We woke this morning to more
heavy rain and with news of a Pechora Pipit at Levenwick, which had apparently
flown off. We were unsure what to do but
decided to head north and possibly go over to Yell and a Subalpine Warbler that
was present in a garden at Mid Yell.
Despite the weather I was
quite optimistic as it was my birthday and I was predicting a new bird. As we headed north the weather did begin to
clear and we called at Voe where there were twelve Red-breasted Mergansers just
off shore and we also found two Yellow-browed Warblers. Fortunately I had a phone single here and
news was that the Pechora Pipit was still showing a Levenwick. Thank goodness we hadn’t got as far as Yell
and we headed off back south and hopefully the predicted new bird.
When we arrived on site there
were quite a few other birders with some looking down a driveway and others
overlooking a small garden. Positioning
ourselves overlooking the garden it wasn’t too long before the bird appeared. It then performed very well on several
occasions during the next hour or so and I was able to get quite a few
reasonable shots despite the overcast conditions. A Brambling flew over and two Guillemots were
observed in the bay to the north. A
prediction coming true, if only it was always that easy but then why would I even
bother.
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Pechora Pipit
Having had excellent views of
the Pechora we moved south to the Pool of Verkie where we had a good selection
of waders, including a Ringed Plovers, a single Grey Plover, Dunlin and sixteen
Bar-tailed Godwits amongst the more numerous Curlew. There was also two Eiders and a single
Red-breasted Merganser. Moving on
Sumburgh we had a rather nice male Redstart in one of the quarries and a
Wheatear performed exceptionally well on the road.
Wheatear
Wheatear
Wheatear
Fulmar in Sumburgh quarry
There was a report of a Common
Rosefinch showing well at Grutness but there was no sign during our visit and
all we saw was a Red-breasted Merganser, ten Sanderling and a Rock Pipit. As I was walking back to the car a small
brown warbler flew to my right and dropped into the rather sparse vegetation
amongst the rounded stones. I walked
over to where it was but couldn’t find it and assumed that it might have gone a
little further so I broadened my search area but with the same result. Roger then walked towards the area I had seen
the bird go down and it flushed again landing just a few yards from us. We scanned the area but there was no sign but
it did flush again but this time flew back and beyond the original sighting. Despite an extensive search we couldn’t find
it and it did not flush again. Had we
actually seen a Lanceolated Warbler, possibly but we will never know and it has
to frustratingly go down as the one that got away. A second visit to the Pool of Verkie for a
Lesser Yellowlegs produced nothing new and there was no sign of the yellowlegs.
Juvenile Shag at Grutness
Rock Pipit at Grutness
Another visit to Quendale
produced two Great Spotted Woodpeckers as we approached the mill and three
Yellow-browed Warblers close to the mill.
We walked up the burn but there was no sign of the reported Barred and
Garden Warblers, although we did see several Wheatears.
There was a report of a Little
Bunting at Wester Quarff and so we decided to go and take a look. On arrival the Little Bunting had been
showing in a garden and had been seen briefly twice recently as it flew into a
tree. We spent quite some time waiting
by the garden without success, seeing only a Yellow-browed Warbler. I eventually went to look for an Red-breasted
Flycatcher, also in the same garden but again elusive. I did see two Yellow-browed Warblers in a
tree on the opposite side of the road but not the flycatcher. Whilst watching the Yellow-browed Warblers
another birder received news that the flycatcher was showing so I returned with
Dave and Roger to the viewing point only to find out that it had
disappeared. As we waited hopefully for
it to reappear Roger announced that he had the Little Bunting but Dave and I
couldn’t see it. We moved back onto the
road and just got onto it as it flew and disappeared again. Despite staying for a while we saw neither
the Red-breasted Flycatcher nor the Little Bunting but our first Merlin of the
week flew over as did a Great Skua.
Another good day’s birding
with a UK lifer in the bag.
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