Shetland - 8th October

It was the Cornell/eBird October Big Day today and I intended to try and see as many species as possible in the south of the mainland - without going crazy! I began the day at one of my favourite spots on Shetland, Wester Quarff, and birded the lower road down to the voe and then back along the upper road. The conditions were relatively calm compared to recent days and the winds had dropped down to around F3-4 with some brighter spells. My expectations were high but there were few birds to be seen although two Yellow-browed Warbler in the same bush and the King Eider offshore were nice to see. I then headed back north to Gulberwick where the 'Hornemann's' Arctic Redpoll had been seen again this morning, there were a few Common Redpoll buzzing around and I had brief views of the Arctic Redpoll perched on a fence near to the main road but after this initial view the bird failed to show again. I then headed to Gott for a Turtle Dove, a Shetland tick, it took almost two hours to find and was eventually located perching motionless in a willow on the site. 

Shetland subspecies (zetlandicus) of Eurasian Wren - Wester Quarff

Turtle Dove - Gott

Heading back south I visited Hoswick and birded Swinster Burn and the Sycamores around the Orca Inn but saw little but for a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Common Redpoll. In need of seeing a good bird for the day, I headed back to Bigton and spend around an hour with the Yellow-rumped Warbler which showed well. The day was now drawing in and I headed for Geosetter for one last try at finding something rare myself with no luck. It was a good day but given the still conditions it was remarkable how few birds were around with very low numbers of common migrants.

Common Redpoll - Swinster Burn, Hoswick

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Bigton

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Bigton

Links to the Days eBird Checklists

Wester Quarff

Gulberwick

Gott

Swinster Burn

Bigton

Shetland - 7th October

I began the day heading north to Lunna as this is such a beautiful location but also because a Barred Warbler had been present for a few days. I soon had rather brief views of the warbler in very windy conditions but saw little else. I then headed to Vidlin and birded the field behind the Common Wealth War Graveyard but despite the shelter afforded by the trees there was little to be seen. Next was Voe and a similar story, very little to be seen and very windy. So I decided to head south lured by the temptation of a second Yellow-rumped Warbler having been found today only 700m from the first and the chance of seeing two in a day. So I headed to the Bigton bird, the second to be found, which showed very well in the pines and occasionally coming down very low into the grasses and Yellow Iris stands. I then headed over to the first bird and had rather brief views (but sufficient to say that I had seen two of this mega rarity in the UK in one day) when news broke of a possible Least Bittern 15 minutes away at Scousborough Beach Carpark at the north end of Loch Spiggie. I grabbed a lift back to my car which was parked a mile away and then sped south. Fortunately, one of the first to arrive a grabbed a parking space outside the RSPB hide at Loch Spiggie and headed the short distance to the carpark and there, amazingly, and clearly exhausted and fresh in off the sea was a Least Bittern. I got good views of the bird in the Marram Grass and then gave way to the increasing numbers of birders in the very limited viewing spot. Numbers swelled to around 150 and eventually as the light began to fade it was announced that the bird would be taken into care. The hordes of birders retreated and a local birder moved in and captured the bird which was remarkably tiny when seen in the hand, it was briefly paraded to the admiring birders before being whisked away to be fed and cared for, sadly the bird died over night only 50g, 35g below the average weight for the species. Despite this sad end it had been an absolutely amazing day.

Shetland subspecies (zetlandicus) of Eurasian Wren - Lunna

Yellow-rumped Warbler - The second bird at Bigton

Least Bittern - Scousborough Beach Carpark. Showing in the Marram Grass before 

being captured and taken into care where it sadly died overnight.

Links to the Days eBird Checklists

Lunna

Voe

Bigton

Scousborough

Shetland - 6th October

Once again I awoke to heavy rain and a strong wind and so delayed my departure from the hotel. My first stop was at Gulberwick where a 'Hornemann's' Arctic Redpoll has been present for a couple of days. I wandered down the road and a flock of Common Redpoll flew into a nearby tree, unfortunately I did not get onto the Arctic until the birds took flight and disappeared into the adjacent gardens showing its pale plumage and white rump in flight only. I then headed south and birded the Levenwick area but it was very slow going with no birds of note seen in the strong winds and squally showers. I needed fuel so headed south to Dunrossness and then headed to Pool of Virkie but the tide was high and there were no waders present. I then decided to head to Quendale Mill where a Bluethroat had just been found alongside the long staying Siberian Stonechat. Both birds eluded me for some time but, after a very heavy squally shower in which I was caught in the open with no shelter, the Siberian Stonechat appeared and showed fairly well along a fenceline. Wandering back I then found the Bluethroat which had moved from its original location and was working a fenceline before flying into a Creeping Thistle bed in the middle of a field where there was also a Yellow-browed Warbler. 

