Fladderbista, Mainland Shetland
Rock Dove - Fladderbista, Mainland Shetland
Rock Dove - Fladderbista, Mainland Shetland
Shetland Pony - Fladderbista, Mainland Shetland
Rock Pipit - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland
I arrived at Westerloch Drive on the west shore of Loch of Clickimin and wandered along the road to the path around the loch edge scanning the birches where the Yellow-browed Warbler had been recorded. It was not long before I heard the distinctive, high pitched 'swee-wee' of a Yellow-browed Warbler and soon got onto the bird which was showing well feeding in birch trees. As I watched it other Yellow-browed's could be heard and there were at least two other birds from separate areas of the path calling. These are such amazing little birds and whenever I see one I marvel at the distances they must have travelled to get to the United Kingdom particularly this year when the winds have been dominated by westerlies. Having had decent views I decided to head to Tesco and get some supplies for the afternoon birding in the north but when I got back to the car news had broken of a Pechora Pipit on Unst. This bird had first been seen on 3rd October for around an hour before flying south-west not to be seen again until now. And so, I decided to head north and make my decision of Lunna or Unst at the Lunna turning. By the time I got to the Lunna turning the news was that the bird was showing and the decision was made, toe down and head north to the ferry.
Yellow-browed Warbler - Loch of Clickimin, Mainland Shetland
Yellow-browed Warbler - Loch of Clickimin, Mainland Shetland
Yellow-browed Warbler - Loch of Clickimin, Mainland Shetland
I arrived at the ferry terminal at Toft at around 12:15 to see that the next ferry was at 13:55, I contemplated whether this was a good idea, should I be birding or sitting waiting for a ferry? I chatted to other birders queued for the ferry and eventually news came through that the pipit was showing on and off and faithful to a small area. I couldn't resist, I have seen two Pechora Pipit before and both were fly-over migrating birds during at Nanhui, China this spring. The ferry arrived and the 20 minute crossing to Ulsta on Yell passed by slowly. On Yell, at high speed we drove the 17 miles across the island to Gutcher, we arrived at the ferry and waited for 10 minutes before boarding the 10 minute crossing to Belmont on Unst. Another high speed drive of 20 minutes or so we arrived at Haroldswick and quickly saw around 15 birders clearly watching or looking for the pipit. Now, I don't run for birds in the UK as most of them I have seen many times before, but for this I struck up a jog. It wasn't long before I saw the Pechora Pipit in flight, the rich dark tones, wing bars and pale mantle tramlines being evident. Over the next couple of hours I had numerous flight views and eventually got fairly fleeting views as the bird disappeared into dense cover. It was amazing how the bird frequented the densest tussocks of grass within its chosen field and largely it would land and perch briefly after flying only to disappear into the densest of grass tussocks not to be seen again. Towards 17:00 it tended to perch in the open more, seemingly coming into the open to catch the last rays of sun of the day and at one point, after it landed in deep grassland in a garden, it flew and perched on a barbed wire fence momentarily when all its plumage intricacies could be seen. I was happy with my views but would like a photo so I decided I would give it until 17:15 before calling it a day, in the last 10 minutes or so it perched atop a wall for around 10 seconds and I fired off half a dozen shots, I had obtained a slightly fuzzy shot that would remind me of the bird and the event.
Ferry to Unst from Yell
This is the site at Haroldswick, Unst that the Pechora Pipit favoured
Pechora Pipit - Haroldswick, Unst
I raced back across the island with the guys that I had met arriving at the Unst ferry at 17:25 to find that the next ferry of the island was at 17:55. Then a dash across Yell to the 18:30 ferry to mainland. I was back in the Lerwick Hotel by 19:30 pleased with the day and the decision to head to Unst.
