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

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

Northern Wren of subspecies zetlandicus - Sandwick, Mainland Shetland

Grey Seal - Leebitten, Mainland Shetland

Grey Seal - Leebitten, 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

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

Black Guillemot - Lunna, Mainland Shetland

Black Guillemot - Lunna, Mainland Shetland