Yellow-browed Warbler - Quendale

Siberian Stonechat - Quendale

Heading back to the car I decided to visit Ellister for second views of the Yellow-rumped Warbler. I enjoyed fantastic views of this bird as it fed on the ground from time to time and showed down to around 3m on one occasion. A fantastic bird. I then headed south to the Pool of Virkie where a range of common waders were visible on the falling tide before heading to Loch Spiggie for a female Scaup to add to the trip list. It was now 17:10 and so I decided to head north, a brief stop to try to get better views of the Arctic Redpoll at Gulberwick drew a blank and so I headed back to the hotel in Lerwick.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Ellister, Maywick

Links to the Days eBird Checklists

Gulberwick

Quendale

Ellister

Pool of Virkie

Loch of Spiggie

Shetland - 5th October

Due to the wet start to the day I decided to head to Loch Spiggie RSPB to add a few waterbirds to my trip list. Starting at the southern end a scan from the roadside layby produced a Short-eared Owl and some common waterbirds. I then headed to the north end of the Loch and spent a little while in the hide here. 

Whooper Swan - Loch Spiggie RSPB

Twite - Loch Spiggie RSPB

It had started to brighten a little and so I headed to Sumburgh, a walk to the quarries and the garden at the start of the entrance road produced little and so I decided to head to Toab for an Arctic Redpoll but soon after my arrival news broke of a Yellow-rumped Warbler at Ellister near to Maywick and so I jumped in the car and sped the 15 minutes or so northwards. I ditched the car on a rather soft verge and headed to the small Sycamore stand in which the bird had been found. There were only around 20 birders present and it was not long before I had reasonable views of the bird as it fed in the Sycamores. Numbers of birders began to build and the farmer from the farmyard opposite became increasingly irate, the road was blocked by a crowd of birders meaning drivers could not pass and the situation was becoming ugly and so I decided I would leave the scene. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Ellister, Maywick

I headed north to Scalloway where the eclipse drake King Eider, which I had previously tried for at Wester Quarff, was now in the harbour here and I soon found the bird with a small flock of Common Eider. I birded a few areas around Scalloway before heading to Asta to the north where at last I found a Yellow-browed Warbler, a species thin on the ground this year. I then headed back south and birded the Leebitten and Sandwick areas until the light began to fade but saw little. I then headed back to Lerwick and was back to the hotel for around 18:00.

Eclipse drake King Eider (left bird) with Common Eider - Scalloway harbour

Oystercatcher with Limpet - Leebitten

Links to the days eBird Checklists

Loch Spiggie RSPB

Sumburgh Farm

Ellister

Scalloway Harbour

Asta

Leebitten

Yellow-rumped Warbler - High Shincliffe, Durham

One of the most popular birds of this winter has been a Yellow-rumped Warbler which has frequented bird feeders at High Shincliffe, Durham. While a little far for me to travel for a bird that I have seen many times before I cannot help but feel an inner tug to jump in a car to drive to see this bird - American Wood Warblers are fantastic birds regardless of how many one has seen.

There are 30 records of Yellow-rumped Warbler, with the only form confirmed as occurring in the UK (and indeed Europe) being Myrtle Warbler. However, of these many have occurred on off islands with Cape Clear and the Isles of Scilly accounting for half of the records to date.

The cracking photograph below taken by Martyn Sidwell shows many of the distinctive features of this species, including a hint of the yellow rump and breast breast side which distinguish it from all similar species.

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - High Shincliffe, Durham (Martyn Sidwell)

There are two 'groups' of Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audobon's Warbler breeds within the south-western USA while Myrtle Warbler is the northern equivalent. Within Audobon's there are three races while the Myrtle group contains two races. These two groups were once split but are now generally considered to represent a single species, with Audobon's being a short distance migrant or sedentary (depending on race) while the Myrtle is a long distance migrant and hence more prone to vagrancy  Male and female Audobon's are readily distinguished from Myrtle by their bright yellow throats which in Myrtle is off white to white. However, first winter birds such as that at High Shincliffe are more subtle with Myrtle having a more extensive pale throat wrapping around the ear coverts (as can be seen in the above photograph) and a more heavily streaked breast.