Retrospective on Shetland - Bluethroat - 28th September 2025

A Bluethroat was reported in the early afternoon from a garden at a well known birding hotspot called Geosetter on Mainland. They are not that unusual on Shetland at this time of year, often first year birds, and appearing at random places on Shetland throughout the autumn.

I had spent the morning further south at Grutness overlooking a garden that has harboured many migrants in its time.and had earlier this morning played host to a Common Rosefinch but when I visited I  could only find a Lesser Whitethroat, a male Blackcap and a few Goldcrests. However the undoubted migrant highlight was a very much out of place Hummingbird Hawkmoth that spent some time feeding on fuschia flowers in a sheltered corner of the garden.

When news came of the bluethroat I made my way to Geosetter which is a burn running down from a moorland hillside The burn itself is almost invisible  in a deep ditch covered by dense bushes and small willow trees, providing virtually the only cover in a wide stretch of moor grassland. Geosetter is well known to every birder worth his or her salt as it is renowned for harbouring extremely rare birds over the years, two prime examples being a Thick billed Warbler from Asia which I saw on the 4th of October 2013 and a Blackburnian Warbler from North America on the 26th of September 2024. 

Today there was no such exotic excitements but a Yellow browed Warbler and a Barred Warbler both almost commonplace on Shetland at this time of year were skulking in the bushes.

I walked uphill alongside the burn meeting Bert and Steve coming down

Any sign lads?

Yes it shows about every fifteen minutes, its popping out onto the grass from the dense hedge bordering the garden Steve told me

I carried on to join a birdtour group peering over a fence into one of the front gardens of the two houses at the top of the rise. 

Currently there was no sign of the bluethroat but within ten minutes it suddenly flew out from the bushes onto the lawn and chased about after invertebrates.

Its demeanour was very much like that of a Robin, all tail cocking perkiness and making quick dashes across the grass before flying at speed back into cover.It must have been on view for less than a couple of minutes before retreating into the security of the rosa bushes thick cover

I stood and waited as the tour group departed to look for the Barred Warbler and was left on my own. A Blackcap and Common Whitethroat revealed their previously unknown presence from within the cover of the bushes while the bluethroat appeared at random intervals as other birders joined me and then for a long period it remained invisible before dashing out from cover for what felt an extended period but was less than five minutes

Once it had retreated again I left it hiding somewhere in the dense cover of the bushes.I had got some good views and equally good images and was content with what I had achieved. Others were not so lucky after I had left as the bird rarely showed itself and if it did was for seconds only.

It was gone the next day.