Cornwall 2012 Days 5 & 6

Day 5 was cancelled due to apathy. We managed to raise ourselves from our sofa-based stupor for an hour or so, in order to visit the Hayle estuary. Well, it's all fine and dandy scouring sycamores for small flitting things but at least on an estuary you're guaranteed to see some birds. And so we did - the best of a scattering of waders were 2 Curlew Sands & the lingering juv Little Stint. There were also 3 each of Med Gull and Sandwich Tern. Having a lie in on Thursday was well advised. Even at 10am it was, quel surprise, still raining. Joy. The mizzle was slow to clear, despite the wind increasing from frisky to blustery. We went to the Lizard with the hope of finally filling in by far the tartiest gap in my list, the mythical Ortolan. Reported in the morning, the scene of fields full of wandering birders told the story. I couldn't be arsed to hang around, so we went shrike hunting. I do like the Lizard peninsula, it has the feel of undiscovered country, a poor relation to it's Land's End brethren. Housel Bay is a perfect example of the great habitat that's there. A small valley, a stream running down to the bay, nice cover for migrants, and at the valley head, small fields with stone walls and scrubby areas. With the wind blowing in rain, a couple of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests were the best we could dig out from the stream area. Luckily, the juvenile Red-backed Shrike was showing well, looking distinctly chilly as it sheltered from the wind behind a hedge. Such a smart looker though, with that rakish eye mask. Back at the car park, Merlin, Chough and Peregrine flew over in quick succession. On leaving our original plan was to head for Nanquidno (my fave of the local valleys), where a RBF had been found. But news wasn't good - it had only been seen once before zipping into trees the other side of Nanjulian Farm. So with the north-westerly quickening, we went to Pendeen to indulge Lucy's unfathomable liking for seawatching (must be the sitting down. Fair enough). Bumped into Lee - again. But at least he wasn't slow in calling out birds as they passed. Disappointingly we didn't see any skuas, but there were good numbers of Balearics, plus a handful of Sootys, in addition to an impressive Gannet passage. Another good day then, despite - or more accurately, due to - the weather. But on our last day it would be good to go out and try to find out own birds, rather than pursue the somewhat unsatisfactory practice of chasing other people's. We've neglected the aforementioned Nanquidno this week, so weather permitting we might go there.

Team Wilson - Cornwall Days 2-5

After my planes, trains and automobile journey from Shetland to Cornwall (2 planes, 3 trains, a Hotel in Bristol and cars at either end, for those taking notes) it was nice to arrive in deepest Cornwall for a weeks relaxation with Mrs W. I arrived at lunchtime on Sunday 7th October and we headed to Cape Cornwall for a stroll along the coast path.

Of course, the moment we arrived in Kenidjack Valley we stumbled upon the first birders (2 hours from arriving in Cornwall for a non-birding holiday - not bad). Of course, hard-core birder that I am, I had left my bins at the cottage and had commandeered Mrs W's 8x32...mounted on a shoulder strap. It felt like I was wearing a bra. Anyway, a nice walk in the valley produced a Pied Flycatcher (showing well) and a Yellow-browed Warbler (calling well) inducing a bad case of Shetland deja-vu.

A very vocal Chough overhead was a pleasant surprise but I couldn't rustle up a Wryneck from the great habitat at Cape Cornwall (those that keep track of such things will recall that one was found there the next day...). And yes, we got quite damp in the afternoon's rain.

On Monday we headed into St Ives for some hard-core touristing, and news of the White's Thrush in Cot valley hit my pager just as we got back to the car - perfect timing. Of course, there was no further sign but we had a nice walk around the valley and along the coastal path. The highlight was 4 or 5 Chiffchaff playing hide and seek in the bracken before rain and fog completely stopped play

Tuesday saw us make a late start, hoping the fog would lift enough to see the sea. We ended up walking to Kendijack from our cottage in Carnyorth. There was a good movement of Pipits along the coast, mainly Meadow although careful scrutiny pulled at least 1 Tree Pipit from the masses (there was an Olive-Backed a mile or so up the coast at Pendeen - so I had to make the effort...).

