Shetland Road Trip 25th Sept - 3rd Oct

Despite having spent more than 4 decades birdwatching in the UK I have never been to the Shetland Isles. So when Roger Barnes, a birding friend from Leeds, suggested a trip in late September I jumped at the chance. Roger already had a reservation on Fair Isle for 1st to 5th October where he was due to meet some friends so the timing of the visit was set around these dates.
There are a variety of ways to travel to Shetland and in the end we decided to drive in the camper and catch the ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick. This gave us flexibility on the journey up and for our time on Shetland. We set off on 25th September with our first planned stop at Barns Ness, just over the Scottish border, where a 1st winter Woodchat Shrike had been showing well for several days.

Roger and I arriving at the aptly named Barns Ness

We arrived at Barns Ness in strong winds and overcast skies but there were a couple of other bird watchers in view and it turned out that they were watching the shrike and so were we within a few minutes of our arrival.

Woodchat Shrike 1st winter

A first winter Rose-coloured Starling had also been reported a few days earlier and in speaking to the locals we soon established that it was still present, feeding on the beach with Common Starlings. In the strong winds Starlings were flying in all directions but we persisted and eventually located the bird with about 30 Common Starling on the beach. Unfortunately the birds were flushed by another birder so we only managed rather distant views. 

Rose-coloured Starling with Common Starlings

The weather was forecast to improve later in the afternoon so we were keen to get to Musselburgh, our next stop.

Roger and I spent a week in Iceland in 2016 where we failed to find a regular summering White-winged Scoter so the opportunity to see a male that had been found in Spring this year was too good to miss.

Velvet Scoter - males

From the sea wall there were several groups of Velvet Scoter plus ones and two's spread over a kilometre or so. It looked like it might be a long task to search through them all but luck was with us again when we came across some local birders who had located the White-winged Scoter.

Once found, the pink rather than yellow, bill along with the swollen bill shape at the nostrils and large white tick behind the eye made it relatively easy to pick up, at least in good light.

White-winged and Velvet Scoter

White-winged Scoter

An adult Red-throated Diver moulting from summer plumage was feeding close to the seawall and provided a good photo opportunity.

Red-throated Diver - adult moulting from summer plumage

A Pectoral Sandpiper was also present on the nearby lagoons and we managed to locate this bird before dark and again the following morning where there were also two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers but all were distant telescope views.
From Musselburgh it was none stop to Aberdeen for our 7pm ferry to Lerwick. The wind was still blowing so the prospect of 12 hours on a rough sea was a little daunting but in the end the crossing was OK and we arrived on time in Lerwick.

Fulmar

The wind was still blowing westerly and there were few birds reported on Shetland so we did an initial tour of the southern part of Mainland calling at Sumburgh where we watched the Fulmars still occupying their nesting cliffs, Scatness where a Sabine's Gull was reported, Quendale and finally Levenwick.

Quendale Mill - scene of many rarities in the past

Here we had good views of a striking male Northern Wheatear which must have been of the Greenland race leucorhoa with rufous chest and tail with broad black band.

Northern Wheatear of the Greenland race leucorhoa

We stayed overnight at the Sumburgh Boating Club for £10 with electric, which would have been a great location at the mouth of the Pool of Virkie, had it not been for the gale force westerly which rocked the van all night.
The following morning we returned to Quendale which held a single Blackcap, then on to Levenwick where we added Chiffchaff and a Whinchat. News of a Common Rosefinch at nearby North Voxter took us slightly further north and after some great views of Twite the Common Rosefinch finally made an appearance.

Twite

Common Rosefinch - first winter North Voxter

We moved further down the coast to Sandwick for another Common Rosefinch and the coastal village of Leebitten became our base for the rest of our stay.

Leebitten in the foreground with the houses of Sandwick on the horizon

Common Rosefinch - first winter Leebitten

We were watching the weather closely but there appeared to be no sign of a let up in the west or north westerly winds. Our strategy was to find something scarce under our own steam. News of a White-crowned Sparrow on Foula joining the White-throated Sparrow found earlier in September was tempting but then came news of a River Warbler and Buff-bellied Pipit on Unst which already had American Golden Plover and Citrine Wagtail. In the end we decided to carry on covering the south Mainland area which, in hindsight, was probably a mistake and Unst would have been a better bet. Especially when a Pechora Pipit and Eastern Yellow Wagtail were found on 3rd October. We saw plenty of Wren of the darker, long-billed race zetlandica and had a good look at the Rock Doves which are probably as pure as any I'm likely to see in the UK.

Wren Troglodytes troglodytes zetlandicus (or borealis as classified by some)

Rock Dove

The wind continued to blow and we finally decided to give Fair Isle a miss, many of the planes from Lerwick were being cancelled and there was the prospect of being stuck for several days with no birds.
A pair of Snow Bunting at Grutness gave superb views as did a winter male Lapland Bunting nearby but we found nothing new. 

Snow Bunting

Lapland Bunting - ad male winter

A Marsh Warbler in Sumburgh quarry give brief views and we made a foray to Lunna at the north of Mainland where a Melodious Warbler had been found but the wind was so strong we struggled to stay upright and never located the bird which stayed for several more days.
On our final day we had decent views of Barred Warbler at Southpunds, made a final friutless search for a Blyth's Reed Warbler in Lerwick before having a look at the Black Guillemots in Lerwick harbour and heading for home.

Black Guillemot - adult winter

Overall we had a thoroughly enjoyable trip, and it was interesting to see so many famous places that have held major rarities in the past. It certainly felt like we could have encountered a rarity almost anywhere, but sadly we didn't!