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

Black Guillemot - Lerwick Harbour

Black Guillemot - Lerwick Harbour

Curlew - Bressay

Citrine Wagtail - Gardie House, Bressay

Citrine Wagtail - Gardie House, Bressay

Citrine Wagtail - Gardie House, Bressay