Sorry it’s been a long time since I added a blog but life has been hectic with many things – fieldwork, lectures and Fair Isle Bird Observatory business. (We’re building a new Bird Observatory on the beautiful remote sea bird island of Fair Isle and we’ve raised 92% of the £4 million cost – check it out on www.fairislebirdobs.co.uk and if you can help with a donation, FIBOT will be very grateful). Despite the cold wet gales of last week, the ospreys are safely incubating and I have not found any storm damaged nests. Our three satellite tagged birds are all involved in incubating eggs but sadly there’s been no sign of Logie.

Last evening, I was standing in the garden trying to photograph a roding woodcock at dusk. At 9.30pm he arrived overhead but not from the direction of the evening before so I missed him with my telephoto lens. After ten minutes he was back on a different track and I again missed a good photo, but by then it was getting dark. I’ll try again. Then this morning I checked Askaig’s satellite radio position and she had moved another 750 kilometres to the NE and was now in northern Russia, 250 kilometres east of Arkangel. May be she will now stop and get down to the business of breeding. I find it amazing that the woodcocks around my garden in winter travel to Scandinavia and Russia to breed, while the bird I watched last night, which will breed here, wintered further south, probably in Ireland. A complete change over involving the same species.