There was not a lot else in the valley, although a ring tail Harrier that drifted along the North ridge got me thinking - it had bold face and neck markings, with almost a full collar and very orangey underparts but 5 fingers and fairly broad wings dismissed Palid. My gut reaction was Monty's but I didn't get enough to be 100% sure - it was on view for less than 5 seconds. With the decline of Hen Harrier in the past few years, Monty is probably more likely!
UPDATE: Si has pointed out that Monty's has 4 fingers so this was a Hen Harrier - I really should check these things before posting...

Shortly afterwards, just North of Kendijack farm, a Redstart put on a brief appearance in some scrub, before vanishing...more hints of Shetland!

With more mizzle (mist and drizzle) today, we decided to indulge our gardening habit and exercise our national trust membership cards with a visit to Trengwainton Gardens, just NW of Penzance. I was immediately drawn to a calling Goldcrest when I got out of the car and then noticed a few crests in the tree - the second bird I put my bins on was a stunning Firecrest! Within 2 minutes of being in the garden, we came across a calling Firecrest, quickly followed by 2 more around the next corner...we definitely saw at least 6 Firecrest in the 2 hours we spent in the garden, probably nearer 10! I noticed that birds were reported along the coast today, so can only assume a mini-fall of crests occurred overnight.

Finally, our travel posts wouldn't now be complete without a culinary update...so behold my latest creation - Chilli Pasties. Left over chilli (expertly made by Mrs W), thrown into some puff pastry. When in Cornwall...

BTW, if anyone is confused, I am using Mr H's day count - so I arrived on day 2.

Cornwall 2012 Day 4

The noble intention of finding your own birds is all very well, but sometimes you've just got to get down to some dirty whore twitching. So that's what we did today. Early portents weren't good though, and although we decided to go to the Lizard on spec, we both had the hump, because the weather was damp, and drizzly. Again. However, Church Cove seemed to be the recipient of the sole sunny window of the morning, t-shirts being the order of the day. Anyhoo, luckily the Paddyfield Warbler was showing exceptionally well in the pathside bracken. A distinctive little Acro, I don't think even I could mistake it for a Reed Warbler, with it's eyestripe and beaky profile. We also saw a rather chipper Lee Evans, who spent about about 10mins on the warbler before zipping off to Pendeen. A vocal YBW in the churchyard was rather elusive, and I initially thought I could claim a find, but I subsequently discovered it had been present the previous day. Somewhat incredulously, I was half-tempted to stay at Church Cove than go pipit chasing. The presence of a sun hole in the middle of endless mizzle was just too tempting to ignore. So warm.... So after a tortuously slow drive we did arrive at Pendeen, to be greeted by the view of birders wandering aimlessly around some damp fields. We gave it a go anyway. The reward was another tart's tick - hurrah! Two prolonged flight views of the bird, as it called continuously, was all we were permitted. Then we left. It was never going to be seen on the deck, and two dozen birders shuffling around trying to pin it down was enough to persuade us to leave. And I also had to show Lee how to work his phone. 2 Whinchats and a Manx Shearwater were the only other birds of note. We finished up at Porthgwarra with a spot of seawatching. Literally. Very little was moving - 2 Arctic Skuas were the best we could do. Better was a Firecrest in the car park. Every time I see one of these beauts I struggle to think of a better looking British bird. I even managed to take some proper bird photos, not of the Firecrest alas, but of a Robin. Not hard though, when the bird is a mere 4ft away. I'll upload the pics when I get home.

