Spot the baby.....and the rarity!!

 It's been an interesting week with a highlight that didn't involve ringing!!

Team members have been plugging away in gardens and feeding stations making the best of the available birds. Attendance at feeders is increasing, mainly because young, newly fledged birds are finding feeding stations a good source of 'easy' food. So I thought I would show a few of these very young birds, which you will see in your gardens, and illustrate those features which identify these birds as newly fledged,

You can tell that this is a Goldfinch because of the bright yellow patch on the wing--but there is no characteristic red, black and white pattern on the head. Instead the head and breast are mottled brown and cream. Without the red/black, these birds don't pose a threat to the adults ( and their parents) so they continue to be fed and protected. In a few weeks, the colours will grow through and the youngsters will gradually be shunned and sent off to look after themselves.

It's almost exactly the same for this baby Greenfinch. The mottled breast and lack of intense green colours are typical and serve the same purpose as in the Goldfinch.

This is a bird misidentified so many times!. It's a newly fledged Robin. The lack of a red breast avoids aggression as above. As the red feathers grow in these youngsters will get more able to fend for themselves.

Yesterday I visited Belvide reservoir to see if there were any Swifts low enough to be caught. Sadly there were none, but as I scanned the water I picked out what I was sure was quite a rare bird. Unfortunately I didn't have my telescope to clinch it and my binoculars weren't powerful enough. I phoned out for others to come with their optics but just before they arrived the flew off!! I felt terrible and none of the birders could find the bird despite an hour or so of searching.

Just as I was about to give up and go home, I spotted the bird in a different part of the reservoir and managed to get close enough to see it and identify it as a Red Necked Phalarope. A small wader which actuallt feeds by floating on water and picking insects off the surface. This one was an adult female....

They are absolutely gorgeous birds and a small number of pairs breed on the Shetland Isles. A good number of the local birders managed to come and see it too.