Bluethroat, Gulberwick 15th October 2015

Photo courtesy Paul Wilson

Since I'd failed to see any Bluethroats on the trip so far, news of one at Gulberwick had me heading over there. Following the instructions, I was looking for a phone box! Having spotted the target, as I pulled in to park by the Kirk, another car was just pulling out. Of course, they were birders. Very kindly, they waited for me to park & get out of the car, then informed me the bird had been chased by a Robin out of the garden it had been giving good views in & they'd lost it in the garden about 50yds back down the hill towards the Kirk.

I wandered up to the original garden & no sign, so I strolled back to the other garden. As I came round the back at the southerly edge of the garden I saw a movement in the undergrowth. The Bluethroat was very close, at times too close to focus on. I followed it round, edging ahead & gained cracking views when it hopped out into the open onto the lawn for several minutes.

A crew from Manchester arrived & also had good views. One of them managed to pick out a Great Grey Shrike, which had been in the area, characteristically perched atop trees some distance away, my third of the trip after birds at Quendale & Swinister.

Photo courtesy Paul Wilson

Friday was my final day on Shetland & I spent it locally around Hoswick, Swinister & Leebitten, At the last location I found a Tree Sparrow in the House Sparrow flock.

I booked my travel arrangements home last week; boat on the Friday night & train on the Saturday morning. However, with news of Britain's second Wilson's Warbler on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides breaking on Tuesday & the bird still being present, after a couple of days of pondering, it looked like I might have to bin the train ticket & take the hit as part of the cost of going to Lewis.

Siberian Stonechat, Quendale 13th October 2015

Photo courtesy Paul Wilson

A Siberian Stonechat had been found at Quendale the previous day & was still present so, I decided to pop over there to try & see it.

When I arrived there were a few birders tracking the Siberian Stonechat along the wall between the dam & the mill. It was on view pretty much the whole time I was there covering the same area, providing some excellent views.

Photo courtesy Paul Wilson

I took a trip around Spiggie Loch on the way out & saw the long-staying Little Egret. A visit to Hoswick produced an adult Goldfinch.

Dusky Warbler, Sanick 12th October 2015

Photo courtesy Andy Williams

A Dusky Warbler was found at Sanick, not far from my lodgings, on Sunday morning. I visited the area on Sunday afternoon with no joy. Since it was close I repeatedly popped in & eventually saw the bird on Monday evening on my fifth attempt!

As the wind died down & the sun came out on Monday afternoon, I made my way back to base via Sanick. There were only three other birders on site, visiting birders Andy Williams & Al McNee and local birder Jim Nicholson. I'd only been there a few minutes chatting with Al & Jim, when Andy signalled he had the bird a short distance away in the middle of the village near the start of a weedy bank which ran away from the small burn. The three of us hurried around & we all had brief, repeated views as the Dusky Warbler made its way along the bank calling. I moved around to the other end of the bank & the bird made its way toward me, flicked over to a small weedy area behind one of the houses & dived into a small Sycamore in the corner. The other three joined me & we had good views as the bird moved about the bush, still calling frequently. Eventually, it flew into one of the gardens a short distance away & we lost it.

Photo courtesy Andy Williams

We all four departed with happy smiles. I was feeling rather buoyant & reckoned I had enough time before dusk to walk along the track (which runs alongside a ditch) at Leebitten, checking the Iris beds. Beyond the lines of Iris beds at the end of the track there’s a couple of small, isolated beds, towards which I strolled.

I was suddenly aware of a bird disappearing into the next to last Iris bed, about 30yds away. Initial impression was of a small green & white bird, Phylloscopus warbler size. I edged a bit closer & the bird popped up, but this time I did get bins on it, if only for a couple of tenths of a second. I’d had an impression of something I wasn’t quite sure about, but it excited me. I was really expecting Chiffchaff, Yellow-browed Warbler or Goldcrest, all of which I’d being seeing a lot of during the preceding weeks & which fitted size-wise. I edged closer to within about 20yds & the bird popped up again. I had a clear view of the head: gold crown-stripe bordered black, with prominent white supercillium & black eye-stripe. As I waited for the bird to show itself again I concluded it could be nothing else but a Firecrest. I only saw the bird well a couple more times. The bright patch on the side of the neck looked golden-tinged & was also very obvious. The gold rather than yellow crown-stripe indicated an adult male.

I continued to try & get more views, but the Firecrest became increasingly difficult to see, always remaining in the same, small Iris bed. It then stopped completely, so assuming it had gone to roost I departed. I did return the next morning, but no sign of the bird.