Cornwall 2012 Day 3

So, first of all, day two was literally a washout. A morning walk along the beach turned up a Red-throated Diver offshore, and evidence of migration with 100+ Mipit and 3 Wheatear. Then we faffed around shopping. Then it rained. And rained. And the wind blew. Day 3, and an early start at Porthgwarra. Yesterday's weather had left a significant fingerprint. Fog, thick fog, which sat heavily in the deep valley at Porthgwarra. Setting off from the car, hopes were low, subterranean. But virtually the first bird we saw, as we walked the path to the coastguards, was a Wryneck - superb! It fed in the grass at the pathside, perched on a couple of bushes before flying and being lost to view. Apparently it was seen and photographed later by another birder. Despite optimistic periods when the sun almost burst the veil, the fog remained for yhe next couple of hours. Very little showed. A Lapland Bunting was typically flighty and vocal, associating with Mipits. Some Linnets flew over. And whilst I was trying to pin down the Lap on the deck, Lucy had a probable Merlin. News of a White's Thrush in the Cot Valley sent us scurrying away. Tart that I am I still need White's, so we had to go. But the reality quashed expectations - acres of trees, thick fog, limited access, blah blah. This was going nowhere. We left. Apparently the bird was seen once only, by it's finder. Then we went to Nanquidno. More fog and rain. No sign of any YBW's, although boredom hugely influenced the effort involved in searching. We emerged from the phone network blackspot to learn of the Paddyfield at the Lizard. Overnight conditions are not conducive to it leaving, although it may contract hypothermia. These SE winds are obviously delivering birds, so maybe there's more to come. Just discovered I can't upload photos to the blog via my iPhone. Probably s good thing!

Cornwall 2012 day 1

And so the action moves from the intrepid team of proper birders, thrashing vainly around the windswept fields of Shetland, to myself and Mrs H, scouring the Cornish valleys for....er....probably not much. Cornwall seems to miss out on the mega action, certainly in the weeks we've come down anyway. However, with a few quality Yanks turning up in Ireland, and one now on Scilly, hopes have been raised. And with Mr W completing a heroic cross-Britain trek to spend this week just down the road, there's the reassurance of having someone nearby who actually knows what all those Dendroica's look like. A quick check on Magic Seaweed this morning though predicted a week of mostly S-SE winds, which may prove interesting, as today's influx of Glossy Ibis and Red-rumped Swallows proved. Needless to say, we arrived too late to see any goodies today. But 15mins on Marazion beach turned up an ad winter Med Gull and 5 R Plover. Until tomorrow then....

Difficult to get Wood - Shetland Day 7

We thought we better make an effort for our last day on Shetland and got up (almost) early. Things looked good with a Wheatear from the house before we even left - must be new in - so headed out onto the patch with keen enthusiasm. Pete was nowhere to be seen .....

Si finally managed to flush a Jack Snipe from the fields and I took burn duty to kick around our new-to-science species 'Burn Pipit'. They are dark, barely fly and hard to flush from the bottom of the burn. Some people are claiming they are a sub-species of Meadow Pipit due to the exact same call and plumage details. Some even suggest that the dark plumage and poor flight is because they are wet but we are fairly confident that there is more to them than simply being a damp Mipit.

Steve and Si converge on another empty patch of undergrowth

After another leg burning tramp around the burn, surrounding undergrowth and check of the pink house garden only turning up the same 'easternish' Lesser Whitethroat from yesterday, we headed back for breakfast (the eggs were rubbish looking today as we reach the end of our supplies and thus no pictures were taken to spare Si's blushes!) and plan our attack for the rest of the day.

Steve fancied giving the Siberian Stonechat another look, so we headed back to Hoswick and quickly located the Stonechat showing very well around the crop field. Whilst watching this we heard the now familiar call of Greenland Redpoll and located 2 with Twite on the fence, a Reed Bunting made it onto the trip list as well, like most of the birds this week , it showed briefly , didn't call and then was lost to view, somewhere over Edinburgh.

After a while the Stonechat vanished (about the same time as I deployed the camera) and whilst standing around chatting alongside the burn, Steve noticed a stick and tub of mealworms...and the Stonechat lurking in the willows alongside. I quickly slid into the burn and enjoyed some exceptional views of the Stonechat in excellent light and even managed a few images!

Post, mealworms and Sibe Stonechat (its in the willows, honest!)

Deciding that we were on a roll, we headed back into Sandwick to try to relocate the Red-backed Shrike...and saw a Song Thrush. I have tried various ways to make this part of the day more exciting but it really wasn't. There were Starlings, House Sparrows, Skylark and a Song Thrush.

