The Deskbound Birder: Sumburgh Head

Showing posts with label Sumburgh Head. Show all posts

Wednesday, 16 October 2019

Shetland - 14th October

My plan today was to bird the west coast of mainland Shetland tin the hope of finding a mega yank warbler, I was aiming for Tresta and then around the coast via Walls and then to Sandness.

I was on the road at 07:30 and stopping at a view point on the A971 as it swings around the Hill of Sound I scanned into Weisdale Voe hoping for an Orca fin. Looking at the village of Cott below I noticed a great deal of scrub and woodland and so I back tracked and spent the first few hours birding the gardens and the small graveyard which has a number of mature sycamore. It was a great area but there was not a lot to be seen, I recorded three Blackcap, four Goldcrest, 35 Redwing and 10 Fieldfare, still it was a great area and definitely worth a visit.

I then headed to Tresta and birded the area around the Methodist Chapel recording two Goldcrest and a Yellow-browed Warbler. News then broke of a Brown Shrike at Grutness, I considered my options, continue with my plan or dash down for the shrike. The shrike option won and off I went on the 50-minute high speed drive to the south of the island.

I arrived at Grutness at around 12:00 just as the shrike had flown over the brow of the cabbage field it had been frequenting. I drove around the field and up the road to Sumburgh, parked and went climbed the fence to cross the field to where the bird was, but as I grabbed the fence to climb over I received a bolt of electricity that knocked me backwards and off my feet – I had grabbed the electric fence encircling the field, there was no warning placed on the fence. I picked myself up, dusted myself down and then climbed the gate into the field now with a very numb right arm. I got to the group of birders and was soon on the Brown Shrike, relieved to have the bird but my fingers were so numb from the shock that I could hardly focus my binoculars. I spent the next couple of hours with the shrike as it ranged between Grutness Beach, the lighthouse road out beyond Sumburgh Farm and down to Sumburgh Hotel. It was covering some ground as it ranged the fields. On a number of occasions, it was seen to catch White-tailed Bumblebee and impale them on the barbed wire fence. Eventually I left the bird as it went down to Grutness Beach and travelled along the beach towards the airport.

To the end of 2018 there have been 25 UK records of Brown Shrike in Great Britain with the first being from 1985 from Sumburgh. There has been a single spring record with the remainder occurring in September to November, the peak month being September. Shetland has the largest number of records with eight to the end of 2018. This was my second in the UK after seeing the bird that wintered on Staines Moor, Surrey from 11th October 2009 to 2nd January 2010.

Adult female Brown Shrike - Grutness, Mainland Shetland

Adult female Brown Shrike with White-tailed Bumblebee - Grutness, Mainland Shetland

Adult female Brown Shrike - Grutness, Mainland Shetland

After grabbing a coffee, I headed north up the island and spent the last couple of hours of daylight birding Stonybrake, Upperton and Netherton recording three Mealy Redpoll, one Lesser Redpoll, Blackcap, Red-throated Diver and a greyish Chiffchaff probably of the subspecies abietinus. News then broke of a Black-throated Thrush on Ward of Scousburgh and so I made a dash for this in the fading light but unsurprisingly was unsuccessful. I headed to the hotel for a much-needed shower and a cold beer.

Starling - Cott, Mainland Shetland

Goldcrest - Cott, Mainland Shetland

Cott, Mainland Shetland

Lesser Redpoll - Upperton, Mainland Shetland

Red-throated Diver - Netherton, Mainland Shetland

A rather cold and greyish Chiffchaff, possibly of the subspecies abeitinus, it gave a mournful bisyllabic call with a downward inflected second part to the call - Netherton, Mainland Shetland

Chiffchaff (same bird as above) - Netherton, Mainland Shetland

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Fair Isle - 28th May

I was up at an antisocial 03:00 and headed to Heathrow for a 07:05 flight to Edinburgh landing at 08:20 and then onwards to Sumburgh at 09:35 landing at 11:00. I picked up a car from Bolts Car Hire and then headed to Sunburgh Head for my first birding on Shetland since October 2014. Guillemot and Puffin were in abundance on the cliffs and Bonxie were overhead and my first Wheatear since my only spring bird at Pennington Marsh were on territory and in full song. I spent a little bit of time around the lighthouse before birding the area around the start of the road to the lighthouse at Grutness and enjoyed a small Arctic Tern colony and a fantastic summer plumaged Sanderling which showed well. After a quick stop to grab some lunch I headed to Levenwick where I spent a short while birding the crofts and beach seeing little but for Common Tern and a a showy Grey Seal. I slowly made my way north to Tingwall Airport for a 14:45 flight to Fair Isle landing at 15:10.

I last came to Fair Isle in October 2014 and previously in October 2013 and this was my first spring trip since my very first trip to the island in May/June 1986. Highlights during that spring trip were Black-headed Bunting, three Thrush Nightingale, Snowy Owl, Long-tailed Skua and Subalpine Warbler and during the current trip I was eager to see some drift migrants such as Bluethroat, Red-backed Shrike, Icterine Warbler or something a bit rarer - I quite fancied a River Warbler.

After landing and dumbing the bags at the observatory, I spent the rest of the afternoon walking from the observatory south as far as Lower Leogh. While there was not a great deal to be see in terms of migrants (two Willow Warbler and a single Tree Pipit) I enjoyed great views of Arctic Skua, both light and dark phase and of Bonxie, Wheatear and breeding waders. Arctic Skua, in my opinion, are one of the ultimate birds - uber cool, beautiful and menacing in equal measures. And that call, evocative of the northern tundra zone.