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.
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.
