go with him and Tony I jumped at the chance. I can't remember much about the birds but do remember the awful smell from the nearby maggot factory where we stopped for breakfast! 

Until their demise I visited the area several times to see Golden Oriole and below is a photo I took of one in 2006 when I last visited with a friend who needed it as a lifer. By that time there was a single pair. 

Golden Oriole is on my Cheshire list courtesy of a bird at Moore nature Reserve in May 2005. My last Golden Oriole was one we found on Fair Isle in 2024. See here for that story.

Fetlar 2025

I first came to Fetlar in 2019 after Fair Isle Bird Obs burnt down. Actually my first trip was in the 70's when I came to see Snowy Owl and Red-necked Phalaropes as a teen birder. With the Obs no longer available we decided to try somewhere a bit more under watched than Shetland Mainland. Since then I've been coming up almost annually - missing only the Covid year of 2020 and 2023 when I knackered my knee climbing a stile on Fair Isle resulting in an ACL injury and a torn patella tendon. 

We always stay at Houbie where the Feal Burn is literally on our doorstep. This year I was joined by Mark who's been here a couple of times with me before. Leaving home at 1 am we made good time to Edinburgh where we caught the first flight to Sumburgh and picked up our hire car. A Mini Cooper S no less! Much different to the original 1275 Cooper I had in the 80's! 

First stop was Asta as Mark hadn't seen the Siberian Thrush. Unfortunately it was a no show and had gone by the time we'd arrived back on Shetland. We did get a bonus Long-eared Owl though. Next stop was a weeks shop at Tesco's in Lerwick before heading north to Toft and the ferry to Yell. All went smoothly until we arrived at Gutcher to get the ferry across to Hamars Ness. We got called forward to board the ferry and then got stopped and told to reverse back as the bow thrusters had failed. The ferry limped to nearby Cullivoe to get fixed. We then waited another hour before finally boarding a different ferry that had been sent to pick us up! From leaving home until arriving at Houbie took us 15.5 hours so we were pretty knackered. However we'd arranged to meet local birder Paul Macklam and friends from Staffs Paul & Linda Sutton, who were here in their camper van, at the weekly social gathering at the community hall. A great social event and we met up with Graham, owner of the Glebe, who once again kindly gave us permission to enter his well vegetated gardens.

Full of enthusiasm after a good nights sleep we set out early  next morning to check our 'local' patch - Feal Burn and the two plantations at the head of the burn. A few Goldcrests and a Robin later we were somewhat bemused by the lack of birds. With winds predominately from the west it was hardly surprising but we still expected to see a few more commoner migrants.

Leogarth House

Working the plantations along Feal Burn

This set the tone for the rest of the week. Very few common migrants and for the first tie since I've been visiting Fetlar, no Yellow-browed Warblers. Even the expected winter visitors such as Redwing and Fieldfare were very scarce - in fact we didn't see a Fieldfare all week! 

We did manage to find a couple of bits and pieces though when Mark picked up a juvenile Glaucous Gull flying into Funzi Loch where it stayed for about 10 minutes, much to the consternation of the juvenile Slavonian Grebe that had taken up residence for several weeks, before flying off.

Slavonian Grebe

We also found a Siberian Chiffchaff in the garden of one of the Crofts but this was probably the same birds that had been seen previously moving around the various gardens. 

With news that the Blackpoll Warbler found at Haroldswick, Unst,before we arrived, was still showing made us decide to have a change of scenery and go to Unst for the day where we eventually caught up with this North American Warbler in the garden of Allan Conlins house! It gave us the run around in strong winds and we didn't manage any photos. This was my 1st Blackpoll since 2007. It was great to catch up with Steve Holmes and Marion Barlow who were staying at Allans place. They live fairly close to me in Cheshire.

A trip to Unst isn't complete without visiting the 'birders garden' at Valyie, Norwick where a couple of Yellow -browed Warblers had been seen that morning. With patience they showed well flitting low down in the undergrowth and occasionally disappearing into the ivy covering a shed to feed long with a myriad of Blackcaps and an eastern looking Lesser Whitethroat.

Meeting up with Mark and Linda Sutton again as they'd moved to Unst in their camper van that morning we had a brew with them and Mark showed us the photos he'd taken of acredula type Willow Warbler at Uyeasound. As this was on our way back to the ferry we decided to call in and see if we could find it. No joy but a scan of Easter Loch provided a few trip ticks in the shape of Coot, Mute Swan and my 1st Goldeneyes of the year. The loch was full of birds and the air with the sound of Whooper sounds calling to each other as they flew in.

With darkness falling we made our way to the ferry terminal for the journey back to Fetlar.

