Two Sibes on Shetland 6th October 2025

Every year for the last week in September and the first two weeks of October I head to Shetland to enjoy looking for and photographing rare birds that arrive at this peak time of migration and am never disappointed.

The last three years have proved exceptional and this year I felt was likely to be nowhere near as good.I arrived on the 24th of September just in time to miss two goodies in the form of an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler and a Pallas' s Grassshopper Warbler which had the temerity to depart  during the night prior to my arrival in Lerwick.

No matter, there was a report of a Short toed Lark at Otterswick on Yell to go and see on the very day of my arrival and a male Ring necked Duck on Loch Tingwall near to Scalloway where I was staying. Various other rarities came along as they usually do in the following days such as a Blue winged Teal at Loch of Hillwell in the south of Mainland and a very elusive Brown Shrike was at Aywick on Yell followed by a Bluethroat at Geosetter back on Mainland, whilst Yellow browed Warblers began to be reported widely as more and more birders arrived on the islands.

I missed the first true mega in the form of a Black faced Bunting which was identified late on the 28th of September near Sandwick but despite many of us arriving there first thing the next morning we found it had departed overnight and later that day a Rustic Bunting, haunting a ditch at Maywick failed to trouble my notebook despite extensive searching. 

Commoner birds such as Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers featured regularly but it was whilst conducting a fruitless search for a Barred Warbler along the footpath that runs beside Clickimin Loch on the outskirts of Lerwick, that my phone gave a discrete ping announcing a new message from the Shetland Rare Birds WhatsApp Group

And what a message it was:

Heads up - first winter Siberian Thrush at Scatsta Plantation at 3pm.No further sign

This was the news that I and most other birders on Shetland had been waiting and hoping for, a total mega had been found that no birder would want to miss if at all humanly possible. Siberian Thrushes are a bird of the vast forests covering Siberia, elusive, ultra shy and nervous in the extreme and hardly ever show themselves in the open. A bird of myth and legend that every twitcher and rarity hunter is aware of and wishes to become familiar with if only for a minute.

Siberian Thrushes breed in the taiga zone of central and eastern Siberia, east to the Sea of Okhotsk and then south to northern Mongolia, northeast China and the Russian Far East. They migrate to spend the winter in south eastern Asia as far south as the Greater Sunda Islands. It is a very rare vagrant to Britain with only 15 accepted records to date, the last being in 2022, also from Shetland.

I had been fortunate enough to have seen one briefly at Kilminning in Fife on the way back from twitching a Tennessee Warbler on Yell see here but was still totally and utterly taken with the chance of seeing another and hopefully one giving much better views than the bird at Kilminning.

I ran back to the car in a matter of minutes and set the satnav for Scatsta and headed north as fast as safely possible but aware of not allowing my excitement to make my driving reckless. Arriving at Scatsta I encountered a long line of cars parked on the side of the road, birders cars obviously and people hurrying to the wide entrance track into the plantation. I found a space on the road and after a short walk joined a throng of around a hundred birders surrounding various parts of the plantation

There were people everywhere, birders who had got here before me stood around not sure what to do and we heard     from the finders about how they had discovered the bird flying briefly out of cover to pluck a berry from the rosa hedges that lined the track below the trees.

For twenty minutes little happened then someone saw the thrush flying to another part of the plantation and a surge of camouflaged humanity headed to where the bird had flown.Another lull followed before it was then seen down by the road before flying back at speed past me and other astonished birders, crossing a large expanse of lawn and disappearing into the base of a hebe bush from which it was not seen to emerge but in fact had and presumably now given all of us the slip.

Although people hung about for another couple of hours and extensive use of thermal imagers were brought to bear it was only seen once more and that very briefly back by the road and reluctantly everyone had to accept it had given us the slip once more despite some claiming to have seen it subsequently although it was suspected they had mistaken blackbirds for the real thing.    

So there we are. From my point of view I had seen the Siberian Thrush but it could hardly be called satisfactory. I stood with others and although not seeing the thrush again I did manage to see a Barred Warbler feeding along a line of bushes and two Bramblings were a new trip tick for me. 

Reluctantly I returned to the car and headed back to Scalloway. I had encountered this fabled thrush twice now but still not seen one really well. The only hope was it might still be here tomorrow. 

Sadly it wasn't.

In the ensuing days the wind reached gale force and it was singularly unpleasant but I still managed to see a Common Rosefinch, missed a pod of four Orcas passing Sumburgh Head before I could get there and watched several Sooty Shearwaters passing the head in a southerly gale.

On the 2nd of October I decided to head north to Eshaness, following up news of a Glossy Ibis there which is a rare bird to see on Shetland and a species I had never seen here.

I had just about reached the lighthouse at Eshaness when my Shetland Rare Birds WhatsApp pinged and sensationally informed me that another Siberian Thrush, a first winter male had been discovered in a plantation by the Loch of Asta near to Scalloway. My heart sunk. I was over an hour's drive away but without question I had to go and try my luck but the crowd, judging by last time at Scatsta would be huge, bringing the  inevitable parking problems and all the other anxieties that come with a major twitch these days.

A fraught hour followed driving south with indeed reports of parking problems at the adjacent Scalloway Caravan Park. It had been suggested the best option was to park further away in the Golf Glub car park and then walk a mile along the road to the plantation where the thrush had been found and was presumably still present.

