Hudsonian Godwit- First for Shetland

This Hudsonian Godwit turned up at Grutness this afternoon and is a first for Shetland. Only the 5th for Scotland

                 The first impressions was this was a small Bar tailed Godwit but looked a bit odd.

Certainly the supercilium was very distinctive and it had dark underwing although it only showed once

       This Godwit only has a restricted breeding range in Alaska and is a very rare vagrant to the uk. 

                It was still present as darkness fell allowing many birders to catch up with  the bird.

I left it asleep on the far bank but later it flew off to the beach before quickly returning to the pool

It was joined by two Turnstone, Dunlin (5) Redshank (3) Oystercatcher (6) Ringed Plover (2)

                      The first British record was at Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve in September 1981

Shetland Marsh Warbler

 It has been an odd spring, with very few common migrants but some very good rare birds. This time a Marsh Warbler turned up at the next village only 5 mins away. 

I turned up just as a few birders were leaving, all saying they had limited views as the bird kept to the bushes.

I asked whether it had been down beside the burn in lush green vegetation. After a few mins it started to sing and flew into the area i was hoping, even the sun was on this area. 

I started to sing straight away and came to the edge of the vegetation which allowed for a few photo opportunities.

It moved along the burn before flitting across to some bushes in a garden before starting to sing again.

This bird has given me the best views so far as most other Marsh Warblers have been in dense vegetation

Blyth Reed Warbler- Shetland

I headed round to Sumburgh hotel gardens as part of my patch routine. I noted a BRW had been seen at 7am that morning but not seen since

I arrived finding no one else present which wasn't a surprise as it was now 2.20pm. I saw a few starlings visiting young with food but little else.

But this is Shetland and you have to expect the unexpected. A warbler gave very brief views near the gate at the top end of the sycamores

It then came into view very briefly, this was the BRW and i was the only one there. 

It showed several times before another birder, staying at the hotel came for a look round and was just about to come through the gate but i managed to attract his attention and he came round the west side

The bird was now working back up towards the gate as he arrived and it took him a few mins to get onto the bird as it kept deep and behind the leaves

It then flew across to the north side and was seen closer

I was pleased to get onto the bird that was moving about alot. I then put word out just as the bird headed back across to the bushes on the eastside

It quickly moved along and then flew across to the pool just as another three people arrived.

It showed again a couple of hours later along with a  Red Rumped Swallow

The BRW should have been a lot further east, either in Finland or eastern Russia. a nice bird to find having had no good migrants for the past few days due to cold northerly winds

 

Western sub- Alpine warbler- Shetland

It could only be Shetland. An Eastern and a Western Sub-Alpine warblers within 20 miles of each other

Having seen the Eastern up at Clickimin on Tuesday, this Western was a harder bird to see. I met a couple of birders coming back from an hour looking without it appearing. 

I went up to the dam, where it had been seen very early on Saturday morning. After a look round and not finding it i left one other birder to check out the burn close to the mill at Quendale. About 1/2 way down it suddenly jumped up onto a wire and then quickly flew further down the burn to another couple of birders but then it turned round and landed and 10 m away

I managed a few photos before it flew down deep into vegetation. I was shooting at ISO10,000 as it was an overcast day

It flew back to the dam and appeared on wires a few times before flying across to land on a wall

It came down to feed on the floor before a couple of Twite spooked it and it flew back down towards the mill lost to view

This bird should really have been down either in Southern France, Spain or Northern Italy

The Western arrived 12 May and the Eastern 13 May and both are still present today