birding never sleeps: UNST Autumn 2022: part 2 (06-12 October)

My second of three weeks birding North Unst with Dave Cooper and Brenda Kay. Still hoping for a change in the weather ...

Thursday 06 October. Gale force SW winds all day with several heavy showers. We walked down to Norwick and Valyie but between the two Dave saw the Ortolan flying back towards Norwick and we returned to look for it. Unsuccessfully and not helped by a very heavy shower which had us crouching for shelter behind a wall. We made it to the bus stop in time to shelter from the next one and fortunately had a respite while birding Vaylie although we saw very little and very few thrushes and finches (2 Brambling and 3 Siskins for me). We were almost back at Millfield when Dave spotted a small distant flock of geese heading south over Lamba Ness. We followed them hoping they might come in at Norwick but the disappeared behind Clibberswick. They were probably all Greylags but some flocks of Barnacles were later seen in South Mainland. After an early lunch we drove down south, for a change of scenery and to check Golden Plover flocks from the car. We filled up with petrol and embarrassingly I realized I’d left my credit card at Millfield and didn’t have enough cash and had to go out to the car to borrow some from Dave. I saw the Barred Warbler briefly at Clingera on the way. We found several small flocks of Golden Plover (maybe 300 in total) but only 2 Ruff of note with them. A pair of Whooper Swans and 30 Tufted Duck were on Easter Loch, 15+ Twite in a field behind Uyeasound and an adult and 4 juvenile Whooper Swans dropped onto a roadside pool soon after we set off on our way back north. A final look at Norwick from the car produced nothing and were back soon after 16:45.

Whooper Swan on Easter Loch

Ruff at Uyeasound

Twite at Uyeasound

A Whooper Swan family dropped into a roadside pool south of the White Wife

the single parent had my admiration for safely bringing four cygnets to Shetland

Friday 07 October. SW wind still strong although slightly reduced, we left at 07:15 and walked down to Valyie. A flock of about 15 Lapwings arrived from the east but no thrushes appeared to be moving. The long staying Ortolan Bunting flew up from near the bus stop and called once as it flew over our heads and dropped into the dunes. Nice to hear it call. We left it, as Nick and Justin were arriving later and would be keen to see it. After sheltering from a heavy shower in the bus stop we continued to Valyie seeing Yellow-browed Warbler, Siberian and Common Chiffchaffs and blythi Lesser Whitethroat on the sheltered, sunny side of the first pines. A Water Rail ran across the track up to the croft and a few Bramblings were flying between the weedy field, sycamores and pines. Nick and Justin arrived just before 09:30 and we returned to the beach to look for the Ortolan Bunting which was surprisingly easy, feeding on the edge of the dunes on the opposite side of the tang. Another circuit of Valyie added 2 Blackcaps and a Wheatear before we again made use of the bus shelter to dodge a spiteful shower. We went to Skaw with Justin and Nick and saw a single Glossy Ibis. What was intended to be a brief visit proved longer than expected due to delays while twice diggers worked to repair the damage Space Port trucks had done to the road. Back at Millfield Brenda provided very welcome tea and buns. We left again, this time in convoy, for North Dale (Bonxie) and Burrafirth (Red-breasted Merganser, Bonxie and the other blythi Lesser Whitethroat). Nick and Justin left to catch the 16:30 ferry south and Dave and I tried another area of Burrafirth and a couple of sites around Haroldswick (another Bonxie and an unidentified warbler seen in flight and heard chacking) being blissfully unaware that an exhausted Least Bittern had been found on South Mainland until it was taken into care.

ringed Chiffchaff at Valyie, Dave told me it had been present since June!

