Shetland day 9: Bluetails and Snowballs

Our last full day on Shetland, October 6th, saw us heading back to the north Mainland and Isbister, where a Red-flanked Bluetail had been discovered the day before. Occurrences of this species have taken an up-turn in recent years but it is still an exquisite bird to see in Britain. We arrived in what had become familiar conditions - dull and windy - and checked out the gardens where the bird had been seen. There was precious little in the way of cover, and no sign of the bird.

Red-flanked Bluetail, Isbister

The blue tail on display here...

...plus orangey flanks and a white chin patch

Red-flanked Bluetail

To make matters worse, at this point news filtered through of a Siberian Rubythroat on Bressay the previous day. This, one of the ultimate 'Sibes', was the bird we had all agreed was at the top of our 'most wanted' list on the journey north. Reports suggested that it had been elusive on the Thursday, and that there was no sign of it that morning (Friday). The part we couldn't understand was how it had taken until late morning the following day for news of the sighting to come out at all.

The local Rock Doves look pretty pure compared to our feral pigeons

Raven

Highland Cow

Starling on the right end of a sheep this time

One thing I had already come to understand about Shetland was the importance of news being shared promptly, with such a large area to cover, such a relatively small number of birders on the archipelago, and the complexities of travelling between the islands to be overcome. Of course, we didn't know the full circumstances of the find, and there may have been a good explanation, but it was a bit frustrating as we certainly would have wanted to check out Bressay that morning had we known sooner, even if there was only a slim chance of seeing the bird.

The island of Foula seen from Eshaness

Fungi at Eshaness

Yellow-browed Warbler from earlier in the day at Hoswick in morning sunshine

The team stopped to photograph this cloth sheep sculpture placed randomly on a junction: who needs the Angel of the North?

We drifted our separate ways muttering darkly, but the black mood was soon broken when a message crackled over the CBs - Howard's razor sharp eyes had re-located the Red-flanked Bluetail. We headed in his direction and were soon enjoying intimate views of a stunning bird, all thoughts of the Siberian Rubythroat forgotten.

The wild cliffs of Eshaness. A land of...

...dramatic seascapes...

...towering stacks...

...and impossible arches

After some quality time with the Bluetail, we made the pilgrimage to Eshaness. There was a chance of an American Golden Plover or a Buff-breasted Sandpiper on the short sward of the fields there, but the real attraction was the landscape - dramatic cliffs, stacks and geos being pounded by Atlantic rollers with nothing to stop their advance between us and Newfoundland.

I had my best opportunity of the trip to study and photograph the Shetland sub-species of Wren at Ollaberry

An alert and perky individual

The light was low...

...but the views were exceptional

On the way back south we checked out Ollaberry, where a mystery brown and white bird had been reported by a local resident, but to no avail. A couple of hours later we were back, following up a report of a Coues's Arctic Redpoll. Could this have been the mystery bird? On arrival there was no sign of it - we had a good look around and were on the verge of giving up when a 'snowball' Redpoll flew up from a chicken pen and perched on a wire right in front of Bob and I - it was the Arctic Redpoll. It dropped to some vegetation close to where we stood enabling me to rattle off a few shots. After just a glance at my back-of-the-camera shot, David and Howard expertly re-identified it as a Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll. We watched it with another carload of late-comers until dusk - a great way to end our last evening on Shetland.

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll - note the warm buff face...

...large white rump...

...long wings, long tail and narrow flank streaking

A large bird compared to the other Redpoll species

A relatively small red patch on the forehead is characteristic...

...as are the long white 'trousers'



Reminisce with a list

It's been a frustrating week with continuing back problems preventing me doing pretty much anything on the birding front. With a slight improvement yesterday, and with driving easier than walking, I twitched the Pied-billed Grebe in neighbouring Somerset. The journey there was fine but, having seen the bird, something else in a hitherto OK bit of back went ping, and I literally limped home to spend the rest of the day in bed, where I remain as I write this.

 

So rather than dwell on the things I haven't seen this week, I thought I would cheer myself up by focusing on the things I have seen over the years. And what better way to do it than that tried and tested birding format: the list. Today's list is my top five long-distance twitches. Most of these birds were photographed pretty poorly (click the links below for proof) before I bought a decent camera, so rather than inflict grainy sepia pictures on you, the war stories are broken up with some of my favourite rarity photos from the last decade. Two lists for the price of one, you lucky things.

American Robin, Grimsby (Jan 2004). A trip from Kent with Matt Jones. Of about a million digiscoped shots, this was the only sharp one.

