Lovely looking bird.
Amazing
5-10 breeding pairs known - amazing!!
Did you get to hear it warbling?!
They don’t warble, they reel. But no, I didn’t. However, it was calling constantly - a short, rather sharp pwik, pwik - usually twice (although very occasionally more) with maybe a second between the two notes.
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Bit embarrassed to share these shit video grabs in the midst of the rarities from Shetland, but this is by far the closest I’ve been to an owl in the wild and I was excited!
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A Barn Owl should never be classed as embarrassing, fabulous birds!
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They are!! I’ve seen this one out hunting in the evening but never so close. I was sat in the long grass and if I wasn’t waving my phone at it it probably would have gone right overhead!
Perhaps this is a better image, just as it saw me and turned, and a bit less grainy than the others
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The Savi’s Warbler behaved more like the locustella it is, this morning. Constantly calling and feeding, out of sight in the long grass and wet ditch, for long periods.
Fortunately, once in a while, it did come up for air.
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Obviously Ruff
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The Savi’s Warbler seems to be the only migrant left on the island so I decided to spend 20 minutes trying to (and mostly failing) to get some flight shots of the local Swallows.
It’s a nightmare trying to track them in flight as they are such erratic flyers, changing direction just at the precise moment that my finger is about to activate the shutter 
The buggers won’t beat me though, I’ll try again at some point and see if I can get something actually worth printing. It may take some time…
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At least the Redshanks pose nicely and aren’t screaming around the skies.
This pair have a nest, very close by.
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A barn owl made several passes along the river at Lopwell this weekend. Along with a heron, egret, cormorant and various gulls, geese and ducks.
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The Savi’s Warbler was rather confiding this evening. Nice to sit there alone on the opposite grass bank and watch it while listening to a singing Icterine Warbler in the willows. A stark contrast to this afternoon when some individuals thought it was a good idea to chase it up and down the path and then wondered why it shot into the ditch… What ever happened to fieldcraft?
A couple of Great Northern Divers were close inshore at Aith
And it appears that Redshank are easier to photograph in flight than Swallows 
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Fantastic pic of the Redshank and, on the question of fieldcraft, same as everyhing else really, nobody gives a flying fuck about anthing except themself nowadays 
Only two migrants on the patch today, the same as yesterday, Savi’s and Icterine Warblers.
Both were putting on a performance, this evening. Showing ridiculously well.
Savi’s Warbler on its favourite branch
The Icky was the real star though
On the way home, a Red-throated Diver was worth stopping for
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Amazing pics again!!
Thought I’d lower the tone with grainy video grabs of Swallow chicks welcoming a food bearing parent at our local stables. Amazing to watch (and hear!)
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Been nice to see a good deal more Swallows here this year. They’re enjoying the silage cuts around the edge of the fields at the mo. Guess they’re able to trap insects up against the long grass. One shot through a gate at dog level last week and nearly ploughed into the dog, big swerve and both left a bit shaken!
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A Cuckoo was a first for me, on Fetlar, a very scarce bird here.
The Meadow Pipits didn’t take kindly to its presence and relentlessly mobbed it, so it was no surprise that it left pretty quickly.
A ridiculously bright Crossbill (another scarce bird here) was in Feal plantation
The blast of Easterlies over the last couple of days have produced a few new birds. Forecast to continue for the next couple of days, there could yet be a late rarity or two.
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Busy season. You must be loving it Paul.