Snowy and frosty on Shetland

Tuesday 3rd October on Shetland started unassumingly, with the usual kick around local patches on Muckle Roe producing not much more than a couple of Willow Warblers. A Snowy Owl had been seen near Shetland's highest point on Ronas Hill the previous day, and although we had tentatively agreed to go for it if re-located, we didn't hold out much hope. But relocated it was, and before we had gone too far.

Siberian Stonechat, Hamnavoe, 3rd October

Siberian Stonechat, Hamnavoe, 3rd October

Siberian Stonechat, Hamnavoe, 3rd October

After a short debate - James had his doubts, but bowed to the will of the majority - we concluded that it was 'now or never' if we were going to maximise our chances of seeing a 'Hedwig' on this trip - there was a weather window that morning and, in any case, by tomorrow it could be miles away. To Ronas Hill it was then, where our calculation that we would be among the first to the reasonably-sized car park at the top of the steep road turned out to be some way off as most of the other birders on Shetland seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Undaunted, we donned waterproofs and headed up into the rugged terrain in a stiff breeze. 

Willow Warbler, Muckle Roe, 3rd October

Red-breasted Flycatcher, Sullom, 3rd October

Hooded Crow, Muckle Roe, 3rd October

Ronas Hill is an amazing landscape, a bit like the top of the Cairngorm plateau, and it was heavy going  across wet, stony ground with no clear paths between the boulders, the heather and a myriad of wet ditches and rivulets. The upside of this being such a popular bird though was that there was no problem with working out where to go: we just followed the strung out line of bodies puffing their way up and back down to the point a few km over the ridge from where the Owl was being watched. 

The view from Ronas Hill

The long march for a Snowy Owl

Dr Phil on Ronas Hill

On arrival at the viewpoint which had been established a safe distance from the bird, views were a little under-whelming in truth: all we could see was a sliver of white on the top of the Owl's head as it hunkered down between some large boulders. Still, it was closer than I expected, and after a while it started to look around giving us views of the piercing yellow eyes set in an impressively broad, pure white head. 

Male Snowy Owl, Ronas Hill, 3rd October

Male Snowy Owl, Ronas Hill, 3rd October

Male Snowy Owl, Ronas Hill, 3rd October

A little later and we could see half of the torso, and then, joy of joys, it decided to stretch its vast wings in a short flight, at the end of which it landed to reveal every feature down to the fluffy feet. I have seen a couple of Snowy Owls in the UK but the location and the exertion required to see this one made it a genuinely epic experience.

Fluffy feet!

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

The hike back down was a breeze and, still buzzing, we treated ourselves to lunch at a location I can't quite recall, though pies were almost certainly involved. Our good friend Cliff Smith, everyone's favourite twitcher, had found a Siberian Stonechat near where he was staying at Hamnavoe, so we decided to pay homage to his discovery. On arrival the frostily-plumaged Stonechat was feeding on the strandline in front of a small crowd. The Stonechat then flew inland over a hedge which everyone except us took as their cue to leave. We relocated it sheltering in the lee of the hedge and enjoyed extended close views, including the unstreaked rump and jet black underwing-coverts - one of the most, if not the most, confiding and charming birds of the trip.

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

Our journey home took us past the long-staying Veery at Lunna, and we figured another stop was worthwhile if no-one else was there. Fortunately no-one was, and we revelled in exceptional views as the diminutive thrush came out into the open to feed a few yards in front of our awestruck lenses. It could have been the perfect end to a memorable day - but we almost sullied it by failing to pin down what was probably an Olive-backed Pipit as we kicked around the woodland edge at Sullom. A cute Red-breasted Flycatcher at the same location made up for it, and we went home happy - again.

Veery, Lunna, 3rd October

Siberian Stonechat, Hamnavoe, 3rd October

Another tick for one of the team on Shetland

2nd October was our 3rd full day on Shetland and we were keen to see if we could keep up our record of at least one good bird every day. We decided to head for the hamlet of Wester Quarff to look for an unidentified species of Subalpine Warbler found the previous day in the knowledge that it would be a new species for one of us: I had yet to see Moltoni's; Phil hadn't seen Eastern and James hadn't seen Western.  Being a female, identification would not be straightforward, but Eastern was favoured at the point we went for our first look. This turned out to be academic as the bird didn't show though a couple of Merlin sparring with a Kestrel made the excursion worthwhile. 

Olive-backed Pipit, Voxter, Shetland

Olive-backed Pipit, Voxter, 2nd October

Olive-backed Pipit, Voxter, 2nd October

We headed south where a smattering of rarities had been reported the day before, and where there were also plenty of good locations for us to look for our own birds. The rarest of them in a local context was a Cattle Egret, the first for Shetland no less, which was easily located in a cattle field near the Sumburgh Hotel. Sadly a Greenish Warbler, a bird I have seen but never photographed which was present in the gardens of Grutness the day before, had moved on.

Short-toed Lark, Sandness, 2nd October

Short-toed Lark, Sandness, 2nd October

Short-toed Lark, Sandness, 2nd October

Our next target was a Short-toed Lark on the nearby windswept headland of Sandness. We wandered miles checking every lark, pipit and finch on the short sward but to no avail. Others had joined us then just as we were about to give up someone located it at the top of a slope we had just descended. We marched back up and enjoyed good views of the paler, more diminutive cousin of the Skylark. 

Purple Sandpiper, Grutness, 2nd October

Merlin, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Merlin, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

After the yomp around Sandness a mooch around Hoswick produced not much so we headed back to Wester Quarff where the presumed Eastern Subalpine Warbler had been relocated. This time it showed almost immediately and well enough for some photos. Pictures of the spread tail taken by others appeared to support the tentative identification of Eastern - if so, a good day for Phil in particular.

