Red Flanked Bluetail in Sandwick

A Red Flanked Bluetail was found at Sandlodge in Sandwick , inside the walled garden which has lots of trees and bushes

This made the search for the Bluetail more difficult. Despite 1 1/2 hour search i had seen the bird three times but always fleetingly and deep in cover. Only once did it show near the fence but still down in cover. The last Bluetail up at North Roe was very showy, coming too close to focus and stood out in the open for long periods, a complete contrast to this one

Lots of Barnacle geese have passed through Shetland over the past couple of weeks no doubt heading down to the Solway firth

Other than the Bluetail , Blyth Reed warbler and the Gt White Egret most of the other rarer birds found shelter in the north isles.

A few Lesser Whitethroat were scattered around the south mainland, these at Quendale

Its always good to see Siskins and these were very obliging 

Still lots of Robins around and we have regular garden visits from two. Blackbirds too have increased in number and are now joined by Redwing and Fieldfare

A couple of redstart still showing at Sumburgh quarry, farm and head

Lots of very worn out Goldcrest flitting about and several people have picked these up exhausted

Shetland Gt White Egret

At present there are two Gt White Egrets in Shetland, one at Voe and this one at Spiggie in the south mainland

According to the latest bird report (2018) these are rare vagrants from Southern Europe although they have bred in Hampshire and are starting to become regulars in England

The report indicates that there has only been 14 records  from Shetland , both have been present for over a week

I have seen the Spiggie Egret several times before but all have been distant views, including when i first saw the bird over at Hillwell

This time it was sitting close to the edge of the loch near the north end, normally seen at the south end

It allowed a reasonably close approach before taking off and heading back to the south end

At Quendale a good number of Redwing arrived as well as Swallow(2) Blackcap (3) Goldcrest(4) Robin(5) Chiffchaff(2) and two chaffinch

No Sign of the Yellowhammer (2) that had been reported from the dam a hour or so before. A large number of Greylag passed over and at least 50 Raven were seen.

We have had more migrants in the garden this year than the previous 6 years. It may be down to having a few bushes which are now getting established. Also neighbours have cut the grass as well so another habitat . This Autumn we have had - Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Goldcrest, Swallow, Song Thrush, Robin, Blackcap and this Redwing