Shetland (the Tengmalm's Owl Dip) - 4th-5th March

With some gripping photographs emerging on social media of the recent Tengmalm's Owl at Bixter on Mainland Shetland from 19th to 23rd February and then moving a short distance to Tresta from 24th and showing exceptionally well on 2nd March, I just had to go. So, with agreement from Sarah and with the bird showing well still on Saturday 2nd I hatched a plan to head to Shetland on Monday 4th. Booking my flights by mid-morning on 2nd I watched with some envy as mega images and video flooded from Lea Gardens the owls chosen patch of trees at Tresta. Sunday 3rd was a horrendous day with strong winds and torrential rain and so I was not too surprised that there were no reports of the bird - although I was somewhat nervous given the lack of any sightings. On the 4th I was up at 02:00 and at Heathrow by 04:00 ready for my 06:15 flight to Glasgow and on to Sumburgh. Landing at 11:35 I switched my phone on hoping to see news of the bird but nothing, just a message from Birdguides with a sad-faced emoji symbol. I collected my car and headed north-west in the hope that positive news would appear but it was not to be. On arrival at the site I met with Max Hellicar who had been at the site for a couple of hours looking for the bird. I had communicated with Max before arriving on the island and had arranged to bird with him for a couple of days as he was car-less for his time on the island. Max and I spent the next couple of hours scouring all the bushes we could, no accessible cluster of branches or leaves, no evergreen shrub and no conifer went unchecked but to no-avail.

After we had tired of peering into bushes we decided to take a break and head south for a tick for Max, the long staying Pied-billed Grebe at Loch Spiggie, a bird that I had last seen on 5th October 2018. From the southern end of the Loch we scanned vut could not located the grebe but did record good numbers of Goldeneye, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, a total of 23 Whooper Swan and four summer plumaged Red-throated Diver. We then headed to the north-west corner of the loch where Max's friends had seen the bird a few days ago. Pulling up in a lay-by close to the loch, Max was quick to locate the bird close to the shoreline. We hopped over the style and wandered to the waters edge but the grebe was very wary and swam to the centre of the loch, often partly submerged to avoid detection.

We then headed north pausing at Setter to scan the Greylag Goose flocks for two Bean Goose that had been present but we both felt a little half hearted, keen to get back to Lea Garden to look for the Tengmalm's Owl. We briefly paused at Cunningsburgh where a wintering juvenile Common Rosefinch, which has been present since 6th January,  showed quickly amongst its adopted flock of House Sparrow in the local gardens. After getting our fill of this rather drab bird with a simple-looking expression we continued north to our main target.

We stopped in the tall pine trees in the vicinity of the Methodist Church at Tresta peering into the tall pines here and working the bushes along the Burn of Tresta. A Woodcock was flushed as was a flock of 23 Collared Dove but little else was seen and certainly no owl. We then headed back to the garden and began peering into bushes until dark hoping to see the owl as it emerged from roost, but there was nothing, all was quiet and pretty down-heartening but tomorrow was to be another day.

Pied-billed Grebe (adult summer) - Loch of Spiggie

Pied-billed Grebe (adult summer using evasion tactics) - Loch of Spiggie, Mainland Shetland

Common Rosefinch (juvenile) - Cunningsburgh, Mainland Shetland 

Common Frog - Lea Gardens, Tresta, Mainland Shetland

Day 2 dawned bright and early and having checked out of the Lerwick Hotel I collected Max from the Islesburgh House Hostel just up the road from my hotel at 06:15. We headed directly to Lea Gardens full of optimism - a new day, a new dawn. We began peering into the bushes, starting in the central garden area where the bird had favoured the previous days but nothing. And then an owl flew over my shoulder and in the very brief glimpse I had I thought that it was probably a Short-eared. Calling Max he said he had just flushed a Long-eared Owl and so this was very likely his bird. I flushed the bird a couple more times as I searched through various trees and bushes and that was all the excitement there was. Time passed by and our spirits began to wain, more birders turned up, we now numbered seven. We hatched a plan to head to Bixter, and to the garden where the Tengmalm's Owl had originally been seen. Loading the car with a couple more birders we headed off on the five minute drive to the garden. I knocked on the door but the daughter of the owner of the property declined us access to the garden and so we searched the pines from the boundary of the garden. Max and I saw a Sparrowhawk fly off from the garden, it was carrying prey and both Max and I thought that it was most likely a Water Rail. Searching the perimeter pine trees my levels of despondency increased and suddenly the realisation of the dip tipped me over the edge, I had had enough and wanted to go and do something else. Max took a bit more convincing but eventually we headed back to Tresta, dropped the other birders off and headed north-east to Bretabister and Nesting where a White-billed Diver had been present. 

