Fair Isle. Late April. South-easterlies - finally. Great stuff. Not much time for birding, but the croft still produced Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler, Tree Pipit, 2 Ring Ouzel, 11 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, Swallow and 21 Brambling amongst others. Lovely. Also, lots of sheep.

A beautiful day for Hill Rota in the North. Also good birding! Pied Flycatcher, Black-tailed Godwit and Green Sandpiper were new for my #PWC2024, Ring Ouzels and Tree Pipits, Redstart & Short-eared Owl were good too. 36 Brambling (📷), Mealy Redpoll & Reed Bunting in the garden.

Just found this Brambling photo from last month - one for you @birds_and_me

A brief fly-by Hen Harrier yesterday was another addition to my Fair Isle #PWC2024 list (116 spp for the year). More to come as we go into May with the wind in the east...

I'd somehow managed to miss the many Wood Warblers so far this spring on Fair Isle, until this one at the bottom of Hjukni Geo today. House Martin and Garganey (a filthy twitch, but no apologies when it's a drake Garganey for goodness sake) also new for my #PWC2024 year list.

New page on my website for all upcoming events about Night Train to Odesa, and all the kind words the book has received so far ❤️ jenstout.net/nighttraintood…

A Bonxie in the fog, surveying last night's barbeque. Nothing left for you I'm afraid, mate

Challenging weather, lack of species diversity and short nights make spring moth-trapping in Fair Isle 'challenging'. A big arrival of Silver Y and Diamondback Moths yesterday did bring the first spring record for the Isle of Setaceous Hebrew Character last night though.

Ooft!

Blown away by this review of Night Train to Odesa - the abridged Radio 4 version which starts on Monday - "tremendous eloquence, vividness and humanity". Found in the current Radio Times.

Rarity finders: Marmora's Warbler in Shetland An exceptional spring on Fair Isle peaked last week when David Parnaby found a mega first for the island: bit.ly/45e3DsA

A magical moonlit moment with #Mousabroch Storm Petrels last week. This has been a mindseye image I’ve dreamt about for some time, the dainty but iconic silhouette of the smallest seabird in the world against the full moon. #stormpetrel #seabirds #shetland thanks The Mousa Boat

I found this shrike in the garden on Wednesday. Not the most cooperative bird, but with help from Alex Penn, Jonnie Fisk and Luke Marriner on the day, and input from various Shetland birders and others on the (rather chameleonic) photos, I’m happy calling it a Brown Shrike.

Lovely view of the Isle, complete with Ward Hill's resident clouds!

Grey Shoulder-Knot attracted to sugar in our garden tonight. First for Fair Isle; fewer than ten previous Scottish records, all from southern Perthshire south (thanks to the folks on the Shetland Lepidoptera WhatsApp group for the info).

‘Cancelled, no room to write’! How the OS struggled with the number of #PlaceNames on small islands, and the spellings they used! Our latest blog is out! #FairIsle #NorthRonaldsay #Papay blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasislands/…

#SAFC