Shetland Day 1: No Time To Dip

After a mercifully smooth overnight crossing to Lerwick, our first day on Shetland (Saturday 2nd October) started with the customary hearty breakfast, after which we were itching for some twitching of the excellent selection of rarities in relatively close proximity around the central portion of Mainland.

Red-backed Shrike, East Burra

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Breaking ourselves in gently with a distant King Eider scoped at Girlsta and a Great White Egret ticked almost without stopping at Sand Water, we made our way to Lower Voe. Here a Red-breasted Flycatcher dodged the raindrops as Goosanders, Mergansers, Razorbills and Tysties fished in the sea loch. Shetland planners appear to have been asleep at the wheel when approving many of its settlements but Lower Voe isn't one of them: an attractive village in a stunning location, with plenty of cover for birds to skulk in.

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Hopes of a two-Shrike day were then fulfilled with a Woodchat showing (eventually) at Aith, and a Red-backed Shrike performing (eventually) at East Burra. Whilst waiting for the latter, our team's top sniffer dogs Bradders and Howard came up trumps by relocating an Arctic Redpoll which had been seen only briefly earlier that day.

Red-backed Shrike

Red-breasted Flycatcher, Lower Voe

Razorbill, Lower Voe

Views and photos enabled an identification as Hornemann's, and I was fortunate enough to capture a definitive fluffy white butt-shot through a very narrow gap in which it was showing, but only by almost balancing my lens on another birder's head, such was the acuteness of the viewing angle.

Woodchat Shrike, Aith

Woodchat Shrike, Aith

Woodchat Shrike, Aith

Our penultimate stop of the day was at Noss, where an Eastern Yellow Wagtail showed immediately on arrival, and although mobile I was able to get some respectable photos after a bit of ungainly jogging up the road to catch up with it. This was all proving too easy, but a report of a Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Pool of Virkie brought us back down to earth by being absent not just from the beach where it was first found but from another small pool to which it had later relocated. 

Red-backed Shrike, East Burra

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll, East Burra

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll, East Burra

Further frustration was provided courtesy of an unfortunate birder who had driven into a ditch blocking our exit from the pool and creating my first even Shetland traffic jam. We did the decent thing and helped push him out, and although it was our first dip of the trip there were no complaints: it had been a cracking first day with a haul or rarities that only Shetland could produce.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Noss

The Eastern Yellow Wagtail gave a buzzy call and showed a long hind-claw

Oh go on then - one more of that lovely Shrike

(With thanks John Stobart for the idea for the blog post title, inspired by a Bond movie tweet last week.)