Si has decided to give up birding and thrown his bins in the sea

News of a Wood Warbler at the Orca Inn had us trundling back to Hoswick and after some comedy crap driving, navigating and parking we finally found the inn. And a Garden Warbler. A long while later the Wood Warbler showed, and it was a very nice, fresh plumaged bird. By this point I am starting to feel rough - aching back, arms and legs - so drive us back for lunch, a journey brightened by a Merlin flying alongside the road at 55 mph!

At this point I retire back to bed and will let Si or Steve pick up the afternoon story...

And here we are , fresh in from the Raba Curry night with 20 or so other Shetland wannabee heroes (Not bitter at all about losing my fiver for a really up close Reed Warbler ..... )

After Mark decided to wuss out , I mean , taken poorly , Steve and I finished off our respective left over mince related dinners for Lunch (I had the Spag Bol , Steve the Chilli !) and headed off out into the field, we figured that Wester Quarff hadn't been done, so headed over to the large garden, the lowlights from here was a recently deceased Hooded Crow, lying prone by the gate ...... no obvious features of foul play, probably died of boredom, possible RBF still, a Robin and 2 Brambling's, 35 minutes later and we could sympathise with him. We assume that a YBW will be claimed from here today, we successfully missed seeing YBW at most sites this trip!

Next stop was Channerwick, the first time that Steve and I had visited, what a great looking site, we inadvertently flushed the Barred Warbler and saw it disappear into a tree never to reappear..... 3 Goldcrest's and a Blackcap the only other things of note.

In a whirlwind tour of Toab, Hestingott, Virkie and Boddom, the only decent bird we saw was a Black Tailed Godwit at the latter which scraped onto the trip list.

Back to the digs and then out with the various crews for a Curry (I don't know what Mark ate, I am sure he will update tomorrow.)

Our plan is to go and see where our Fiver went tomorrow morning!

This is just a photo that I nicked off the web (http://www.istockphoto.com/) mine didn't look anything like that.

Badger Sheep - Shetland Day 6

Another keen and eager start meant we were out of the house before lunch. Just. The upside to this was adding Lesser Whitethroat to our house list and a rather fine breakfast prepared by Si.

Breakfast...well lunch

Lets call it Brunch

Rainbow over the patch

Working the patch

Our first stop was back to Wester Quarff for another look at the hyperactive Red-breasted Flycatcher. Despite the very cold and strong NW wind, we located it inside the garden plantation and it even sat still for a few seconds. Steve found 3 Brambling there too. Then Si hit it big time with the best find of the day - the mighty Badger Sheep!

Is it a Sheep? Is it a Badger? No, it's Badger Sheep!

We then spied a good looking plantation on the shoreline to the west and after a quick look at the map headed off to Trondra, via Scalloway. We gave the harbour a good scan for yesterday's Little Auk but no sign. I did find a pair of Shag-Divers which Steve kindly pointed out were Red-throats.

Looking for those pesky Shag-Divers

It's a Red-throated Diver, honest!

Onward from Scalloway to the plantation on Trondra and it looked even better close up. Si went and asked for permission to enter from the farmhouse, while Steve and I moved into optimum postions. Whilst waiting to jump the fence I had tantalising views of birds nipping between small trees. The excitement was building and finally the radio crackled and Si had secured access. Within 2 minutes of walking in I had over 10 Mipits, a flighty Redstart (first of the trip) and a quick glimpse of a pale warbler. Checking the pipits more carefully produced a single Tree Pipit before it flew off with the rest of the Meadows.

Plantation of dreams

Not what we were expecting at the end of the rainbow

A few more glimpses of a warbler species and more glimpses of the Redstart was the only reward for 2 hours of diligent searching. Luckily we had packed lots of cake to lift our spirits.

We then spent the next couple of hours searching likely habitat on West and East Burra islands before heading back towards Lerwick and the dream like site of Frakkafield. We didn't see anything at any of these places, so I'll move on quickly.

Si's little pony(s)

Finally we had a look at Aithsetter, as it was near our digs, and managed to scrape a single Wheatear out of the bag.