buzzed by a Siberian Chiffchaff

Siberian Chiffchaff at Valyie

Ortolan Bunting on the beach at Norwick

The public face of the UK Space Industry

Burrafirth Shore Station

Saturday 08 October. The sun was shining and the wind had shifted to NW and dropped to 15-20mph giving the day a nice feel. We left at 07:15 to walk down to Norwick and spent most of the morning there and at Valyie. The highlight was a stunning Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll with a loose flock of about 7 Greenland and a Lesser Redpoll feeding in the weedy field at Vaylie. The Hornemann’s was particularly welcome as we’d been close to finding let alone seeing one a couple of times earlier in my visit. We also saw an immature Whooper Swan flying in off the sea and landing on the marsh where it rested/fed for a couple of hours before heading south, hopefully to meet up with some of the flocks that had arrived on Shetland in recent days. Also the ringed Chiffchaff, 2-3 Yellow-browed Warblers, Blackcap, blythi Lesser Whitethroat, 20 Redwings, 12 Bramblings and the Ortolan Bunting. Back at Millfield at lunchtime the Post van arrived. British Birds was the only post and Dave went out to collect it as his postbox sometimes leaked. In doing he flushed a warbler from the garden’s Rosa. It turned out to be Blyth’s Reed Warbler, not quite as skulking as the Valyie bird earlier in the week but it still took a while to be sure. Ironically BB included the rarities report, Dave’s first since becoming a BBRC member, not that Blyth’s Reed is any longer considered a rarity. Taking advantage of the reasonable weather we drove to Skaw and walked around the moorland to the east. We saw one Glossy Ibis from the farm, a Jack and 8-10 Common Snipe (mostly big rufous ones), 60 Golden Plover, a single and a high flying flock of 26 Snow Buntings (I only got onto 19). We finished on the Haroldswick loop seeing 2 very confiding Greenland Redpolls on the shore. Recent days had been very hard work - a combination of strong winds, heavy showers and quality birds elsewhere on Shetland led to a state of despondency. Today blew that away.

this immature Whooper Swan flew in from the NE and settled on Norwick marshes, presumably having become separated from its parents on the journey from Iceland

Blackcap at Valyie

one of many Rock Doves at Valyie

it had been a long time coming with several Hornemann's found elsewhere on Shetland, including a couple of close calls on Unst, but it was great to be in on the find of this one at Valyie

with heavily streaked Greenland (Common) Redpoll

note how the black above the bill almost meets the red on its crown, it becomes relevant later

Greenland Redpolls at Valyie

Blyth's Reed Warbler at Millfield (photos: Dave Cooper)

Greenland Redpoll on the shore at Haroldswick

Sunday 09 October. We left at 07:30 and walked across the fields to Norwick and on to Valyie. The wind had picked up and made conditions for seeing birds difficult but the forecast rain had not arrived. The juvenile Whooper Swan was back on the marsh, presumably not finding any others when it left yesterday morning. The Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll was with at least 6 Greenland Redpoll types in the weedy field, flying across to the adjacent sycamores and up into the wood, but didn’t show particularly well. Eight Bramblings were also in the area. We walked back through the fields seeing nothing and couldn’t find yesterday’s Blyth’s Reed Warbler in Dave’s garden although the bushes were blowing continually and we only gave it half an hour. I wanted to go to the shop (I’d run out of Frosties) so we combined it with a visit to Clingera hoping it might be more sheltered. It wasn’t really although we heard a Yellow-browed Warbler and saw 7 Red-breasted Mergansers in the sound. Back at Millfield we watched the Japanese GP highlights and then I walked up to Clibberswick Hill, somewhat foolhardy in gale force winds but I’d never been to the Trig Point. Not particularly pleasant when in driving rain but I did see flocks of 80-90 Snow Buntings on East Hill and another 12 on Clibberswick. The Trig Point was too close to the edge for me to go right up to it and visibility poor so I didn’t hang around. Heading back on a more direct route I encountering a barbed wire fence I needed to be the other side of. I didn’t have time to retrace my steps so attempted to climb over but soon realized the wind would almost certainly snag my flapping over-trousers on the barbs. As I’d ripped my trousers on a similar fence at the start of the trip it seemed best to remove both. This worked after a couple of wobbly moments although I got quite wet in the process.