1. Black-Browed-Albatross, Sula Sgeir, May 2007. I started birding in the late 1990s so had never seen the long-staying Albatross at the Hermaness Gannetry. So when one was located on Sula Sgeir, and Dick Filby organised a series of three boat trips to look for it the following year, we booked on the first one available. Probably my most expensive twitch ever, I think Matt Jones and I paid £300 for a berth on the Professor Multanovsky to sail overnight toward this rocky outcrop in the Atlantic. As the boat steamed out of Ullapool on a chilly evening Matt said, 'what are we doing? We've spent a fortune to twitch a bird that hasn't been seen for nearly a year'. Fortunately it was still there. Four species of Skua plus White-tailed Eagle from the boat capped the trip off nicely.

Pied-billed Grebe, Hollingworth Lake (Nov 2010). Not as Pied-billed as the recent Somerset bird of the same species, but pretty special anyway. This bird swam just yards in front of a hide I was sitting in.

2. Harlequin Duck, Lewis, April 2004. Another trip with Matt as we made a week of it in Scotland. Apart from the occasional chopper to the Isles of Scilly, this was the only time in the last 10 years that I have broken a self-imposed flying ban, going short-haul from Glasgow to Stornoway before hiring a car and heading for Grais where the Harlequin Duck was last seen. We overshot the spot but after some high speed reversing were soon enjoying views of this mega-rarity. American Herring Gull in Stornoway Harbour and enough Iceland Gulls to fill a freezer were a bonus.

White-billed Diver, Cornwall (March 2007). If this picture looks a bit like I was stood over the bird, that's because I was. It swam under a footbridge up a creek off the Hayle Estuary. We saw this, a Franklin's Gull, a Spotted Sandpiper and a Yellow-browed Warbler all within a couple of hours of watching a Gyr Falcon leave the roost at Stepper Point.

3. Snowy Egret, Balvicar, April 2002. The first time I saw this bird was in Ardeer, on the way back from a winter trip to Islay in 2001, but it was such a long-stayer that I caught up with it the following April back at Balvicar. An epic day started at Loch Garten with Capercaillie and Osprey, continued with Black Grouse at Loch Laggan and a King Eider at Dunstaffnage before seeing the Egret mid-morning, then back east for a Red-breasted Goose near Kinross, a couple of Surf Scoter in Fife and a Waxwing flock in Dunfermline before dusk.



Red-flanked Bluetail, St Martin's (Oct 2010). Not such a major rarity these days but still a stunning bird.

4. Masked Shrike, Kilrenny, Nov 2004. Probably my longest day-trip to date, 1000 miles on the clock exactly, for the ultimate solo smash and grab. I left Kent at 0200, crossed the border just after 0700, saw the bird about 0930, headed for home about 1100 and was back in time to put my son in the bath that evening. Apart from getting out of the car to see the bird, I stopped only once, at Gretna services, to fill up and, more importantly, to twitch some Waxwings by the petrol pumps.

Desert Wheatears are often confiding. This one on Cooden Beach, East Sussex (Nov 2006) was no exception.

5. White-tailed Plover, Caerlaverock, June 2007. Matt and I finished work and drove through the night to be on site for first light with several hundred others. We were packed into the Tower Hide like Russian dissidents on the train to the Gulags, the waking dead nodding off on each others shoulders. I still have flashbacks. Then dawn broke, and we watched thick fog for the next four hours. When it eventually cleared it was obvious that the Plover had moved on. To top it all off, the car broke down. Unsuccessful, but still epic, and every list of top twitches should include a spectacular dip, I reckon.

Sandhill Crane, Suffolk (Oct 2011). Not the best photo but a great trip with Steve Smith and Jol Mitchell.

There, I feel better already. More of these trips down memory may follow, depending on how quickly the back mends...

Green Heron, Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall (Oct 2010).

Bluetail at Durlston

Walking around Durlston with Hamish Murray on Tuesday, we were speculating idly about what the next good rarity at the site might be. Of the various possibilities discussed, a spring Red-flanked Bluetail was not among them. So when Durslton ranger Katie Black found one this morning it was a huge and pleasant surprise. Herding the family together for the afternoon out, we arrived on site at about 1400 and saw the bird at 1420. I hadn't seen it again when I left at 1545 but it was seen again just after 1700. The famous Winspit bird of 1993 appeared a few years before I started birding, so this was also a superb addition to my Dorset list.

Saturday on Scilly

First day of a week's family holiday on Scilly started well with a Bonxie from the chopper on the way over - seawatching in style - and then got better. We landed at 1300, got a boat to St Martin's at 1400 and, after a stiff march half way across the island, were watching a Red-Flanked Bluetail by 1500. At first elusive, it soon became clear that this was a very confiding bird. At one point it landed briefly 5 feet from me on the ground - too close to photograph. I saw the one on St Mary's a couple of years ago but in poor weather and at a distance, so this was a real treat. The bird was not seen again so with hindsight it was a good decision to go for it on the Saturday.