Whilst not our best day birding we did end on a high with an excellent sausage, egg, chips and beans prepared by Si.

Dinner, showing well at 19:30

Fruit Flash!

A Lesser Whitethroat has just fed in Fruit tree 1 and Fruit tree 2 for a whole 20 seconds!

Added to a Goldcrest earlier in the week and its Warbler-tastic at Ocraquoy

Pete the Pied Fly is also alive and well and a Swallow batted thru - Migration is in full swing!

Spag Flash!

Once again , the master of cuisine, the emperor of the pan, the magician of the mince ....? Anyway , Mark, who is a bloody great chef has created .........

SPAG BOL !

It tasted divine !

I should add that Mark also went out for 2 tins of tomatoes before cooking on a 20 mile round trip to Lerwick .... Wilson you are ledge !

Day 5 - Eastern promise

We were up and at 'em by almost 7am this morning.  Our plan was to bird the magic burn and pink house scrub.  The weather was perfect - virtually still, slightly overcast and full of eastern promise!  We managed to get there earlyish, but so had three other crews apparently!  At one point there were eight birders wandering along 'our' burn, all seeing the same three bedraggled Meadow Pipits.

Mark and I did manage to extract a Lesser Whitethroat from some nettles, and the Yellow-browed Warbler was still in the pink house garden, along with a 'new in' Blackcap.  Blackcaps seemed to feature large in today's proceedings so we're guessing most arrived on those fabled easterlies we had overnight (by the way, were there actually any easterlies overnight?  The weather forecast seemed to suggest Shetland was in the middle of a low with the wind just blowing around in a circle)

With so much coverage and obviously so many more birds to find our patch didn't seem worthy enough.  We also wanted to see the Spotty Sand up at Voe so we pushed north full of optimism.



Voe was looking stunning in the still morning air.  We optimistically scanned the shoreline expecting to see the Yanky Sandpiper strutting along the edge.  We kept scanning.  And scanning.  There was no bloomin' Sandpiper.  Again.  There was however a cracking Otter feeding along the tide edge right under where we parked the car (NOT a Seal, as Si originally suggested).

Otter playing hide and seek

And, for Si's benefit, this is a Seal

We decided to split up to try and re-find the secretive Sandpiper.  Si and Mark wandered along the shoreline towards the old chapel, while I headed towards the harbour.  I don't actually think Si and Mark saw anything.  I, on the other hand, saw two more Blackcaps.  Must be new in.  Twenty minutes later and we were back on the road again.

What I haven't told you, dear reader, is that we were heading for the secret birding mecca called Bressay.  Obviously grossly underwatched and hoochin' with rarities on the first sniff of an east wind.  Today was obviously the day to look.  Not before we checked out the scrub at the Loch of Voe though.  Yesterday it was slow, but today was obviously going to be far better with that east wind, wasn't it.  We shuffled along the path, grilling everything.  Goldcrest, Robin, Blackbird, and Willowchiff.  Exactly the same scrott as yesterday.  Must just be too far inland on an easterly to catch stuff, mustn't it.

Loch Voe looking cool

Si , pointing out the rares to Mark, or rather waving wildly in despair at yet another wasted 5 minutes of his life

On to the Bressay ferry, via a slight detour round Lerwick to find the right one.  The seven minute crossing seemed to fly by, as if it took five.  But we were now on the island of dreams.  We headed to the top of the first road to work our way back.  As we were driving a nasty niff hit our noses.  We played with the air conditioning and it appeared we had averted the offending smell.  We drove further along the road to a good looking piece of scrub.  Parked up and opened the doors - HOLY COW!  The stench was horrific.  It was coming from the waste processing plant at Heogan.  Needless to say we got back in the car quickly and made our way south to get out of the putrid stink.

