The Deskbound Birder

Monday, 8 October 2018

Shetland Mainland and Bressay - 7th October

Christ, it was a foul day to day. It started off windy and got more windy and wet as the day progressed. It was not a day for searching bushes for rare warblers and so I decided to head out for bigger stuff that could be seen from the car and from relative shelter. So I decided to start the day heading inland, partly to see what the weather held in store, and partly for an island tick, Red Grouse. So heading for I site I had been given I drove west along the A971 past Tingwall Airport and then north-east at Haggersta towards Stromfirth. Just before Stromfirth there is a heather covered peak where the heather 'spills' down slope and across the road to Loch of Strom. This was the spot for the grouse. I drove back and forth between a couple of lay-bys and was just about to give up when a female Red Grouse appeared in the heather just above the road. She showed well for at least 15 minutes in the blasting wind and rain feeding on heather buds before disappearing. On the Loch of Strom there was little but for two Mute Swan and eight Red-breasted Merganser.

Red Grouse - Stromfirth, Mainland Shetland

I then decided to head back to Lerwick and to board the ferry for the short crossing to Bressay. I had 45 minutes to spare before the 10:45 ferry and so headed out onto the pier at Lerwick where there were many Black Guillemot. This is a common bird in Shetland but being a southerner I don't see many and so the novelty of seeing good numbers so close persists. I spent some time watching them and taking, once again, far too many pictures in the poor light. Also here were around 30 Eider and many Kittiwake and Gannet offshore.

Black Guillemot - Lerwick, Mainland Shetland

Arriving on Brassay at just before 11:00 my main goal was to find an adult American Golden Plover that had been present since 2nd October. I first drove north from the ferry terminal and saw a flock of around 30 Golden Plover in flight heading south but they didn't stop plus 15 Knot and two Bar-tailed Godwit. I reached the end of the road at Heogan and headed south once more, I drove the road east from Maryfield and then south towards the school and village shop but nothing but for a couple of Snipe. I then headed east from the store to Midgarth where I quickly come across a flock of around 75 Golden Plover, scanning through the flock I quickly came across a greyer bird with dark underparts and a distinctive flared white supercilium, this was the American Golden Plover. So I parked up, snuck along various walls, through ditches, got hammered by the rain and wind and was eventually moderately close to the bird. After taking a few snaps I watched the bird for ten minutes or so before the rain got the better of me and I retreated to the car, my camera and I were soaked.

Greylag Goose - Heogan, Brassay, Shetland

American Golden Plover - Midgarth, Brassay, Shetland

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon bimbling around Bressay but staying in the car with the heater on. I headed to the car park for the island of Noss and scanning across the straits and watching the hundreds of Gannet plunging into a raging sea and watching a brave Northern Wheatear battling in the elements. I explored virtually all the islands roads to their termination, there was little to be seen, two Razorbill near the light house, a few bedraggled Twite, a further 125 Golden Plover, around 150 Greylag Goose but not a lot else. I even headed back to the Citrine Wagtail but I could see around ten birders in the grounds of Gardie House who were clearly not watching the bird and in the weather conditions I thought better of it having see the bird a couple of days ago. I got the 14:00 ferry off the island and headed north on mainland for the next element of the plan for the day.

Gannet - Noss Sound, Bressay

View across to the island of Noss from Bressay

Adult Common Gull - Bressay, Shetland

First-winter Common Gull - Bressay, Shetland

Knot - Bressay, Shetland

Golden Plover - Bressay, Shetland

I drove north along the A970, the car buffeted by the wind and turned west along the B9076 to Sullom Voe. What contrast to Bressay, a landscape dominated by the oil terminal and its associated infrastruture, the skyline dominated by flaring stacks, this is not a particularly attractive part of Shetland. I scanned the sweeping bay to the south of the oil terminal, stopping at various laybys and gaining shelter from the car. To the south of the terminal the road follows the bay around the head of Garths Voe and here is a wide grassy lay-by which affords a good view of the seaweed covered shoreline I parked up and began scanning. After five minutes or so I saw a movement in the water not far from the car, and there was my target a dog Otter. He had clearly seen me and was keeping a close eye on me but he fed unconcerned in the shallows catching a multitude of small fish, mainly Butterfish and the occasional crab and goby. It was great to watch this animal at close quarters. It was 16:30 and the wind was increasing, the rain getting heavier and so I decided to head back to the hotel. On Scatsta Airfield there were 75 Greylag Goose, 25 Golden Plover and 75 Lapwing but further stops as I followed the coastline to Brae produced little. After a brief stop at Tesco to stock up on supplies for tomorrow I was back at the hotel by 17:45.