immature Whooper Swan still at Norwick

Clibberswick Hill in rough weather

Monday 10 October 2022. Still gale force SW winds and some heavy showers in the morning. Fortunately we sheltered from the worst in the bus stop. We set off to walk down the road to Norwick at 07:30 but it wasn’t until we reached the shelter of the pines below Valyie that we saw any small birds. There and on the way back to Millfield we mostly saw birds that had been around for a while – the juvenile Whooper Swan, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 2 Chaffinches, 3 Bramblings, and Lesser, 6 Greenland and the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll. We returned just before 11:00 and looked around the garden (Blackcap) before an early lunch. In the afternoon we visited Burrafirth, Hagdale Quarry and potentially sheltered sites around Haroldswick, although few were, but only saw another Blackcap, 3 Twite and gravel lorry on it’s side. We finished at Norwick where a female Long-tailed Duck was on the sea.

Rock Doves at Valyie

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll still at Vaylie

the wrong side of the chicken-wire

road accident in Unst and the quarry where the truck had come from

lack of concentrating from the driver would be my guess

Tuesday 11 October 2022. We left at 07:30 and walked across the fields to Norwick Beach (Long-tailed Duck still in the bay) and Vaylie (others there before us). It was a much nicer calmer day, still at times, but with fewer birds suggesting a bit of an overnight clear-out and very little in to replace them. We saw the juvenile Whooper Swan, 3 Blackcaps, blythi Lesser Whitethroat, Goldcrest, 2 Redwings, 2 Chaffinches, 4 Bramblings, and 12 Greenland and the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll. We returned by 11:00 seeing 5 Twite in the garden and after soup and toast and while Dave was having a meeting I walked up East Hill. I had 5 Snow Bunting encounters but none were particularly satisfactory, either seen flying high calling or only heard. Those seen were 11 headed SW, soon after about 70 flew S and later 55-60 flew E, all being lost to view over the nearest hillside. Assuming the last flock was part of the second then about 80 birds were involved, somewhat less than on my previous walk up East Hill. Twelve Curlew, a Redwing and 2 Shetland Wrens were the only other birds seen. Once back Dave and I headed to Skaw (30 Golden Plover and 6 Twite), selective sites around Haroldswick (Great Northern Diver) and a return to Norwick Beach and Vaylie (much as before plus 4 Twite). We were back at 17:10 after what had felt like a tough day.

Blackcap at Valyie

Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll still at Valyie

Brambling at Valyie

Whooper Swan still at Vaylie, we'd hoped an arriving flock would fly over calling and it would tag along with them but so far one hadn't

Shags at Skaw

graffiti at Skaw

bird flu Bonxie

Fulmar at Skaw

Wednesday 12 October 2022. It was very overcast when we left Millfield at 07:30 and didn’t improve as we walked across the fields to Norwick Beach where the Long-tailed Duck was still in the bay. Conveniently we were near the bus stop as a heavy shower approached and we sheltered there before continuing on to Vaylie. We saw the juvenile Whooper Swan on the marsh, small flocks of Greylag Geese flying over from the NE, 2 Blackcaps, 4 Redwings, Tree Pipit, 2 Chaffinches, 6 Bramblings and 8 Greenland and the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll. A Siberian Chiffchaff, another Blackcap and a Song Thrush were seen as we walked back. The weather had been forecast to improve as the day continued but checking the forecast when we returned showed a change with heavy rain from 14:00. By now it was 11:30 and we decided to head out again, to Burrafirth. We walked along the burn and back through bracken in the nearby valley/hillside seeing 2 Icelandic (coburni) Redwings. Another 2 were around the sheep pens by the Hermaness car park while the blythi Lesser Whitethroat showed well by the Shore Station. We drove back through Haroldswick checking the bay from the car as the rain had started and were back at Millfield at 14:45.