Pioneering birding - Si and Steve standing in shite

Our first proper stop was the legendary Gardie House.  Loads of scrub and shelter for the newly arrived birds.  We all edged around the willows and pished to extract the gold.  The first bit of gold we saw had a crest.  Yes, thats right a Goldcrest.  Two more grey warblers then popped up in the willows - more Blackcaps.  That was more or less it until we bumped in the two birders who were staying on the island.  It was then when two redpolls zoomed in from the south, landed in the dense willows, before heading off north again without giving us any id clues.  The two 'locals' gave us some good gen on where to go on the island so we pushed on.

We couldn't resist a quick pish in a good-looking garden (from the car of course), and instantly a Chiffchaff popped up.  The best thing I can say about this Chiffchaff is that it has a good sense of humour, as the place we found it was called 'Crouton'.  Ok, it probably isn't that amusing.

Gunnista was next on the hit list.  Unfortunately the "light" rain had started to come down.  I forged on and wandered around the farmsted, while Si and Mark birded from the car.  I was rewarded with around 20 Meadow Pipits and some Blackbirds, while Si looked through the Cormorants for a Diver.

By the time I got back to the car I was soaked, and quite miserable.  These amazing easterlies hadn't really materialised.

We decided to do some dirty twitching.  Barred Warbler was next on the menu.  We headed towards Gorie.  This was fine until we hit the 'road' down to the plantation.  This wasn't a road, this was barely a track.

Si said and I quote "shhhheeeett", "Fuuuuuuccccckkkk" "Ohhhhhh" quite a few times

Si had a lot of fun slipping, sliding, and grinding along where the two tyre tracks went.  I think he was quite glad when we finally found the plantation.

The rain was still dribbling down and optimism was getting higher.  The first birds we saw were, predictably, two Blackcaps.  Close, but no barred cigar.  A quick flick later and a hulking grey warbler climbed to the top of a fence post - Barred Warbler stomps on to the day-list!  Over the next hour we got stonking views of this giant as it clambered around the plantation and sat on top of the dry-stone walls and fence posts surrounding the plantation.  It was possibly the most showy Barred Warbler any of us had ever seen.

There's a Barred in them there hills (pines/walls)

That was, until Mark went back to the car to grab his camera.  This action instantly had the effect of reverting this amazingly showy Barred Warbler in to the typically skulking, shy, reclusive Barred Warbler we know and love.

Mark, Scaring birds away since 1992 .....

Barred Warbler 'in habitat' or simply too far away

And the rain was getting heavier.  We decided to bugger off and give Si another heart-attack drive along the 'track'.

Si, Actually crapping himself....

Once back on tarmac we thought we should at least give the legendary East Ham a go.  It's had so many good birds over the years, and obviously the easterlies will have dropped load more in.  We found a good parking place and stomped around the gardens and plantation.  Meadow Pipits were abundant.  As we reached the plantation a small warbler zipped over from one edge to another.  We all got excited.  It looked rare.  It flipped again and looked even rarer.  We edged closer towards the pines it landed in.  It popped up again and buried itself.  We got enough on it this time.  It wasn't exactly rare, it was a Yellow-browed Warbler.  It was a surprise 'find' for us, but we later found out that it was originally seen on Sunday.  At least it bolstered our flagging rare bird finding libidos.

We finally find something ... a bloody Yellow Browed, but we are off the blocks.

Slightly spurred on, we checked a few more gardens, saw nothing, and decided to head back to the main land.  The Spotty Sand was beckoning again. 3 Black Guillemots showed well in the Harbour as we waited for the ferry.

There wasn't any bloody gold there , maybe tomorrow

We sped north once more, brimming with optimism.  It was now low tide this time and our fifth attempt at seeing this nearctic wader.  We arrived at the bay, and it was lashing down with rain, and blowing a gale.  Predictably there was no sign of the Spotted Sandpiper.  We'd now had enough and were cold, wet, and very hungry.  Si drove south for the nirvana of home.

Unfortunately Si got a text from Dave Bradnum, who had just found a Red Breasted Flycatcher just off our route home.  We had to go and have a look.  It was now really windy and getting dark.  We found the right spot and a horde of birders looking intently on the fairly calm back garden.  A flick and a white speck whizzed through the garden "there it goes!" shouts someone.  "and back again' someone else shouts.  This poor little bird was getting blown all over the shop.  Eventually we get split-second views of the 'fly perched, then zipping back in to the dense bushes again.  It really was time to go home this time.