Otter - Sullom Voe, Mainland Shetland

Sunday, 7 October 2018

Shetland Mainland and Unst - 6th October

The forecast was for a relatively calm and sunny day so enthusiasm levels were high and I planned to spent the day birding along the west coast from Lerwick down to Sumburgh, going to wherever my whims took me. I was at Fladderbista by 07:30 with high hopes, wandering around the village and the ruins, I saw a pair of North-western (rostrata) type Common Redpoll, a single Icelandic Redwing but virtually nothing else, it was deadly quiet. I then headed to Leebitten and birded the fields, crofts and gardens, still with optimism but after an hour I had seen no migrants and the only birds of any note being a flock of 120 Golden Plover. So, although my mind was switched on to finding something decent I doubted the day could deliver and so I had decided to head to Lerwick where two Yellow-browed Warbler had been showing alongside Loch of Clickimin, grab some supplies and then head back to Lunna where the Melodius Warbler that I had dipped a couple of days ago and a Barred warbler were present and then to bird in the northern area of the island.

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

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.

Friday, 5 October 2018

Shetland Mainland - 5th October

The weather forecast was for a windy day with a damp start to the morning and so I decided to have a lay-in and set the alarm for 06:45, I eventually got out of bed at 07:15 and out in the field (well into the car anyway) by 08:00. A Pied-billed Grebe was present at Loch of Spiggie and while I decided to go birding before twitching the grebe the weather was pretty nasty and news came through that the grebe was present and so I decided to head for it first off. I arrived at the road on the west side of the Loch and soon got onto the Pied-billed Grebe, there were around 30 birders present. It was distant and I was somewhat disapointed by the views and had to scrounge some scope views to even be confident that it was at least a grebe. I spent around an hour here and the grebe would frequently disapear into the marginal vegetation for periods of time. Also here were two Swallow, a Slavonian Grebe and several Tufted Duck but it was cold and very windy and so I didn't spend much time looking at anything but the grebe. The Pied-billed Grebe had first been found here on 4th November 2017 remaining until 18th April 2018 and so it looks like it may spend another winter at Loch Spiggie.

Loch of Spiggie perhaps gives an impression of how cold and windy it was

Pied-billed Grebe - Loch of Spiggie, Mainland Shetland

Slavonian Grebe and Tufted Duck - Loch of Spiggie, Mainland Shetland

I then headed north along the west shore of the Loch of Spiggie stopping occasionally but there was little to be seen but for 22 Whooper Swan at the northern end of the loch.

Whooper Swan - Loch of Spiggie, Mainland Shetland

The Cooss - Loch of Spiggie, Mainland Shetland

I continued north through Scousburugh and to Geosetter and spent an hour or so birding here. It was very slow and the only birds I recorded of note were a single Goldcrest, a male Reed Bunting and an Icelandic Redwing.

View over Bay of Scousburgh to Northern Ness and Colsay

The rariety hotspot of Geosetter

Top end of Geosetter, its quite tough work getting up this far as one has to scramble

along near verticle grassy slopes

Icelandic Redwing - Geosetter, Mainland Shetland

I then headed to the east coast of the island and birded Levenwick, Upperton and Southpunds and then north to Northwick and Northwick Burn but saw very little. There was a rostrata type Common Redpoll and Icelandic Redwing at Upperton, two Swallow at Levenwick and two Swallow and another Icelandic Redwing at Hoswick but in the strong winds it was very slow going. I spent more time enjoying the landscape than expecting to find a rare, stiil, forecast is for a better day tomorrow so its all to play for......

Leven Wick Bay - Mainland Shetland

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Shetland Mainland and Bressay - 4th October

So, today was the day that I was due to head to Fair Isle but I awoke to a howling gale and heavy rain, it was unlikely the plane was going to leave. After breakfast, packing my bags and checking out of the Lerwick Hotel I arrived at the airport at around 08:15 to be told that the 09:00 flight that I was booked on this morning would not depart but that I should head back to the airport for 09:30. So, I headed to Lerwick in the pouring rain and birded Loch Clickimin and Helendale. It was very slow going and I spent more time fending off the rain and wind than actually looking for birds, a 'Polish' type Mute Swan on Loch Clickimin and a Goldcrest at Helendale was all that I saw. After heading back to the airport I was told that there would be no flights until the afternoon and so I decided to headsouth to Fladdabista. I spent a couple of hours birding here and saw nothing of note whatsoever, it was windy and tough going but quite beautiful.

