hey Petrofac this is engineering, let large, bespoke, not just a pile of pipes and pressurised containers joined together that you have so much trouble getting together.

So, I very well know that birds have accents from various studies, the RSPB conceded the Scottish crossbill is a separate species from it’s song, lots of birds mimic other birds and other noises too. Birds sometimes don’t sing all of their song, I remember walking around Krakow and hearing the magpies, same calls but slightly different. This wren’s song had phrases similar but the whole song (if it was) was most unlike a mainland bird. This raises lots of questions, was this a Shetland wren? perhaps a St Kilda wren, a known sub-species? are Shetland wrens becoming a sub-species? I need to plunder the knowledge within the Shetland bird club.

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The photos are labelled, there are fields of marsh marigold in Shetland with sprinklings of primroses, the oyster catcher is nesting 3/4m from the access road into the SGP site, I have never seen so many oyster catchers and indeed curlews as on Shetland. The diver was on Loch of Tingwall so were the whoopers, but I had to swing the van in reverse down a field entrance to get the whoopers, they had the last laugh (whoop) because there the van stayed for 40 minutes till a passing motorist pulled me from the too loose subbase. The ringed plover was also pictured from the van and is nesting near the Sella Ness camp. Still have not seen a swallow on the Shetlands, but inevitably the sea swallows are now returning.

Was watching on station by 8.30 am, on the 22/4/12,  female Osprey on eyrie, male nearby but not on sentinel position. Four clamouring Jays fly by making a grunting noise, not the usual “someone is being murdered in the woods” noise. Song thrush is the dominate singer, chiffchaffs and chaffinches  the chorus, wrens the sopranos.

The pics are the male osprey at about 10.00 am, showing off his now revealed yellow ring on his right leg, while clasping a large (trout?), I could see the female on the nest cup making begging noises, while the male was nearby beginning at the head of his (or a private ponds) trout. I wondered if she would leave the nest cup and he would immediately offer the catch, as happened with the flounder before, did not have long to wait, but the result was different. She did get off the nest cup and vigorously went for a carrion crow hidden from my view, and I don’t mean chase, I mean try to injure, a very determined attack with the crow equally re-attacking/defending, there was only ever to be one winner and the crow beat a retreat. The male Osprey stopped feeding and watched the whole murder intended chase, she returned to the eyrie and settled back on the eggs, he resumed feeding. I went harrier hunting.

The other pics are Shelduck, this time 12 of them! at least 4 males in good natured rivalry. Why some are on the wall and facing away from the others, defeats me. they did all fly off together accompanied by that laughing call the females make. Surely it’s to early for these birds to be unpaired for the season ahead? The wood pigeon is in my garden and is more attracted to the food than has fear of me.

On the estuary a single female marsh harrier, without wing tags, was nest building, saw her put nesting material down in the same spot three times, then I thought she was off hunting, she did something I have never witnessed before, she climbed in height and circled and climbed and circled all the while moving down the estuary. I watched till she was a thin black pencil line on the grey cumulus. No other harriers around. (I witnessed an almost exact repeat of this on the 23/4/12.) Hopefully when a male appears she will use the same nest site, as I am off to the Shetlands for 20 days just at this crucial time to spot the nesting site. I have never seen a harrier attack a buzzard before, this one did, the buzzard was upside down at one point presenting talons in this mid air battle. The buzzard was no match for the aerial harrier who left the scene with jaunty flight, my scope in pursuit.

Still not seen or heard another Swallow, but did hear and see a male blackcap after a 20 minute skulk  through the woods to positively make sure. That’s the benefit of knowing birdsong, perhaps I will remember it’s song next time, or more like it next year. A skein of about 100 geese flew over Dundee heading North.

Picture of this years Male osprey clearly showing a ring on left leg and clutching a flatfish, taken on Osprey diary 2012, 1 but I thought the camera didn’t work as the batteries gave out during the shot. This week, Ospreys doing nought but being alert, I was there a few days  ago and just as I pitched up the female rose off the eyrie and the male soon joined her. My first thought was human interference, and not me, but scanning around there was nobody. They both settled again and I spotted the culprit, a third Osprey flying low downriver.

