ID blooper- my white- throated-non-barred-eastern sub- Ruppell's warbler!

I hold my hand up and readily admit I made a howler of an ID blooper near the Butt of Lewis last Friday! I don't feel the need to make excuses- I have never considered myself to be anything other than an average birder with (obviously) limited experience of many tricky species. I still learn something new whenever I'm in the field. However, the way things transpired with subsequent suggestions of mega and rare bird species, coupled with a couple of negative/petty comments suggests that it may be beneficial to put the record straight.....

Having been out all morning looking for migrants at the Butt of Lewis in challenging conditions (Near gale- NNW Beaufort F7/intermittent, persistent rain and very poor light), I worked my way down to the dense cover of the garden at the rear of what used to be the Eoropie tea room. At about 30 metres from the garden I had a split second flight view of a 'sylvia sp.' that I initially thought could be a whitethroat. I saw the bird alight briefly and dive into dense foliage. Later, I managed a few dreadful photos of a pale grey, skulking bird in the swaying and buffeted vegetation. After 20 minutes or so, the bird again showed fleetingly and appeared sluggish and heavy. It was a pale bird against a dark background and in the wet and gloom I fell into the trap of thinking the bird was bigger than it obviously was. Soaking wet and cold and with rain on my 'foggy' glasses, bins and camera I trudged back to my accommodation to dry out. I downloaded some reasonable shots of ruff and black-tailed godwits taken during a 'dry' interlude and sent off a few shots of those to some birder friends and without really thinking I also attached my best 'whitethroat' shot. Later, after a shower and much coffee, I pondered the rest of the photos and realised with some consternation that the bird was not a whitethroat, but that it reminded me of a couple of barred warblers I had seen previously on Shetland during similar autumnal conditions. I sent out photos to some very capable and respected birding friends asking if this skulking bird could be a barred warbler. The photos were not great and they concluded the following morning that it was a 'probable' barred warbler although I must stress that it was my call. Later I met up with a local birder who asked if the 'barred warbler' sighting/photos could be put out to a 'local' email group to which I readily agreed. At the time I was not aware that the email distribution included RBA admin. and Birdline Scotland! I decided to go for a sea watch at the Butt for an hour, enjoyed a few sooty shearwaters, then once again returned to the tearoom garden. As I approached the garden the local birder pulled over and said 'Andy- I have been trying to phone you'! I have good news and bad news....... your bird is not a Barred warbler- it's a probable Ruppell's warbler- yikes! To be totally honest I had to look in a field guide to check exactly what a Ruppell's warbler looked like! I felt excited but also rather sheepish in consideration of the implications of my ID error and felt a strong desire to put my head down a rabbit hole! The rest is history. The weather improved, the bird was seen by two other observers and much better photos. were obtained. With further, better quality, photographic evidence available to the wider birding community, the bird was subsequently re-identified as a probable eastern subalpine warbler. Having now seen the other observers' superior images, I admit to being rather horrified at how different the bird looks from when I first saw it in the field when much of the plumage detail, leg colour and bill size were far from obvious. 

I received two, petty messages, from unknown 'birders' that were childishly rude and very critical of my error- these were immediately consigned to the bin! I also received a number of texts, phone calls  and emails from a number of very good birders from the Highlands, Hebrides, Shetland and Cornwall who have all been very supportive and have pointed out that many birders make mistakes when in the field and that most criticism comes from those armchair birders that rarely get out in the field in poor conditions. The digital age has become a welcome tool in sorting out tricky birds but gives little or no reference to field conditions and in some cases it has become far too easy to look at others'  photographs post sighting, from the comfort of warm, dry rooms with field guides to hand. I made a mistake yes, but it has been a useful learning curve and certainly won't stop me from getting out in the field and continue trying to improve my birding abilities. Hopefully the next time I find a rare bird I'll be able to ID it accurately. I would like to thank the birders who have been supportive - you all know who you are! Many thanks also to those gifted birders (sorry- don't know your details) that contributed to the debate with suggestions of Ruppell's and ultimately eastern subalpine warblers - hopefully a little more has been learned about the identification of these birds by the wider birding community and that can only be a positive. When all is said and done the bird is still a great record for the Outer Hebrides- now I have to sort out what the description criteria are?....

my 'Barred' eastern subalpine

black-tailed godwit

ruff

Shetland Nature- triple mega birding!