View south from Fladdabista

Burn at Fladdabista

After contemplating my options I decided to head for the Bressay Ferry in Lerwick and call Tingwall Airport from there. My plan was that if therewas no plane to Fair Isle to head to Bressay, where there was an American Golden Plover and Citrine Wagtail, but if there was a plane then I was well placed for my flight. At 12:30 news was that there might be a flight and so I headed to the airport. But, the weather closed in and on arrival the flight had been delayed further. I waited until 13:45 and, after speaking to the pilot who suggest that there would be no flights today, I decided to cut my losses and head to Bressay - good move as there were no further flights. The ferry to Bressay left at 14:30 and by 14:35 I was on this beautiful island in the pouring rain and howling wind - but it was a new island for me.

I first headed for the Citrine Wagtail at Gardie House which was to be a British tick but after spending around an hour looking for it and getting soaked I had not a sniff of it. But, as I was leaving I heard the distinctive call of Citrine Wagtail and the bird flew south overhead and dropped into the scrub at the southern end of the garden of Gardie House. I waited for a while and the bird wandered onto the lawn of the house and showed well but a little distantly. By now I was soaked and my bins and camera were starting to suffer and so I headed off to head to the car and look for the American Golden Plover. I whacked up the heating and AC to high in the hope of drying out a little. I drove south to the lighthouse and saw little but for one Whinchat and around 125 Golden Plover but no sign of the American. The weather brightened and so I decided to head slowly back to the Citrine Wagtail for better views, scanning for the American Golden Plover as I went. On arrival at Gardie House, I bumped into my good friend Mike Edgecombe and we wandered down to the house catching-up. When we reached the coast the wagtail was showing well down to around 10m and we watched the bird for the next 20 minutes or so before it eventually flew south.

It was now 16:45 and I decided to opt for the 17:00 ferry as I needed to make sure I had a room for the night, having checked out this AM expecting to be on Fair Isle, and to catch-up on some work.

Black Guillemot - Lerwick Harbour

Curlew - Bressay

Citrine Wagtail - Gardie House, Bressay

Wednesday, 3 October 2018

Shetland Mainland - 3rd October

The morning dawned still and fairly sunny, such a change to yesterday, I headed south from Lerwick and spent much of the morning birding the Leebitten and Sandwick area. It was great to be out birding on Shetland but there was not a lot about. From Leebitten I walked out along the eastern coastline to Pund and then west to Sandwick where I spent some time birding the harbour and then back via Park Lee to Leebitten. In this time my highlights were six Snipe, two Ruff, 45 Golden Plover, 50+ Black Guillemot in Sandwick Bay, 65 Sky Lark, one Grey Wagtail, five Wheatear, one Whinchat, one Willow Warbler and 35 Twite. Not a lot to show for 3.5 hours birding.

Common Starling of subspecies zetlandicus - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Snipe (two birds) - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Twite - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Hooded Crow - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Golden Plover - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Willow Warbler - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Northern Wren of subspecies zetlandicus - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Grey Seal - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Back at the car at 11:00 I was wondering what to do, so scanning Birdguides, I saw there was a report of a Barred Warbler at Hoswick Burn, just a short way from Leebitten so I headed off to look for this and to bird the Burn. The rain started to fall and it was very quiet, a Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff but little else. I then glimpsed an Acrocephalus warbler near to the top end of the Burn which I knew immediately was either a Marsh or Blyth's Reed. The bird was feeding in Rose bushes and was fairly elusive but over a period of an hour or so I saw enough to convince myself that it was a Blyth's Reed Warbler, the face pattern, short primaries and its frequent calling were enough to identify the bird.

Blyth's Reed Warbler - Hoswick Burn, Mainland Shetland

I then headed down to Southpunds at Levenwick where another Barred Warbler had been reported but on arrival I had to deal with various work stuff on the phone so lost the first hour or so. I wandered in to the hamlet and fairly quickly but briefly picked up the Barred Warbler in Sycamores but no sooner had I seen it it vanished again. There were some great looking gardens here full of rariety potential but I saw little else and further work stuff prevented me from exploring further.

I then decided to head north to Lunna where a Melodius Warbler had been present for a few days but I hadn't appreciated that it was almost an hours drive so by the time I arrived at was just gone 16:30. I wandered around this beautiful area seeing little but for a stunning summer plumaged Great-northern Diver just offshore and a few Black Guillemot that showed well, there was a single Wheatear in the fields. I birded the area until 17:45, dipping the Melodius Warbler but enjoying my time in this beautiful and remote feeling part of Mainland Shetland. A few brief stops on the way back to Lerwick produced 45 Wigeon, seven Red-breasted Merganser, three Tufted Duck, 12 Gadwall and two Grey Heron all of which were new for the trip. I was back at the Lerwick Hotel for 18:30 for much needed dinner as I had skipped lunch. Tomorrow I try to reach Fair Isle but the weather forecast looks less than ideal for the flight so it could be mainland again.

Great-northern Diver - Lunna, Mainland Shetland

Black Guillemot - Lunna, Mainland Shetland

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