We scanned the sea and had some nice views of Great-northern Diver as well as distant views of Red-throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser and Guillemot and a school of five Common Porpoise but no White-billed. Time was pushing on and I had in mind my flight back south, so we headed down to Lerwick and spent some time around Gremista. Max had purchased three loaves of bread to draw the gulls in but they didn't seem interested and it was comical watching Max throw the bread towards the sea just for the wind to send the bread back overhead and into the car park. Eventually, he generated some interest amongst the gull community and a 2nd winter Iceland Gull appeared and showed very well. Also offshore here were small numbers of Fulmar, Kittiwake and around four Long-tailed Duck and 12 Black Guillemot, some of the latter now in summer plumage. It was now 12:15 and time for me to head off south to Sumburgh for my 14:00 flight home, I said my goodbyes to Max who was on the boat to Aberdeen that evening. As I drove south I reflected on what had been a good couple of days birding but a major dip. This dip was probably second in stature to my missing a Wallcreeper in-off the sea at St. Catherines Point in the 80's (see here), that dip still haunts me even though I have now seen Wallcreeper. The Wallcreeper dip eclipses the Tengmalm's Owl by a long way but the owl still hurt, and will hurt in the future, such are the highs and lows of birding - thats why I love it and live for it.

Oystercatcher - South Nesting, Mainland Shetland

Long-tailed Duck (adult male, winter plumage) - Gremista, Lerwick, Mainland Shetland

Iceland Gull - Gremista, Lerwick, Mainland Shetland

Iceland Gull - Gremista, Lerwick, Mainland Shetland

Iceland Gull - Gremista, Lerwick, Mainland Shetland

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

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

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

A Quiet Winter

The recent run of cold easterly winds appears to have extended what feels like a long cold winter into the time of year when we have come to expect a spell of fine and warm weather. The winter has been a quite one in terms of rare birds with the highlights being a Pied-billed Grebe at Ham Wall RSPB Reserve and a Harlequin Duck at Balranald RSPB Reserve on North Uist.

The Pied-billed Grebe was first found on 15th February from the second viewing platform of the superb wetland reserve of Ham Wall RSPB. The bird is still present at the time of writing this post on 24th March and like many of its predecessors is likely to be a long stayer. The bird is elusive at times disappearing into the reedbeds that flank the pool on which it frequents, however, it regularly performs well. This bird appears to be an adult with its distinct black chin and throat and blue-grey eyering and bill, the latter crossed by an irregular black band. I visited the site on 18th March after a meeting in Yeovil and after an hours wait the bird swam into view and began calling, a kind of cross between a Little Grebe and a diver with a hint of Common Crane thrown in! Evidently the bird is looking for a mate but it could be a long wait.

There are a total of 52 records of Pied-billed Grebe in the UK with the first as recently as 1963. Many stay for protracted periods of time with the longest staying bird from 2nd April 1993 until 13th September 1995 at Stithians Reservoir, Cornwall this bird hybridised with a Little Grebe and reared at least three young. The Pied-billed Grebe is distributed throughout the Americas where it is a short range migrant moving southwards from the northern parts of its breeding range.

Pied-billed Grebe, Ham Wall RSPB (Gary Thoburn - see more of Gary's photographs at http://garytsphotos.zenfolio.com)

The Harlequin Duck was found on the 18th February and again is present at the time of the writing of this post. While not in full plumage the bird is nonetheless a stunning 1st winter male showing male characters in a subdued manner and with a scaly whitish belly. The bird frequents the coastal waters of the reserve and can often be seen hauled out on the kelp covered boulders that line the shore.

Harlequin Duck, Balranald RSPB, North Uist (Kit Day - see more of Kit's stunning photographs at http://www.kitday-uk.com)

There are only 14 previous records of Harlequin Duck in the UK with the most recent being an adult male on St.Kilda on the18th June 2007. The last twitchable bird was a female on Lewis from mid-January until 20th May 2004. The Harlequin Duck is found from East Asia,, north-west and north-east North America, Greenland and Iceland. The species winters on the coast and during the spring moves inland along streams to breed.