I have been fortunate to visit Shetland on a number of occasions although always in a work related roll and always with little or no birding time. Finally, I managed a weeks' dedicated autumn birding with 'Shetland nature'. Shetland is far bigger than many birders realise and can often be a daunting place in terms of transport, accommodation, remote habitat and extreme weather. To optimise my birding experience I decided to have a stress-free birding break with Brydon Thomason's 'Shetland nature' and very capable guide Chris Rodger. All my transportation and accommodation was taken care of, Chris had intimate local knowledge of when and where to find the best birds, so I could just get on and enjoy the birding with no worries! Although preceded by two weeks of easterlies the wind had veered to gale force plus from the SW the day before my arrival. Despite the initial challenging conditions I was able to connect with 3 megas! First up was the splendid Swainson's thrush at Norwick, followed a couple of days later by the double delights of White's thrush and yellow-rumped warbler!! 

A supporting cast of rare and scarce birds including Rustic bunting, eastern subalpine warbler, wryneck, barred warblers, yellow-browed warblers, bluethroat, Arctic redpoll, red-breasted flycatcher, common rosefinch and Temminck's stint made the week one to remember for a very long time. Although not the scarcest bird by any means, it was fantastic to finally see a wryneck in Britain- my previous 12 dips over the last two decades have finally seen off my bogey bird! Happy days indeed and I can't wait to get back to these wonderful islands. 

Swainson's thrush

White's thrush

yellow-rumped warbler

barred warbler

wryneck- at last!!

Arctic redpoll

bluethroat

Brown shrike surprise!

Since my return from offshore Ireland I seem to have done an awful lot of local patch birding with very little reward. A merlin and a white-tailed eagle being the only birds of note. No migrants other than mipits, pied wags. a few dunlin and sanderling and the occasional wheatear. On the plus side I have put together 20+ BTO bird track 'complete lists' and also submitted a fair few 'casual records' so it does not feel that my time in the field has been completely wasted. My much anticipated 'west coast' pelagic was a big disappointment with a real shortage of birds and aside from a dozen or so storm petrels, a single sooty shearwater and a single arctic skua were the only birds of note. Eventually my frustration level peaked and I had to twitch a bird! 

First off was a 150 mile drive down to Arisaig to try and catch up with the American golden plover that had been found a few days before my visit. Arriving on site, I was a little surprised to find that there were no other birders present and more worryingly there was no golden plover flock in the field next to Traigh golf course. After 15 minutes or so, I heard a single golden plover calling as it flew in to the field- a little bit of encouragement at least! Two hours later, after working the whole area, I was just getting ready to admit another dip when I noticed a dark bird quite far away from the road and rather far up the incline- this was the AGP feeding in the grass with another golden plover, half a dozen greylags and a few wood pigeons. I got the scope on the bird and enjoyed it for sometime before dashing off to get the ferry over to the Isle of Skye- the previous day a number of Sabine's gulls had been seen in Broadford bay and this was another species I really wanted to see. Unfortunately I did not connect with any but did get good views of a very confiding knot.

American golden plover

American G.P. with European cousin

knot- Broadford bay, Isle of Skye

Having studied the weather forecasts intently over the last week or so I decided to have a weekends birding in Aberdeenshire with fellow birder Marcus (ebirder) Conway. Everything looked pretty good  for finding our own 'sibes'. We left Inverness at 05:30 and headed over to the Forvie NNR/Collieston area- a favourite birding area of ours. I picked up a couple of tawny owls en-route- sat on fence posts at the road side and with increasing daylight a few buzzards, pheasants and wood pigeons provided some entertainment during the drive. Arriving onsite we heard but could not see a barred warbler in deep cover- encouraging though! We also watched a chiffchaff briefly and felt confident as a few migrants were obviously about. 10 minutes later Marcus was quickly onto a yellow-browed warbler in the tall conifer next to the church. Shortly afterwards we had good views of a lesser whitethroat- another tidy bird. We met a couple of 'local birders' and after a brief chat about what was about we went our separate  ways -we headed for the coastal bushes via Forvie and they headed off to work the 'gulley'. Forvie was dead but we had bonus birds of pom. and arctic skua and sandwich tern from the headland. Back in Collieston we saw another yellow-browed warbler in the willows by the old hotel then heard a 3rd calling from a thick hedge. Shortly afterwards we met the 'locals' again as they were 'looking' for a Brown shrike that they had found earlier in the 'gulley'. The bird was apparently very skulky and flighty and was proving very difficult to get onto. We joined forces and after another 90 minutes or so during which time we had brief flight views, the bird was eventually pinned down to a hedge at the back of some cottages. We had good views through the scope and also on Marcus's 'live view' camera. We watched this newly arrived mega catching insects and even disgorge a pellet. By now the news was out and frantic birders were turning up to twitch the bird. The whole scene quickly started to feel a tad  manic and as we had had good views of the now 'very elusive' shrike we headed off in search of some more of our 'own birds'. We didn't find anything to match the mega but the following day we found another couple of yellow-browed warblers- at Cruden bay and Whinneyfold gulley. A brambling was a nice bonus bird. All in all we had a great weekends birding looking for migrants and ending up with a bonus mega as well! 