I got the last place in the golfers car park which, being a weekday was not populated by golfers,  thus avoiding any  potential conflict. I set off with camera and bins on the mile walk to the plantation.

There was no mistaking where the bird had been seen as over a hundred birders had surrounded the small plantation, many standing in the shallow water at the edge of the loch staring hopefully at the plantation that rose before them up a steep grassy bank to the road, while others stood on grass banks to either side.Everyone waiting and hoping for the bird to show itself. 

The Plantation

Typically it was proving totally uncooperative and had only been seen twice in the last few hours feeding on elderberries deep within the plantation's trees.At first I stood with others two deep on the grass bank but then as I was wearing wellingtons decided to join my fellow birders in the  shallow water at the loch's edge as this would give me a better all round view of the plantation. 

The thrush from reports of the previous sightings had been feeding on elderberries in the plantation and would rise from the depths of the plantation to feed on them but without fail never appearing truly in the open  and was only ever partially visible through the wind tossed leaves for the briefest of moments before its secretive nature persuaded it to drop down into the sanctuary of the thickest part of the plantation. The constant arrival and departure of similar sized Starlings to also feed on the berries did not help matters and many of us were momentarily deceived on more than one occasion. After a long wait and moving position several times I eventually saw the thrush when a Blackbird disturbed it in the elderberries. All I saw was a bluish grey body and tail as it moved down and out of sight. That was it. Having at least a reasonable claim to have now seen the bird or at least parts of it I felt energised to remain for further and better views and spent the rest of the day doing just that with finally a great sighting of it flying along the side of the plantation, noting the iconic bands of grey and white forming the distinctive underwing pattern of its genus and a body which looked remarkably blue.

But at this moment of redemption who cares about the minutiae of detail in the instant rush of elation that sweeps through one. I could now say I had well and truly seen a Siberian Thrush.

What a fantastic feeling it was. There is nothing quite like it 

Mark, delayed by a day by Storm Amy arrived by Loganair early the next morning and despite the raging gale not unnaturally wanted to go and see the thrush immediately which had already been reported as still present in the plantation We spent the whole morning there before going to see a Western Subalpine Warbler at Levenwick.

Neither of us had come remotely close to getting an image of the thrush which we had noted would sometimes fly out of the plantation and up over the road to the large garden on the other side.

So next morning there was no question  where we were going. Loch of Asta and the now familiar plantation. Staying in Scalloway it was but a ten minute drive for us and once there we were determined to try and get an image or two of a bird that so far had contrived to prove the most frustrating and elusive of subjects.

I grew increasingly despondent as others managed to achieve passable images of the thrush but always partially obscured by leaves. For some reason I had great difficulty in picking it up amongst the elder leaves as others exclaimed with pleasure about the views they were getting of it and then, when finally I located the bird, was always a fraction too late as it granted the briefest of views before dropping out of sight.

The next day the 6th of October was wet and miserable but predicted to improve by noon so we briefly checked on the thrush that morning but the prospects did not look great with a few morose and wet birders standing around in the rain and gloom by the plantation and garden.

We stopped to enquire of a birder at the side of the road who turned out to be Bradders, well known to both of us

Hi Bradders.Any sign?

No. I think it has gone.

We went to see a Pectoral Sandpiper at a place with the unfortunate name of Twatt and whilst there news came through that the thrush was still at Loch of Asta but favouring the garden more than the plantation.We returned as fast as possible.

Immediately on arrival we found the bird was on show and spending most of its time feeding in various parts of the garden that lay across the road from the plantation.

Viewing into the garden

The viewing opportunities into the garden were far more restricted than from the loch. The garden was right by a road with fast moving cars but I managed to position myself on a bank overlooking the garden that at last enabled me to get some decent images of this iconic bird as it behaved much like a blackbird, turning over leaves on  the ground in search of food.

With patience it was possible to view the bird well.The size of a Song Thrush, I noted its adult like overall blue grey plumage with markedly grey and white striped undertail coverts, the only real indication of its immaturity being the creamy white markings on its face and the indistinct supercilia. The large dark eyes betrayed its preference for the gloomy interiors of northern forests and its behaviour was very similar to that other forest dwelling thrush that occasionally visits Shetland - White's Thrush - skulking and edgy, showing a marked predilection to remain very much under cover and shunning open ground. On one occasion it performed a similar dance to that of a White's Thrush when feeding and on a number of occasions it would choose to sit motionless in cover doing very little

We remained here all day and the bird finally gave itself up and was virtually on constant view for over two hours feeding in the garden. Still living up to its reputation of  shyness  it  never ventured into the open but spent much time tossing dead leaves about with some vigour close to cover but nevertheless gave ample opportunity for everyone to see it well and for extended periods

In a quiet moment I reflected that I had seen not one but two Siberian Thrushes in the space of four days.Who in their wildest dreams could have predicted such a thing and this is why I come to Shetland.

We went home to Scalloway to process the far too many images we had taken. 

What are we going to do tomorrow Mark? I enquired.

No question. If the thrush is there we go and see it again came his reply.

                                                                          And it was

With my thanks and congratulations to the finders of each of these Siberian Thrushes

There was no sign of the thrush on the 11th of October.