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

Siberian stunners!

I readily admit to being spoilt with the quality of some of my migrant visitors over the last few days! At sunrise a few days ago I noticed a small bird foraging in a 'dunnock' type manner on the main deck. With the rapidly improving light I got my bins. on it and knew it was something quite special! I grabbed a couple of shots and then realised I was looking at a Black-throated accentor! It foraged for a short time then flew over the side of the ship and was gone! A short time later a gorgeous bluethroat landed on a packing crate, flicked its' wings and tail, then dropped over the side and was on it's way south- no photograph that time.

black-throated accentor

black-throated accentor

Yesterday I had a couple of yellow-browed warblers that were particularly showy and seemed to enjoy posing for the camera- if only it was this easy on my local patch! Interestingly one of these birds had a fairly noticeable median crown stripe- just shows that they all need careful checking- especially in strong sunlight and way up in a canopy!

yellow-browed warbler

yellow-browed warbler

There has been a good supporting cast of goldcrests too, with two birds providing some drama yesterday. During a sparrowhawk sortie the two birds panicked and flew into the wheelhouse- the officer on watch called me to assist. I managed to trap them individually in corners and gently took them back down to the deck to be released. I continued with my watch and 30 minutes later the two goldcrests flew towards me. One landed on my arm and the other on my coat pocket- amazingly they looked at me for 5 seconds or so, as if they were saying 'thanks'- they then flew off and continued feeding amongst the packing crates. They remained very approachable for the rest of the day and I could hear their contact calls for a number of hours as I walked the decks. 

goldcrest- showing off!

Later a real stunner showed up and again flew into the sanctuary of the bridge- a Pallas's warbler! I have seen a few of these on vessel's during autumnal migrations including a bird off Norway about 5 years ago. Until a couple of weeks ago I had not seen one in Britain, but did get a fleeting glimpse of a self-found bird at St. Abbs during my recent twitch there. Anyway, this bird was very flighty and impossible to catch, so to avoid stressing it out I left it in peace. 30 minutes later it was near exhausted and slowly overheating on a window ledge. It too was then gently taken to the aft deck to join the goldcrests.  Funnily enough after a brief period of recuperation in a shaded spot it flew to a blue tarpaulin and just seemed to glare at me as I took it's portrait! Such a lovely species and definitely one of my all time favourite birds! Just wish I could find them on a 'local patch' 

Pallas's warbler- simply gorgeous!

pallas's warbler- apparently not too impressed with my rescue attempt!