Birding downs and ups

Last Saturday I travelled east to the Moray firth in an attempt to find a barred warbler that had been located the day before at Chanonry point.  After an hour of searching the scrub and marram grass behind the lighthouse I just had that feeling that it was not going to be- and sure enough it wasn't. A very tame female bullfinch hopped out of the gorse and started feeding almost under my feet- she appeared to be a very tired migrant 'just in' and a sparrow hawk and kestrel were also distractions, but I still had that 'dipped out' taste in my mouth. A couple of gannets, guillemots and red-throated divers completed the tally for the couple of hours spent at the point. 

An hour later I enjoyed good numbers of wigeon, teal, curlew and knot from the new hide at Udale bay on the Black isle. A little grebe and a few bar-tailed godwits were welcome additions to the day list but the best birds were a flock of c180 scaup out in the bay to the NE of Jemimaville.

Monday and I was back on the road heading to Brora. A local birder had made an excellent find the previous afternoon in the form of a white-rumped sandpiper. I spent nearly 4 hours scouring the coast enjoying great views of sanderling, purple sandpipers, redshank, and red-throated divers and distant views of a number of long-tailed duck, common scoter and a slavonian grebe were also welcome. Having checked all the shoreline and with the 'dipped out' taste starting to return, I went to check one last bay, one last time. I arrived on a small elevated section of dunes just in time to see a mixed flock of redshank and oystercatchers take flight. Through my bins I noticed a single small wader flying with the flock and although it was in silhouette I felt my pulse race! The birds re-settled on a stretch of rocky shoreline and I couldn't see the small wader although I knew it was there. I quickly got my scope onto the general area and was suddenly thrilled to see a very small bird walking away from me and felt sure I had glimpsed a white rump between the loosely folded wings before it was hidden from view. I needed better views to be sure though, and was rather horrified when the mixed flock flew a few hundred metres offshore and settled briefly on some rocks before returning back to the shoreline. I finally got onto the bird properly and enjoyed nice, albeit distant views of another lifer!  

The Butt- revisited

manx shearwater

Just enjoyed a few days birding back at the Butt of Lewis with fellow Ullapool birder Richard Rafe in the hope of turning up some migrant species. The ferry voyage over the Minch was quiet with just a few great skuas and a couple of manx shearwaters of note. The Machair at Eoropie held up to 700 golden plover during our 4 day stay, with mixed flocks of lapwings, interspersed with starlings and twite. Birding was rather hard work with cold blustery conditions and a scarcity of birds on the ground, although Port Nis resident birder Tony Marr put us onto a very nice 1st winter red-backed shrike on our first morning so things started well! A number of common redpoll were also good to see.

red-backed shrike

red-backed shrike

Eoropie beach looking North (ish)

The next few days we scoured the area around the Butt of Lewis, Eoropie, Loch Stiapabhat and Port of Ness. Highlight birds included snow bunting, gadwall, whooper swan, lesser whitethroat and hen harrier. On our final day a turtle dove in Port of Nis was a good find. An hour later, on our arrival in Stornoway ferry terminal, Tony rang me to say that he had just seen a barred warbler- one of the target birds of my trip as I have never seen that species in the UK- nothing like dipping out to remind me of the joys of birding! ;)

golden plover flock

golden plover over the machair

who needs house sparrows when you have twite on the roof!

harbour porpoise in the Minch

great black-backed gull- Annat bay, near Ullapool