Putative Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Putative Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Putative Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Dusk was approaching so we headed back north, ending the day with a classically Shetland experience - whispering directions to each other as we watched an Olive-backed Pipit at close range secreted in long grass in a tiny walled garden at Voxter.

Olive-backed Pipit, Voxter, 2nd October

Putative Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Putative Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Wester Quarff, 2nd October

Cattle Egret, Grutness, 2nd October - the rarest bird we saw, in local terms, on our week on Shetland

Tarmac twitching

Food has become an important part of our annual trip to Shetland as we pursue our goal of becoming the best-fed birders on the islands. Every little shop has a decent selection of pies and a microwave which generally sorts lunch. We treat ourselves to a meal or two out during our week long stay but otherwise it's home cooking all the way. Having arrived on Saturday and headed straight for the Veery, I got the ball rolling with a modest chilli, but having only procured what we needed for that one meal at the local Co-op in Brae, we needed to stock up for the rest of the week.

Citrine Wagtail, Sound, 1st October

Citrine Wagtail, Sound, 1st October

Sunday morning's forecast was pretty foul so it made sense to hit Tesco in Lerwick whilst waiting for the weather to clear. With provisions secured, we headed for a nearby car park from where a Citrine Wagtail was being reported. After initially feeding at a fair distance on a neighbouring football field, to our surprise it eventually flew up and landed on the fence just yards from where we were stood on the tarmac of the car park. Motordrives whirred and photographers purred. 

Citrine Wagtail, Sound, 1st October

Citrine Wagtail, Sound, 1st October

The weather had improved slightly so we checked out the shore of Clickminin Loch, where on the final day of our last trip in 2022 I had disappointingly poor flight views of my first White's Thrush in torrential rain. We couldn't relocate the reported Little Bunting but a flock of Mealy-looking Redpolls posed for pictures. After lunch and a bit more mooching around we headed back north towards our accomodation on Muckle Roe, stopping at the community woodland in Brae to check out the mystery bird we had flushed the night before but been unable to identify.

Redpoll, Loch of Clickimin, 1st October

Redpoll, Loch of Clickimin, 1st October

Re-tracing our steps from the night before, what had to be the same bird flushed from exactly the same location, giving the immediate impression in flight of a large locustella warbler with a long, rounded tail. Fortunately on this occasion, rather than flying into the nearby pine belt as it had the previous day, it headed in the other direction and landed on a grassy knoll, where to my amazement I realised that rather than diving into cover it was sitting on the top with its head just above the grass looking back at us. 

River Warbler, Brae, 1st October

River Warbler, Brae, 1st October

It was a good way away and knowing that photos would likely be needed to help confirm any identification, and that it could vanish at any minute, I concentrated on getting some record shots and left the identification to more competent members of the team. As I rattled off a few frames I could hear River Warbler already being suggested, tentatively at first then with more confidence until, having eliminated other possibilities and checked the photos, we were happy with the identification and put the news out.  The bird wasn't seen again that day but did show for some of the early birds later in the week.

River Warbler, Brae, 1st October

River Warbler, Brae, 1st October

It was late in the day by now and thoughts turned to food and drink - being the Sabbath there was only one option: a celebratory Sunday roast accompanied by a selection of local ales. A mega-find for the team and it was only day 2: if this was what peaking early looked like, bring it on!

Losing it

It's well known that middle age brings short-term memory loss, and proven by the fact that I blogged about the same bird (Glossy Ibis by bike) in my last post, having forgotten that I had already done so in the post before that. Sorry about that. And then forgot to post pictures of the rather lovely Red-footed Falcon which I mentioned in my previous post. Sorry again. Have some pics by way of an apology.

Norsebound

My family's holiday 'carbon footprint' has been pretty modest in 2023, not out of any highly principled stance, I should add, but due to a complete inability to agree on where to go. I lobbied for domestic breaks, the others held out for more distant lands, and the ensuing stalemate resulted in the odd week spent at home with lots of local birding by bike and the occasional family day out. A near annual birding trip to Shetland with friends, however, had been in the diary for late September/early October since the turn of the year, and finally provided and opportunity to get away from the peeling paint, unkempt lawns and domestic servitude of home.

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

A new team had been assembled for this year's adventure - team leader/driver/organiser-in-chief David Bradnum, fellow Dorset birder Dr Phil Saunders, and author/togger/cricketing all-rounder James Lowen. Vaughans Bob and Howard, companions to David and I on several of our previous Shetland sojourns, were sorely missed, but the new team gelled well having previously birded or travelled together in various guises.

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

The long road north was punctuated by the traditional east coast stopover which provided opportunities to admire a very close Red-footed Falcon and a not very close Red-breasted Goose in Northumberland. Pulses quickened en route when news came through of two American rarities - a Veery and a Tennessee Warbler - on Shetland. 

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

Veery, Lunna, 30th September

A fitful night's sleep on the ferry ensued, but within 40 minutes of disembarking we were arriving at Lunna, peering into the under-storey of a windswept belt of Sycamores to admire the cinammon upperparts and surprisingly bright underparts of the Veery. 

The first of several Yellow-browed Warblers for the week at Loch of Voe, 30th September

Red-breasted Merganser below Busta House, 30th September

With the twitching urge sated for the day and the trip starting on a high, we set about finding our own birds. This turned out to be successful only in hindsight as in fading light near the community woodland at Brae we flushed a bird from underfoot which was seen too poorly to be identifiable, but which at the same time was sufficiently interesting to merit a follow-up search the next day. It turned out to be the team find of the week - a River Warbler - more on which in my next post. The trip was off to a flyer - but had we peaked early?

Otter below Busta House, 30th September

Otter below Busta House, 30th September

Otter below Busta House, 30th September