A casual conversation with Paul Macklam about Oysterplants revealed there were some on Aith beach. Oysterplant, so called as its leaves supposedly taste of oysters ( I tried and they do actually taste a bit like oysters). This is a range restricted and found on beaches where its tap root goes deep down through the sand to find nutrients and freshwater. Although there are a few scattered colonies around the mainland coast its stronghold is the Shetlands. Sure enough we found 12 plants some of which were still in flower.

We managed 62 species of bird on Fetlar for the week with the last species being an unexpected Whimbrel found at Funzi whilst I was checking the crop field planted to attract Twite. 

As well as the (few) birds we also caught up wiith some of the resident mammals. Tewo Common Seals frequented the slipway at Houbie and we could often see them from our front window.  I regularly see Atlantic Grey Seals on Hilbre with the occasional Common Seal but to see them so close here was a treat.

Common Seal

Shetlnd must be one of the best places in the BBritish Isles to see Otter and we weren't disappointed as we caught up with this large dog Otter near the ferry terminal whilst a female and her cub hunted around the small harbour at Hamars Ness.

Dog Otter hunting along the tide wrack

CHiffchaff

Shetland Wren

Common Redpoll

Golden Plover

Long shadows at Houbie

Despite the lack of birds we kept going. Searching suitable habitat on a daily basis, sometimes 2-3 times each day, in the hope that something interesting would turn up. Sadly this wasn't the case and before long it was time for us to leave and set off across Fetlar for the ferry to Yell  and then on to Shetland mainland and down to Sumburgh where we stayed in the Sumburgh Hotel. Not before one final challenge though when our hire car suddenly stopped without notice on Fetlar about 2 hrs before our ferry was due to leave. A phone call to the hire company was not immediately a complete waste of time as they said they couldn't help us in such a remote location. The electrics were completely dead and I suspected a flat battery but couldn't understand why. Bump starting the car didn't work but we got through to Paul who came down with his jump leads and gave us a jump start. Luckily the car behaved itself and we got to the ferry without further issue. Speaking to a guy from Scottish Water he kindly checked the charging using a multi-meter ut all seemed fine. The only thing we could think of was a loose earth lead somewhere underneath the car which was causing an intermittent fault. Travelling to remote Shetland islands is always exciting! 

Although not the most bird filled trips I've had to Fair Isle or Fetlar but the two weeks provided a 'lifer' in Siberian Thrush, two further BBRC rarities in Olive-backed Pipit and Blackpoll Warbler and scarcities such as Richrds Pipit, Yellow-browed Warbler and Common Rosefinch.

Siberian Thrush

With the day of our departure from Fair Isle arriving there came the news that, unbelievably the 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, found at Asta on Shetland mainland by Simon Nichols, was still present. Nearly a week after it had first been seen and two days after our arrival on Fair Isle.

Our flight was scheduled at 12.00 and Jason and I intended walking from Tingwall to the site. A distance of about  3 miles which we reckoned we could do in an hour. We'd literally just finished breakfast when Steve Holgate came in to tell us Tingwall had rung to say we were now on the 09.30 fight. Even better! We were sad to be leaving Fair Isle but both really wanted to see this rare Siberian vagrant.

With only 15 previous records in the UK and the majority being one day birds I'd already missed two on Shetland.  One on Foula in 2007 when we couldn't get a flight but managed to charter a fishing boat the next day when, of course, it had gone (see here for details of that dip) and another on Fair Isle in Hoinsi and Steensi geo in 2015. That one was very unfortunate. Fred could see it in the geo and tried ringing me as I was looking from a different angle. The wind was so bad I couldn't hear the phone. Eventually he stood up and yelled me and as I crawled towards him every bird left the geo never to be seen again (see here).  In 2015 a female, previously ringed in Norway, turned up at a Redwing roost at Scousburgh on Shetland mainland.....just as we were boarding our plane at Sumburgh airport for the journey home. There was a 1st winter female in Fife, for 6 days, in 2020 that I could have gone for but a combination of poor views and weather made me decide against it. 

Anyway, our luck changed for the better when Steve Arlow messaged to say he was also leaving Fair Isle on the 09.30 flight as he'd cut short his trip due to the forecast for more bad weather. He offered to give us a lift to the site where the Siberian Thrush had been showing uncharacteristically well.

A smooth flight and with an agreement to collect our left luggage from Tingwall airport by 16.30 we set off for the short drive to Asta. Almost immediatley we arrived the bird was showing albeit between the heads and ears of birders lined up along the wall in front of us. Not matter. I'd seen my 1st SiberianThrush and a beautifully blue 1st winter male as  well. From my restricted viewing position  I watched as it turned over leaves beneath a bush searching for invertebrates. I even managed a photo by holding my camera above my head and angling the screen downwards to make sure I was on the bird.

As the crowd thinned and the bird moved out of site we managed to get some prime positions at the front and watched as the thrush, seemingly unconcerned by all the attention it was getting, continued to feed among the leaf litter.

