I was very pleased to ring my first Leach’s Petrel a few nights ago! This was our second Leach’s caught of the year, with both birds coming on nights with good Storm Petrel catches of 231 and 266, a very busy couple of nights of ringing!

This lovely male Rustic Bunting was a nice find by Luke yesterday morning, hopping about the Walli Burn and later joined by a singing Rosefinch. @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

A little bit of not-too-shaky video I managed to get of it!

This week just keeps getting better, with today’s clear highlight this Northern Parula, a quality find by @tomwright1.bsky.social this morning!

It’s been quite the week on Fair Isle, with highlights in the past 5 days including Red-throated Pipit, Western Subalpine Warbler, multiple Bluethroats and to top it all, a Thrush Nightingale! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Nice to spend a while watching the Ludham Bridge Black-winged Kite on Monday as it hunted in the distance between periods spent perched. Lots more good birds on offer too, including Barn Owl, SEO, Hen Harrier, Kingfisher, Marsh Harrier and Crane.

This afternoons Black-faced Bunting certainly gave people the runaround, but eventually settled for long enough at Barkland to give everyone present some nice views in some pretty miserable weather! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Had some insane minke whale views this morning, with them coming very close in to where I was sat! The day then got even better when I also got to see my first white-beaked dolphins, which, though distant, put on a show breaching repeatedly!

Left my GoPro in with the Puffins while I went and did a Shorewatch yesterday and this was the result! Such curious little birds! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Little Tystie takes on a big Butterfish!! Didn’t get to see if it won the battle as we were on our way to take a look on board the Flying Dutchman, a rather impressive tall ship that had just arrived in the harbour!

Hulk and Nott paid us a visit on Fair Isle this morning, with a swim by the obs! Our second orca sighting in the past 9 days! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Orca!!! When one of the pier workmen casually mentioned there was an orca in the harbour, none of us quite believed him at first, but sure enough there they were! They attracted quite a crowd as they made their way around Buness. My first orca and they did not disappoint!!

Two rather nice birds ringed at the obs yesterday afternoon! First, the Great Reed Warbler from the previous day went into the obs garden nets, closely followed by a Greenish Warbler caught in Gully. Both very cool birds to see up close, the Great Reed Warbler is huge! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

This Great Reed Warbler was found in the obs garden this afternoon, and though it has shown itself only a couple of times since, it’s given some very nice views out of the bar windows for several observers! A nice bird, and so much bigger than I thought they’d be! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Just as I thought today couldn’t get much better with Blyth’s Reed Warbler and Nightjar trapped and ringed, @alex-penn.bsky.social catches this absolute showstopper of a Scops Owl in Gully! What a bird!! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

I was very pleased to get to ring this gorgeous male Bluethroat the other day!! I didn’t know what I’d been handed until I pulled him out the bag, as you can probably imagine the resulting smile when I realised what I had was pretty big! What a stunner, I can’t get over how blue that throat is!

The past couple of days have bought in some good birds, and some very nice catches in the mist nets. I was very pleased to ring a lovely female Western Subalpine Warbler yesterday afternoon! Other highlights were a trio of Crossbill and my first bluethroat in the hand! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Had a bit of fun photographing these swallows out of the @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social bar windows this afternoon as they perched on the fence and the patio between bouts of swooping around and investigating the building! They looked a little grumpy in the wind and the rain.

This gorgeous male Rustic Bunting found at Upper Stoneybrake this afternoon brightened up what has been a rather quiet few days here at @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social It spent a lot of time zipping around the area but settled in a ditch long enough to give everyone present some nice views!

This gorgeous Red-throated Pipit found by @alex-penn.bsky.social this morning showed very well this afternoon! After a failed attempt to relocate it late morning, it was a relief to stumble across it within a few minutes on attempt number two! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

What better way to spend a sunny Tuesday afternoon than ringing these little bundles of joy?! You don’t get much cuter than a Lapwing chick! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

A bee-eater added a splash of colour to this afternoon at @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social, moving between fences in the south of the island and putting on a show for several observers! Seeing it occasionally hovering over the grass was also insanely cool to watch!

Some pretty perfect timing after rockpooling with the school kids yesterday afternoon meant I was able to have a look at this little beauty before it was released back into the Birkle garden. Western Subalpine Warbler, what a stunning little bird! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Yesterday bought some good birds in, including two new birds for me, wood warbler and bluethroat, and a lovely female hawfinch I had the pleasure of ringing! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Nice to finally get a piece of the eastern subalpine warbler action at @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social with this stunning male found at Schoolton today!

Thoroughly enjoyed seeing my first white-tailed eagle earlier today! Arriving at the south of the island moments too late as it disappeared out to sea I wasn’t optimistic, but luckily it decided to return and do some laps of the island giving me some excellent views as it passed close by!

Nothing says spring like a lamb in some daffodils!

Had this flick out in front of me while on census this morning and immediately had the feeling it was something out of the ordinary. Some panicked shots that I quickly sent to @alex-penn.bsky.social confirmed my suspicions that it was something different, a short-toed lark!

It’s been great to see the puffins back on the cliffs this past week, especially since it’s my first time seeing them so close up! I’ve also loved seeing so many people heading up to Buness to enjoy them, islanders and workmen alike. It’s hard not to love them! @fairislebirdobs.bsky.social

Tricky to summarise my first 10 days on Fair Isle in just 4 photos, but it’s been an amazing start to the season! We’ve been lucky to have some gorgeous weather too so I’ve really been introduced to the island at its best! It’s such a stunning place, excited to see what the rest of the year brings!