A Lancy on Unst Shetland 5th October 2024

Simon Nicholls and his colleagues found a Lanceolated Warbler (Lancy) on Unst yesterday and there was some confusion as to whether they had seen a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler (PG Tips) as well, both at the birding hotspot of Valyie (pronounced Veely).

By the end of the day the only thing certain was that there was definitely a Lancy there and as we had such brief and unsatisfactory views of the one at Levenwick earlier see here we decided that if it was still there the next day we would make the trip to Unst, which required two ferries, one from Toft on Mainland to Ulsta on Yell and then drive across Yell to get another ferry from Gutcher to Belmont on Unst.

News of the Lancy's continued presence came pretty quickly the next day and excitingly a Paddyfield Warbler had also been discovered there as well.Two very rare warblers were on offer but would we get to see them?

First we had to get booked on the ferries.This might be a problem as the ferry vessels are relatively small especially the one to Unst and many birders would, like us, be keen to see the two rare warblers and so it proved.

The first ferry we could get from Toft was at noon and with the various timings involved we had, in the end, just a two hour window on Unst to see the birds.It was tight but doable so we went for it.

We duly booked ourselves and the car on the required ferries. I love the trip to Unst, my favourite Shetland island. I have done it many times, and the magic never fades as the topography going north in Shetland gets ever more wild and the scenery is forever breathtaking in its enormity of sea, sky and moor.

Once on Yell we crossed a land that, while to some appears featureless and barren, to me was a wonder of wild remoteness, the road passing very few habitations and running for miles through undulating bleak moorland falling away to an ever present sea.It is a landscape that can feel at once both unsettling and enervating.

The road across Yell

The road across Yell from Ulsta to Gutcher is known locally as the Yell Dash  as you have to drive at speed to connect with the next onwards ferry that always seems to be timed to allow minimum leeway.Today however we were in no hurry as we were booked on the ferry after next.

So I sat back and enjoyed the scenery and at Gutcher got out of the car at an almost deserted terminal, walked back up the road aways, leant on a fence and allowed the silence and the surrounds to enter my soul. 

The ferry to Unst waiting at Gutcher 

A large, shaggy and very black 'Heilan Coo' regarded me with stoic curiosity while a curlew bubbled in the distance and Greylags, as they do everywhere, bickered raucously amongst themselves. 

Shetland was beginning to get to me again and I felt once more the great affection I harbour for this strange and now familiar land betwixt Britain and Norway and the peace of mind it brings to me.

Once on Unst we drove a considerable way north to Norwick and.descending the hill from there to the beach we could see that further up the dead end road many birders were surrounding a small conifer plantation with others looking at the crop field beyond.We parked our car amongst others by the beach and made a short walk up the rest of the road to get to Valyie, a private house on land which is maintained  as a local nature reserve with a couple of small fields especially planted with seeding crops to attract birds and nearby a burn, deep in a narrow gulley, that has harboured countless rarities. It is an immensely popular place to go birding and you rarely find this hotspot unattended by birding folk.

The crop field that today was home to the Paddyfield Warbler

Valyie with the burn on the right

We arrived at Valyie at around 1.30pm and were immediately faced with a difficult choice.The Lancy was to be found in the small conifer plantation and the Paddyfield in either the bushes by the burn or in the crop field in front of the house. We were torn between the two but opted for the Lancy.

In order to access the conifers we had to cross a ditch and negotiate a dangerously insecure barbed wire fence.A warbler flew out of the ditch, my heart skipped a beat but it was only a Blackcap.Once over the fence and at the edge of the plantation we encountered a number of birders, mostly lying flat on the ground on their stomachs looking inwards to see beneath the conifers

The conifer plantation currently sheltering the Lancy

Apparently this was the best option to catch sight of the Lancy which we were advised was moving about either on the ground below the conifers or a few feet up in the lowest branches.These days I am not as supple as I used to be and this, combined with lying prone on damp grass and nettles was not an attractive option but there was no choice. Various whispered comments came from birders around me setting my pulse racing. 

It's just by the wall, 

It's in the grass, 

It's by the first pine trunk, 

that sort of thing.

It was gloomy under the pines and almost impossible to get a sight of the tiny bird whose brown plumage matched a ground, littered with twigs, pine needles, sheep's wool and other natural detritus that it passed over. Eventually I got the briefest of views as I saw it scuttle at high speed, just like a mouse across the open area of woodland floor in front of me and into the cover of the grass at the plantation's edge.Then ten minutes later I saw it in silhouette running along a thin branch just above the ground.

