It hasn’t pinned anything to the dinner table yet then?
Yes, juvenile. 100% it’s one of this years birds.
1 Like
Bloody stunning pic, by the way! How far away was it?
At a guess, I would say 25-30m
But hatched in the Shetlands?
Really nice.
No, it will have come from somewhere in Northern Europe.
A pair did breed in Shetland (South Mainland) this year but that’s an extremely rare event and the young from that clutch moved on (South) some time ago.
2 Likes
Fascinating, thanks, Paul!
Something to think about that always blows my mind.
This bird probably hatched in early July, so it has flown across the North Sea to get here… at barely over two months old!
4 Likes
Yes, the word ‘fascinating’ in my previous post was really a WTF?! But I was trying to be cool. 
And why? Surely it should be heading the other way?!
1 Like
Yeah, it should be heading South (they winter in South/East Africa) but this one has (at best) flown almost due West.
Breeding range:
One of the reasons that we only get juveniles in the Autumn is that the adults have made the journey before, the juvvies haven’t and their inbuilt navigational instincts are not infallible.
Hopefully, it will start to move in a Southerly direction before long.
2 Likes
The Shrike was still present today, enjoying some of the bee population
and a smart Pied Flycatcher was in a garden at Tresta
10 Likes
Sorry @pmac couldn’t resist.
3 Likes
Just discovered this and thoroughly enjoying it
1 Like
From today: Common Whitethroat (not so common here) and a male Common Redstart (males are scarce in Autumn)
8 Likes
It always seems that Autumn migration is well and truly underway when I find my first Yellow-browed Warbler of the season.
Took a while before it came (briefly) into the open
Only the second one in Britain this year following the earliest record on Fair Isle (11th Sep)
The RBShrike remained at Funzie mires for its fourth day
10 Likes
Beautiful pics, Paul. That top one is fantastic.
2 Likes
Fantastic pictures!!
The Shrike’s patterning is wonderful
2 Likes
If you haven’t seen this, it’s well worth a look. Even though it’s a completely amateur documentary, it’s very well made.
So many recognisable types on there, made me chuckle. Even if you’re not particularly into birding, the two likeable idiots, who made it, are quite funny.
3 Likes
^ What he said! ^
1 Like