Back at our digs, now toasty warm, showered, and waiting for another Wilson supreme dinner.  I'm sure a dinner update will be forthcoming later...........

Pork Flash !

Yorkshire Pudding and Roast showing well ......

Mark, looking ever so slightly smug at producing an amazing Yorkshire

 

The roast was AMAZING.

And the birds vanished ...... Shetland - Day 4

So, day 4 ...... with the previous 3 days providing AGP, 2 Yellow Browed Warblers, Blyths Reed Warbler, Little Bunting, Hornemanns Arctic Redpoll, Barred Warbler, Surf Scoter and Buff Bellied Pipit, our expectations for today were high, we were not going to chase other peoples birds (false) and we were going to find our own stuff ( also false as it turned out)

Anyway, the day started early, we didn't. Steve went down the patch and saw nothing, we did flush a Song Thrush in the car though, which was a patch tick, the Pied Flycatcher also remains for at least its 4th day.

After a leisurely cooked breakfast of scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms and baked beans (can you tell that I am padding this out ?) we drove through the patch, only to stop and talk to some other birders staying in the valley (Craig as it turned out) who told us there was a YELLOW BROWED WARBLER in the garden of the pink house, we twitched it, we pished it, we saw it, we then ambled off to Veensgarth, hoping to find some new waders in the fields that held the AGP and Ruff on Saturday, we quickly refound the AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER with a small flock of 24 Golden Plover, which was nice!

This is a picture of the bird on Steves Camera until Steve uploads his photos - but what a bird.

A speculative look (this was the first of about 20 speculative looks that we did today and was by far the best) at the Veensgarth pumping station discovered 5 GREENLAND REDPOLLS, 3 Redwings and a Song Thrush.

A few places that we stopped at between here and Lower Voe (we were not twitching the Spotted Sandpiper because then we would have dipped it) and the highlight was 2 Swallows.

Loch Voe plantation held a Willow Warbler, a Robin and a Goldcrest .... whoopee doo, Steve had a Peregrine over the loch.

There is a Robin in here ..... Only Steve saw it !

Lower voe did not have a Spotted Sandpiper, but did have some Guillemots again

Mark is actually posing here, his lens caps are still on and his eyes are closed.

Lovely Harbour . . . Crap for us seeing Spotted Sandpiper.

A Black Guillemot was on a random sea Loch heading towards Kergord.

The Plantation by Kergord house held, 1 Song Thrush, 5 Brambling, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Pied Flycatcher and 1 YELLOW BROWED WARBLER.

Trees! on Shetland..... there aren't any apparently Ben!

We then thought ..... hmmm shall we look at more random Gardens for Goldcrests or head to a garden with a real bird in, this time we successfully found the right Collafirth, and within minutes had the most briefest flight view of it ever, a nano second, it then didn't show again until we left, 2 Goldfinches were trip ticks and as it turns out the rarest bird of the day that we found.

The journey back was wholly uneventful, 3 Snipe and some Twite in Olaberry

Lovely view, crap for birds.

and the Drake SURF SCOTER again at Olnafirth were the highlights - These photos are not ;-)

The Scoter probably isn't in this photo

It might be in this one , but not too sure

A couple of Asses watching the Scoter

 Mark is now preparing a wonderful Pork roast as I finish writing this , we can only hope that tomorrow brings better luck!


Simon, Steve and Mark.  

Lets twitch again - Shetland Day 3

With a day of hard-core, dirty twitching planned we were up and out at the crack of 8 AM. First big decision was whether to pop back to the beaches at Rerwick and check if the Buff-bellied Pipit had stayed or head straight North for Spotted Sand and Surf Scoter. Steve was driving and decided that we should make the effort for the Pipit.

