I awoke to a still, foggy and drizzly morning and after grabbing some supplies I drove south and birded the Leebitten area. News broke of a Snowy Owl on Fetlar and I contemplated the logistics of getting there and whether I should go. I was very tempted but looking at the timetable for the ferries I realised it would be an all day event and so I decided to spend the day birding rather than chasing off in the car. I birded the area around Sand Lodge and the fields to the south. There were five
Purple Sandpiper on the rocks adjacent to Sand Lodge and the strange sight of a
Knot running around the farmyard here. There were large numbers of wader in the fields with at least 250
Golden Plover, 75
Turnstone, 125
Redshank and 35
Snipe. Scanning one flock of Snipe feeding in the fields a came across a
Jack Snipe which was nice to see but a little too distant for photographs. Also here were around 75
Greylag Goose and nine
Pink-footed Goose. Passerine migrants remained extremely thin on the ground, so thin in fact that I recorded precisely none! Even the trees and bushes of Sand Lodge were devoid of birds. Offshore, two Common Porpoise swam south and I spent some time scanning hoping for an Orca but with no luck. Back at the car I sheltered from the drizzle which had turned into light rain and I once again contemplated the logistics of getting to Fetlar for the owl. I decided against it and instead drove the short distance south to Sandwick and birded the gardens, fields and bay area here. I saw little but for a couple of
Wheatear and I spent some time scanning the
Golden Plover flocks for a 'Lesser' Golden Plover but with no luck. News broke of a Red-breasted Flycatcher showing well at North Town, Exnaboe and so I finished birding at Sandwick and headed the 20 minutes down the road. On arrival, the
Red-breasted Flycatcher was showing very well feeding along a fence line and making regular sallies after flies. Also here was a male
Blackcap, my first of the trip and a
Goldcrest, only my third of the trip. I spent just over an hour with the Red-breasted Flycatcher, such smart little birds.
Purple Sandpiper - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland
Common Redshank - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland
Grey Seal - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland
Knot - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland
Common Porpoise - Mousa Sound, Mainland Shetland
Twite - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland
Twite - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland
Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland
Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland
Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland
Red-breasted Flycatcher - North Town, Exnaboe, Mainland Shetland
I then headed down to the Sumburgh area and birded Pool of Virkie, Grutness and Grutness Voe. At Virkie there was the usual selection of common wader with 30
Dunlin being the best present and a
Lesser Black-backed Gull which was my first of the trip. At Grutness Voe there were half a dozen very smart juvenile
Sanderling,
Ringed Plover and
Turnstone. Out in the bay I picked up a flock of four male and five female
Long-tailed Duck. On Grutness the only bird I recorded of any note was a single Wheatear. It was now 15:30 and I decided to head north a little and spend the last hour and a half or so birding Upperton and Netherton, the latter being one of my favourite spots on the island. But I saw little, a single
Chiffchaff at Netherton was the highlight - remarkably this was only my second of the trip, a real reflection of how sparse common migrant passerines are on the islands currently. I headed back to the hotel for 18:00 pleased with the Red-breasted Flycatcher but somewhat regretting having not headed for Fetlar and the Snowy Owl.
Lesser Black-backed Gull - Pool of Virkie, Mainland Shetland
Long-tailed Duck - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Long-tailed Duck - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Ringed Plover - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Turnstone - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
Sanderling - Grutness Voe, Mainland Shetland
The 10th October was my return home, my flight was at 09:25 from Sumburgh to Edinburgh and then onto London Heathrow and so I needed to check in at 08:25. Leaving the hotel at 07:30 I drove through thick fog until I reached the Levenwick area when remarkably I emerged from the fog into sunshine. I birded a little around the Pool of Virkie and Gutness Voe picking up the same
Long-tailed Duck flock from yesterday and 12
Sanderling. I headed to the airport, dropped off my hire car and headed for my flight to London Heathrow via Edinburgh. All flights departed more or less on time and I landed at Heathrow at 13:35. I drove straight to Lymington to collect Tobias from school and had 45 minutes of spare time to have a wander out to Fishtail Lagoon where a handful of
Teal,
Wigeon and
Dunlin plus an adult
Mediterranean Gull and a
Spotted Redshank were the only birds present.
View of the fog-bank over Shetland from main road just before Levenwick
Trip List (British ticks in bold)
Willow Grouse
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan
Greylag Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Long-tailed Duck
Common Eider
Red-breasted Merganser
Tufted Duck
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Common Teal
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Rock Dove
Common Woodpigeon
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Common Moorhen
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Fulmar
Grey Heron
Northern Gannet
European Shag
Great Cormorant
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Golden Plover
American Golden Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Northern Lapwing
Eurasian Curlew
Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Ruff
Sanderling
Dunlin
Purple Sandpiper
Common Snipe
Common Redshank
Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-headed Gull
Mew Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
European Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Arctic Tern
Great Skua
Black Guillemot
Razorbill
Merlin
Common Raven
Carrion Crow
Eurasian Skylark
Melodious Warbler
Blyth’s Reed-warbler
Marsh Warbler
Barn Swallow
Yellow-browed Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Eurasian Blackcap
Barred Warbler
Northern Wren
Common Starling
Redwing
Eurasian Blackbird
European Robin
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Whinchat
Goldcrest
House Sparrow
Pechora Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Grey Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
White Wagtail
Brambling
Common Rosefinch
Twite
Redpoll
Eurasian Siskin
Reed Bunting
