Sunday 21 May 2023

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





 

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