Fair Isle Scenery

Been meaning to post these for ages, but work and birding keep getting in the way. Here’s a few snaps from Fair Isle to illustrate the place, rather than just the birds!

So, we arrived on Fair Isle on one of these. Seven passengers max…

… and (after enjoying cracking view of the PGTips), we settled in to the new observatory. A surprisingly large building for relatively few people, it’s a fantastically comfortable base. There were generally a flock of Twite outside the front window, and (though you can’t see it here), there’s a small plantation on the north side which is always worthy of checking for that mega passerine!

Looking the other way down the hill from the obs, you can see the harbour. Waders on the beach included Purple and Curlew Sandpipers, while there were usually a few Lapland and Snow Buntings in the vicinity.

This is Easter Lother Water, right up at the north end of the island. Dad probably took this photo while I was crawling around in the heather with the redpolls!

And now to the other end of the island. This view of the south illustrates just how open and un-vegetated the Isle is; basically birding for passerines is focussed on dry stone walls (dykes), along shallow ditches, in steep gullies in the cliffs (geos) and in the small number of gardens. Having said that, though – goodies can turn up anywhere!

Another view of South Light – a really peaceful and beautiful spot. Seals and Eiders were bobbing about in the shallows.

 

I loved the place – will definitely go back!