It was obvious that like many vagrant warblers it had adopted a circuit, so rather than following it around the plantation as most of my fellow birders attempted, I  remained prone on the ground and let the bird come to me. 

Mark had decided to go and look for the Paddyfield Warbler but I was joined by another friend Martin. We lay on the ground and incredibly the Lancy appeared from nowhere just feet in front of us before disappearing once more. It was too close to photograph but never mind we had seen it clearly and well.

I remained with Martin, having deduced that the Lancy.was regularly coming to the bottom right corner of the plantation where we lay, searching for food in the long grass that grew up into the very last small conifer, creeping mouse like through the long grass and into the bottom of the tree. 

The Lancy duly appeared low down in the conifer but was much obscured and to my horror finally showed really well but on the opposite side of the conifer to me.Gasps of admiration came from birders on  the other side and I could hear camera shutters clicking frantically but I was unable to move for fear of disturbing it.

Would I ever get a photo?

The Lancy disappeared as did many birders having now seen it well, thankfully taking with them a particularly loud voiced individual who assured one and all that talking loudly did not disturb the bird. 

Err no

We waited for the bird to come round again and it duly returned to its favoured conifer. 

Martin whispered 

It's right in front of us in the grass

Unfortunately from my position I was unable to see it but then it moved again and there it was, a small, brown, dark streaked bird with  paler underparts that my camera refused to focus on, preferring the grass that surrounded it. The Lancy walked past Martin only feet away and he tried to take some video on his phone only to discover later it had failed to work  

We felt a right couple of dummies

One more try Martin Let's wait for it to come back just once more. 

OK buddy

It duly did and we now found ourselves alone with only one other birder at our corner of the plantation. All the others had left and I am positive that what followed was due to the fact there were far less birders surrounding the plantation and the loud voiced individual had gone elsewhere.

The Lancy seemed more settled and its behaviour had changed, for when it visited its favourite conifer rather than remain constantly hidden it walked out of the grass and up the gently sloping ground under the conifers, moving away from us but in no great rush. It was again very close to us but unlike before when it ran in alarm across the open area below the conifers, this time it walked and then stopped right in the middle and just stood there for all of two minutes, absolutely stock still and looking around as if wondering where had all the birders gone.The views were sensational.

It was now or never.

I partially rose in order to kneel on the ground, pointed my camera and lens at it and made free with the shutter button, recording 30 frames per second while the camera as usual insisted on focusing on anything rather than the Lancy but then the bird moved fractionally and the camera instantly detected the motion and locked onto the bird and there it was  clear in my viewfinder. I gave the shutter button full throttle and extended my zoom lens to its fullest hoping that something would come out. It was dark under the pines and I had no chance to adjust settings or do anything remotely technical.This was my only chance, it had to be taken and I had to pray that one image would be OK.The Lancy seemed to come out of its trance and wandered off further up the slope and was lost to the gloom. Other birders came to us but they were too late. It had gone.

That was it for me.My knees and back were in revolt about the sustained strain I had put them under and the nettles had done their job as I noticed for the first time how much I had been stung. It did not matter I was on a high of elation and beyond care but had I got the images I craved?

Checking the back of the camera I found as I feared that many images were out of focus but more to the point and to my intense pleasure a number were more than passable of this secretive waif from Siberia, a real Shetland speciality with almost 82% of Britain's records coming from here. 

They breed  in localised areas of north eastern European Russia but are more abundant eastwards in Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Japan and winter in southern Asia. I remember seeing three in Cambodia after a night and morning of torrential rain that were so wet they had abandoned the long grass they hide in and stood in the open on the bare mud trying to dry their sodden plumage.

It was job done for me and I left the plantation and joined Mark who was still endeavouring to get some shots of the Paddyfield Warbler.I did not bother but saw it well enough feeding in the crops so I had achieved sightings of two very desirable and rare birds and was very happy. Mark  too, although he had not got any photos was content to have seen both birds.

The light was beginning to fade as cloud and drizzle approached  and we had to be back at Belmont to catch our ferry at 4pm. Tonight we were going to have fish and chips at our favourite Cornerstone Cafe in Scalloway which would, as far as I was concerned, round a perfect day off nicely. 

Maybe a glass of Guiness too.

to be continued