Occasionally it would fly back to the loch side elderberries where Simon had first found it but would always fly back to the garden.

It went missing on a few occasions but always returned giving several fly pasts showing that stunning underwing pattern. For the last hour we were there it showed almost continuously flicking over the leaf litter and occasionally pulling up a small worm or other invertebrate.

Steve kindly gave us a lift back to Tingwall where our taxi to Sumburgh was already waiting. Saying our goodbyes and offering thanks to the birding gods we headed back south to Sumburgh to begin the long journey home. I eventually got home in the early hours of Wednesday morning and slept like a log. Great to catch up with Col & David who were also at the Sibe Thrush

Fair Isle 2026

This years trip to Fair Isle with Jason was slightly different in that the new Obs was open and we were staying there for the first time. Setting off from my house at 12.00 midnight on a Sunday night I picked up Jason at his home and we had an uneventful journey to Edinburgh and onward to Sumburgh. We pre-booked a taxi from Sumburgh to Tingwall and were soon boarding the short Airtask flight to Fair isle, in beautiful weather, passing over the North Light as we came in to land.

Met at the airstrip on Fair Isle by the new hospitality manager, Steve Holgate, we were driven back to the Obs and shown to our very comfortable rooms before being given a packed lunch and setting off to bird around the island.

With storm Amy approaching at the weekend we were keen to make the most of the weather and get out as much as possible so after breakfast each morning we collected our packed lunch and headed out for the day and returning in time for dinner in the evenings.

Birdwise the week was relatively quiet. Liz Riddiford had reported a large pipit coming into land near Skaden. Steve Arlow followed it up and found  Richards Pipit. Jason and I headed that way and met up with AW Luke only to have a Richards Pipit fly over our head calling. We put the news out but Steve replied saying he and AW Tom were still watching a Richards Pipit in the crop field at Skaden! We'd found a 2nd bird! 

We walked down to Skaden where we eventually saw the pipit distantly as it mooched around the crop with the occasional flight onto adjacent rough grassland.

Good birds were few and far between but we managed to see most of what was on the island including several beautiful Mealy Redpolls, Hawfinch, Yellow-browed Warblers, Common Rosefinch and Little Stint - the latter is a scarce bird on Fair Isle and had been ringed by the Obs staff before we arrived.

Mealy Redpoll

Non- birding fun included three Hummingbird Hawkmoths that provided entertainment and camera practice at Kennaby Croft. Incredible to see these migratory moths so far north. 

Twite were common in the various crops that had been planted around the island. A very rare bird in Cheshire it was good to get reacquainted with them here

Commoner migrants were generally scarce with very few of the commoner warblers. Several Redstart and Whinchat were seen almost daily but these were the same birds and not new - in. There wasn't the big influx of winter thrushes we've seen in previous years and it wasn't until the weather changed for the worse towards the end of the week that we started seeing Whoopers, Barnacle, Greylag and Pink-footed Geese in any numbers.

Whinchat

Me birding the geos 

Crops, geo's, ditches and dykes were walked daily but nothing new was turning up. Brambling numbers did increase throughout the week and often gave good views perched up before diving back into crop fields to feed before continuing their onward migrations.

Brambling

Skylark

The medical centre at Chalet is an overgrown wet garden with lots of rosa and often attracts good birds. Fellow guests Tom and Ben perervered with a very elusive pipit that they found skulking in the dense undergrowth. Alex eventually got  photo proving it to be an Olive -backed Pipit. We saw this bird several times but never on the ground in the open for more than a couple of seconds at a time! 

Evenings were spent in the Obs comfortable lounge and bar where Alex called the log every evening. Shattered after long days in the field (walking an average of 23,000 steps a day whilst carrying a rucksack with waterproofs, drinks and sandwiches and also carrying binoculars and camera and wearing wellingtons) we both took early nights after a couple of beers.

Storm Amy hit us with a vengeance and by the end of the week the winds were picking up reaching a crescendo over the weekend. Birding was virtually impossible with driving rain and winds gusting at 85 mph. Despite this we still managed to get togged up in waterproofs and get out. It knocked out the communications at Sumburgh Airport which meant flights from Tingwall were cancelled even when the weather abated. Apparently they need Sumburgh operational as a 3rd emergency airport in case they need to divert. Even before, in the preceding couple of days, poor visibility and high winds meant Tingwall flights weren't operating so there were no flights on or off Fair Isle for three days. With our flight scheduled for Monday afternoon it soon became apparent that we weren't going to get off so plans were made to change our flights from Sumburgh to Edinburgh once we'd got a confirmation as to when we could leave Fair Isle.

During all this Simon Nichols had found a 1st winter male Siberian Thrush on Shetland mainland. A bird  I desperately wanted to see. With no way of getting off Fair Isle I was resigned to missing yet another one. Surely there was no way it would stay until we got off?