My other pics from this week are a Fallow Stag and Shelduck. The Fallow was giving a bellow now and then, I could not hear it but the posture was obvious, he has a damaged right antler and I wondered how that could have happened when another Stag appeared, thought I was in for some action but the beasts were content in each others company, there is a much smaller white fallow around, similar to the one I saw two years ago, white as a sheep. Missing from the Shelduck pic is another male to the left, being kept at a distance by the male in the pic. Both males were extending their necks and whistling, however I could not hear due to a song thrush giving it max  from a tree nearby. Chiffchaffs been here for more than a week, still only seen a solitary swallow, no geese evident in skeins or on the estuary. When the shelduck landed some 200m away so did oyster catchers, so I was treated to a great piping display which I could definitely hear!

where? well that’s the first question, now if you didn’t know where it was you now do. There are a  few “stans” out there beyond India and Pakistan. And beyond the pale is Uzbekistan’s policy of involuntary sterilisation of young women. It is hardly believable that women can be treated this way as “a policy”, then for a government statement to say their policy is advanced and a model for others to follow is infuriating. Avaaz where are you on this?

Do click on the link, it is harrowing, but you need to know.

Next day I was on station about 10.30 am and she was sitting and he was doing his sentinel from the highest tree nearby. Knowing this situation could remain for hours if she had already been fed, I went big tree scanning again, chiffchaffs were giving it plenty in the warm sunshine, as was a song thrush, a buzzard objected strongly to me being around then went quiet after a loud mewing flight over my head. I returned after an hour, I had heard the Osprey calling for fish as the air was very still, so was glad to see he had vacated the sentinel post and presumably was off fishing. He was, he returned with a largish flat fish and stood nearby the eyrie and began eating at the head, he only had a couple of bites when she came of the nest cup, he immediately flew to the eyrie rim and disentangled the flat fish form his talon and she was off with it to a fence post and remained there for 40 mins and ate the flesh of the whole fish. He was seemingly content on the eggs and she flew back to his sentinel post and stayed there. I wanted to see how the cross over from male to female would happen but she was happy to stay perched in the sunshine. during this long watch when cloud cover diminished the heat haze I noted he has a ring on his left leg and she has no rings. I believe I am watching the same female Osprey as last year, this is a new male as last year the male had no rings. I am of course confident I am not mixing up the sexes.

In flower noticed lady’s smock, dog violet, lesser celandine, dead nettle, primroses, dandelion and cherry trees. Greylags and Pinkfeet still around.

Where the gas pipeline re-enters the sea after its short land crossing from the Laggan-Tormore field via the gas plant whose infrastructure we are attempting to build despite our client’s gross incompetence at managing anything that’s not metal !!

Well here’s real metal engineering, the world’s biggest pipe laying barge, starting work on a 243 km pipeline to St Fergus.

Oil and gas stuff can make you stand back and admire, then they get involved in ground works, get lost, stay away you nodding donkeys cant, wont understand no matter how much money you throw at it via consultants.

In Shetland we live in an purpose built accommodation block, a polecat has been seen by various people who have reported the sightings to me of a polecat living underneath our new building. One sighting was of the polecat dragging a rabbit underneath the building. My Brother found a dead polecat on the road near our Sella Ness camp, On the Sunday equinox I was delayed as I forgot to forward my alarm, so on exiting the camp 1 hour late my brother had a surprise in the van, a dead polecat. We put the polecat back near where it had met its demise on the road near the camp. That short drive in a small van was very persuasive that a polecat stinks, not of death,  just stinks, mixture of cat’s piss and fox, not recommended.

Ariel photo show the multicoloured camp with Shetlands highest hill beyond.

Meant to add these some time ago, these are before the recent solar flares that meant the Nth lights were seen as far south as Lincolnshire, the same photographer Peter Sevill was out on those days but clouds were a severe set back. These are his pictures from early February. Note the plough configuration in each shot and the perhaps presence of batman. I have never seen/experienced the northern lights yet. Bummer, need to stay awake longer!!