Steve searching the beach

After checking the southern beach, only to find a few Rock Pipits, Si and Steve decided to stop and take the short, but steep, route to the northern beach. Being a lazy git, I decided to stay with the car and 'check the roadside'...10 minutes later and after some mild communication issues, I was running down the steep hill with Steve's scope and digiscoping gear - Steve had relocated the Buff-bellied Pipit on the beach. The Pipit was suitably grilled and digiscoped and we were off again feeling very smug.

Buffy

After a lung bursting climb back up to the car and about a mile down the road, we stopped to check a large flock of House Sparrows and Twite. A few moments of pishing from the car produced a Siskin from the roadside ditch by the car. Steve also got the opportunity to engage in his fetish for ringed birds, with a couple of neck-ringed Greylag Geese here. Despite mine and Si's best flushing techniques, we couldn't muster up anything better than Mipits and Skylarks in the surrounding fields.

Collard Geese

A drive-by Merlin provided some entertainment on the drive North to Voe and the promise of more birds from the US of A. Things started off badly with no sign of the Spotted Sandpiper and we then completely failed to find any Eider for the Surf Scoter to hide in. Despite this, we pressed on down a random road and stumbled upon the Eider flock...exactly where it has been for the past few days - we are just crap at following directions. Some intense searching of the 200+ Eider eventually paid off when Si found the Scoter. And an Otter swam past - which was nice.

The excitement was just too much

We then decided that we fancied seeing Blyth's Reed Warbler, so headed off to Collafirth. Well, actually we headed to the wrong Collafirth, pished at the wrong garden and only found a Robin. And a Wheatear. News of the Pechora Pipit showing on Unst had us moving North again for the ferry to Yell. A quick look at the garden near the ferry produced the expected Barred Warbler, sunning itself in the...err...sun.

A dash across Yell left us missing the next ferry by moments, so with 30 minutes to kill we looked for more migrants and found none. The Bonxies were nice though. After the short crossing we were off up Unst. A Peregrine was a nice surprise before we arrived at Norwick.

We joined a small crowd of birders and photographers around the most obliging Arctic Redpoll I have ever seen. It was so close that it took me a few minutes to think to actually use my bins! Despite this, it was clearly too far away, with the wrong light etc. so I completely failed to get any images...then it flew to sit in a dead tree with a 'Greenland' Redpoll. Nice. After it flew again, I headed back to where we first saw it and Steve and I had the Hornmann's Redpoll to ourselves...a stunning bird showing stunningly well...and even I managed a couple of nice images.

Can you tell what it is yet?

Who's the bald git?

Phone-scoping masterclass by Steve

Steve then found a Wood Warbler which showed well to a few inches, mainly because it was dead.

Resting, stunned or pining for the fjords?

With another Blyth's Reed Warbler available to dip, we were off again, mainly in the wrong direction. Luckily we realised before we fell off the end of the UK at Hermaness. A couple of u-turns later we stumbled upon the plantation we were looking for.

Let the warbler-fest begin.

Steve quickly located the YB Warbler with a Willow Warbler in support. I joined him and we added a male Blackcap and an unidentified warbler that looked as if a cat had been sucking it's head. I then picked up another warbler moving along the back edge - brown, long tailed with a Reed Warbler head. I didn't see the all-important primaries...and Steve didn't see it at all.

After about an hour of 'careful and quiet observation from the marked paths', we had managed to see the following:

- 2 Goldcrest
- 1Yellow-browed Warbler
- 2 Blackcap (male and female)
- 2 Willow Warbler
- 1 Chiffchaff
- 1 Whitethroat
- 1 Warbler sp (with ragged head)
- 1 Blyth's Reed Warbler (Mark - head and tail, Si - call, primaries and tail, Steve - primaries and tail).

Which totals up to more warblers than the rest of the 3 days put together!

Of course, this time spent piecing together the Blyth's meant that we arrived at the ferry just as it left...leaving us with a 30 minute wait for the next ferry that goes via Fetlar - i.e. a 1 hour journey instead of 5 minutes. We then made good time to get the 20:40 from Yell to mainland and finished off the day with fish and chips showing well in Lerwick.

Maybe we'll actually go out to find our own birds tomorrow...

Fishy end to the day

Stealth birding techniques