It was only subsequently chatting with a couple of local birders, I realised Firecrest is a very good local bird. When I submitted the record officially I was asked to send in a description because Firecrest is, "...rarer than Olive-backed Pipit & Blyth's Reed Warbler on Shetland."

Mainland Shetland 4th October to 11th October

On Sunday I failed to see a Barred Warbler at Channerwick after walking all the way over there. I caught the bus into Lerwick on Monday morning & hired a car for the remainder of my stay.

I popped down to Quendale & though I didn't see the long-staying Bluethroat there, I did see a Great Grey Shrike quite well. I also saw a very accomodating Lapland Bunting at Sumburgh, next to the lower car park. Photo by Yoav Perlman.

Sumburgh Lighthouse viewing north from trig point

I didn't venture out at all on Tuesday & only briefly on Wednesday, due to the weather conditions. However, south-easterlies & rain boded well.

Orca Country Inn, Hoswick

I spent the next four days around the Sandwick/Hoswick/Swinister area. In the grounds of the Orca Country Inn at Hoswick there's a large area of cover, more in the surrounding gardens. The footpath between Hoswick & Swinister also has a lot of cover. There was an obvious influx of birds on Thursday morning. Highlights included brilliant, close, prolonged views of a Barred Warbler at the entrance to the Orca Hotel. Saw this bird again but a bit further away on the following Sunday. Pied Flycatcher here also. Great Grey Shrike at Swinister as well as Brambling. Good numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers all over the place. A good supporting cast of Chiffchaffs, Willow Warbler, Blackcaps, Garden Warbler & Goldcrests.

Although nothing major turned up, a very enjoyable few days & especially catching up with a Barred Warbler after failing to see a couple of others.

Olive-backed Pipit, Lerwick 3rd October 2015

Saturday with no transport, since Dave was now staying at Toab, I decided to catch the bus into Lerwick & try again for an Olive-backed Pipit which had turned up the day before. We'd been at Wester Quarff watching a Red-brested Flyctchear when news broke. I didn't have any info, so we followed the folks that did know where to go, into Lerwick. The bird had been seen in gardens around the Gilbertson Park area, but wasn't on view whilst we were on site.

So, misreading the bus timetable I decided to hitch into Lerwick. I hadn't done any hitching for about 35 years, but got a ride no problem & being only a short walk from where I was dropped off near Tesco's to the area took only a few minutes. I'd been on site for around fifteen minutes when the call went up just a few yards from where I was standing on the edge of Gilbertson Park. One birder went round to the other side of a small bunch of Willows on the edge of the park & signalled he could see the bird. We all then went through the gate & arced around the Willows. Good views were obtained as the bird moved into the gaps between the trees right at the back at the base of the wall. Photo by Peter Garrity.

OBP twitch in Lerwick

Baltasound to Sandwick

After a hugely enjoyable two weeks birding on Unst, based at Baltasound, it was time to head south to the Mainland for the remaining two weeks.

Baltasound (left)

Baltasound (right)

There were a couple of memorable afternoons as the sun set & evenings as the stars appeared, looking south from our chalet.

Having arrived at the B&B in Sandwick Thursday evening, it wasn't until we'd returned from Norby on the Friday I had a chance to check out the area around where I was staying in Sandwick.

Mousa from Sandwick

The house was on top of the hill overlooking the Isle of Mousa.

Leebitten

I wandered down the hill from the top left of the photo above & explored the area around Leebitten, comprising of beach, fields, ditches, Iris beds & a small amount of woodland at Sand Lodge, on the right of the photo above. Just beyond the photo to the right & back over my shoulder, I found two Yellow-browed Warblers at Sand, a derelict farm, in a small weedy patch on that first evening. So, this area became my temporary local patch, together with Hoswick a couple of miles away, for my remaining stay.

Pechora Pipit, Norby 1st October 2015

We departed Unst on Thursday & headed for Norby to see the Pechora Pipit which had been hanging around since 29th September at the east end of Loch of Norby. The bird was on view when we arrived, but proved tricky to gain good views of. After several attempts with glimpses of the bird on the ground, the best view was when it perched briefly on a gate. A very worthy 400th species in UK. Unfortunately, no photo, but this photo by Chris Griffin is rather good.

Before leaving Unst we popped over to Burrafirth to try for more views of a Red-backed Shrike we'd seen briefly the previous evening. The Shrike appeared as soon as we arrived & proceeded to work its way around the area giving great views. Photo by Tony Davison.

The following day, Friday 2nd October, we returned to Norby to try & see the Pechora Pipit again. Although it was seen, we didn't see it. More luck was in evidence watching a Red-breasted Flycatcher at Wester Quarff, which initially was hard to see in the garden, but which later showed really well on the edge, as in this photo by Martyn Hayes.