Saturday, October 10, 2009

Destination Unst and back!

This will be updated later- with pics.
Briefly on route to catch the ferries to Unst - 2 are necessary - we swung around to Muckle Roe where we saw a lovely adult male Surf Scoter amid the flock of Eiders, much more rewarding than the female surfer in Devon earlier this year!


A brilliant cafe is at the ferry terminal on the end of Yell - the Wind Dog Cafe. Great coffee and delicious home made cakes.

On Unst I stayed at Balta Sound - thats way north!
Snow Buntings, Hornemann's Arctic Warbler(s), Barred Warbler, Bluethroat - nice and showy, Lapland Buntings, Rosefinch - oh and I havent mentioned the Yellow-browed Warblers...by saturday I must have seen 20 of them!

Just a taste!

The Shetland network is a great help to knowing where the migrants are!
We aided it on Friday when we found an American Golden Plover in with a great flock of GP.

Then another lifer - 2 Olive-backed Pipits - I managed to refind one on the ground sneaking along then it came out a posed a couple of times in the sunshine(!) and then flew up into a tree and was joined by another both pumping their tails madly!


Oh forgetting the Red-breasted Flycatcher - I think that was thursday - must check my notes!

Saturday and birding Shetland style on my own - another YBW - about 12 Redwings which must be newly arrrived overnight.Great views of seals today in a bay...one watching the antics of a dog on the beach!

Being picked up at 4 to go and see if a Western Bonelli's is still performing well in a garden.....photos on Hugh Harrops blog site soon!
The weather is not at all good at the mo- raining in all directions and that wind!
If not today there is always tomorrow!

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