After a night on MV Hrossey being gently rocked to sleep by the embers of Storm Amy, followed by an early breakfast on board, we arrived in a wet and windy Lerwick early on the morning of Monday 6th October. A Siberian Thrush had been seen at Loch of Asta every day since 2nd October, and what was possibly the same bird had been seen previously at Voe of Scatsca on 29th September. This would mean it would need to stay for a record 8th day to still be there when we arrived, but with overnight conditions not conducive to a departure, we remained hopeful.
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1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
We headed straight to Loch of Asta, arriving about 0800, and were surprised, given the number of birders on the ferry and the rarity of the bird, to find ourselves the first and only people on site, the foul weather perhaps playing a part. David and Phil had already seen Siberian Thrush on Shetland, a bird which David co-found and which Phil was able to twitch back in 2017, so it's fair to say that while we were all keen to see this bird, James and I were somewhat keener. So while David and Phil remained on the road where some trees provided a bit of shelter, James and I positioned ourselves below on the loch shore looking up at a patch of elderberries on which the bird had been seen feeding, and with little in the way of cover, resigned ourselves to a thorough soaking.
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
A couple of other carloads of birders joined within the half-hour and, inexplicably given the notoriously shy nature of Siberian Thrush, one of them put out a 'no sign' message to the information services at 0856 after what must have been less than 30 minutes of looking! This might unhelpfully have deterred others from coming to look for the bird, but we tried to look on the bright side that it would also mean fewer chatty old hands exchanging war stories loudly and discouraging the Thrush to show its face.
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
Two hours in the rain came and went with no sign of the bird, and things didn't look good, but I said to James it was too early to give up and that, if I was on my own, I'd give it until at least noon. I was, however, concerned that those in our party who had already seen Siberian Thrush might be getting restless, so after consulting with James I wandered up to give them our 'permission' to go somewhere drier, should they feel the need. They took us up on the offer which gave them some respite from the foul weather, and us some respite from the concern that we might be dragged away against our will by our team-mates!
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| 1st winter male Siberian Thrush, Loch of Asta, 6th October |
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| First view showed the colourful vent and legs |
Anyway, the act of magnanimity seemed to do the trick and just after 1030 a shout went up from the road that the Thrush had just been seen in the garden above the road. My cycling training kicked in and I bounded up the steep slope from the lochside to the garden like a snow leopard. Unfortunately the Thrush had already gone to ground and a nervous 15 minutes ensued before it reappeared. By the time it did so, David and Phil had returned but I still only managed an untickable flight view as it bolted back to the elderberry bushes, so I returned to the lochside and enjoyed a good if brief view and my first photos of the attractive dark blue plumage set off with a white-striped vent and orange legs.
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| Western Subalpine Warbler, 6th October |
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| Western Subalpine Warbler, 6th October |
With a view and a record shot obtained, I could relax and wait patiently for better views. These were achieved initially through thick branches, beneath which the Siberian Thrush thrashed around in the leaf litter for an extended period, before it eventually surprised everyone present by coming out and feeding in the open at the base of a hedgerow in its adopted garden, where it continued to give exceptional views on and off for a further four days. On one of its commutes between the garden and the elders, I eventually managed a decent view of the boldly barred underwing to complete the set of key features seen.
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| Goldcrest, 6th October |
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| Goldcrest, 6th October |
The weather might not have improved but our collective mood had considerably. We rewarded ourselves by twitching a few more birds in the area before heading for the Co-op in Brae and our accommodation on Muckle Roe. In doing so we added Ring-necked Duck at Loch of Tingwall, a putative Western Subalpine Warbler at Levenwick (a tick for James if DNA confirms Western, or for Phil if Eastern) and a Red-breasted Flycatcher (also Levenwick) to the trip list.
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| Red-breasted Flycatcher, 6th October |
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| Red-breasted Flycatcher, 6th October |
I told myself before reaching Shetland that if I saw a Siberian Thrush and nothing else I would be happy. Time would tell whether I would live to regret these sentiments...
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| Siberian Thrush: my bird of the year to date |
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