Retrospective on Shetland - Common Rosefinch - 30th September 2025

The garden at Grutness was also proving attractive to a Common Rosefinch which would join the resident House Sparrows feeding on seed put out for them in some bare sycamores by the owners.

The rosefinch had been seen here several times but then would mysteriously disappear and no one was quite sure where it went.

The mystery was solved when it was found feeding with a flock of around fifteen House Sparrows at the back of the nearby beach at Grutness Voe.The distance as a rosefinch flies being no more than a few hundred metres

For the most part the bird spent its time feeding on weeds on a patch of waste ground between the back of the beach and the road but occasionally would fly back to the garden to feed there.

However the House Sparows did not appreciate its company and would bully it, causing it to perch a little apart from them in the garden and it would not be long before it returned to the back of the beach to feed in the tangle of dead sorrel and various other plants where it was left alone.

This is the archetypal 'birders bird'. Invariably any Common Rosefinches on Shetland are first winter birds in what can only be described as an underwhelming dowdy plumage of unremarkable brown feathers, only slightly alleviated by pale buff tips to its median and greater coverts forming two distinctive wing bars on each wing and broad buff fringes to its tertials.Its underparts are paler buff and heavily streaked and its rather plain face accentuates its prominent dark beady  eyes. Apart from that it resembles a female House Sparrow in its plain-ness and one has to look carefully to make it out, hidden amongst the sparrows and tangles of dead seaweed and sorrel.Even when perched higher it was hardly distinctive.

Common Rosefinches breed over most of northern Asia and parts of eastern and central Europe and breed as close to Shetland as Sweden. They are scarce autumn visitors to the Northern Isles with birds regularly spending a few weeks on Shetland. I have never not seen one or more on my annual autumn trips to Shetland. This year I have seen three.

The rose coloured plumage only comes with adulthood which can often take two years to achieve.

I spent a happy two hours photographing the rosefinch both on the beach and in the garden as other birders came and went, the majority unimpressed by its dowdiness and giving it the soubriquet 'Grotfinch' but nonetheless glad to add it to their trip list on what was a quiet day for birds on Shetland. Few birders lingered long in its presence before moving on.

Retrospective on Shetland - Goldcrests - 30th September 2025

Wherever one goes on Shetland and there are bushes and trees, one will see Goldcrests.They arrive on Shetland in their thousands if not millions, routinely crossing the North Sea and making landfall literally anywhere. 

Stop and stare at a bush or tree in the hope of finding a bird and more often than not the first tiny movement you discern will betray the presence of a Goldcrest, all flicking wings and agitation in its non stop quest for sustenance to keep it alive

On a mild but very windy day at Grutness on Mainland I stopped by the sunken garden whose walls shelter it from the worst of the wind and provide a suitable place for two large hebe bushes to thrive. After a few minutes scrutiny they would reveal a Goldcrest or two emerging from their interior to minutely examine  every purple flower and waxy leaf for the microscopic prey they feed on.

They have to feed constantly to remain alive and therfore are forever active, examining every nook and corner of the bush until satisfied there is nothing more to find and move on.

They possess the cute factor in abundance and no one can fail to be enchanted by their energetic beauty. Our smallest british bird, only a hummingbird is smaller and lighter, they are mighty midgets, punching way above their weight (roughly that of a 5p piece) and fearlessly battle the elements to cross the North Sea from conifer forest homes in Scandinavia and Russia in order to reach our comparatively milder climate.How many must perish on the way if the weather turns against them is incalculable. Often on foggy or misty nights  they can become disoriented and seek temporary sanctuary and succour in the middle of the night on oil rigs and other structures far out to sea.  This activity has given rise to the romantic name given to them in Malta of Moon Warbler..

They are often completely fearless of human company, conducting their lives as if ignorant of any human presence or threat. Migrant Goldcrests have been known to land on people who happen to be standing still as the birds arrive off the sea.Instead of flying off in fear they commence to pick at the person's clothing as if picking amongst more natural leaves. Others are so tired after a difficult sea crossing they instantly go to sleep wherever they settle be it on the sand of a beach or seaweed covered rocks.

I can recall one magical time, mid morning at Hermaness on Unst when the grass on the cliff edge was literally crawling with Goldcrests arriving in huge numbers off the sea.They remained for a few minutes as if to catch their breath before rapidly moving inland.

Today there was no Goldcrest settling on my clothes even though I stood but feet away from these hyperactive sprites but nor did they shun my presence and it was a joy to see them so very close and boldly going about their frantic existence.

As  if to emphasise the mildness of the weather another winged migrant was also feasting on the hebe flowers.Not a bird though but a Painted Lady butterfly.

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.

Retrospective on Shetland - Blue winged Teal - 25th September 2025

c Hugh Harrop

A drake Blue winged Teal in eclipse plumage, a very rare bird for Shetland with only around ten records to date has been seen virtually daily at the Loch of Hillwell in the south of Mainland, since it was first discovered on the 19th of September and is a species that I have not seen on Shetland before so I made the twenty five mile trip from Scalloway to attempt to rectify this.The last Shetland record for this species was as long ago as 1995.

Trouble is the Loch of Hillwell can only be viewed distantly from the road, ideally through a telescope.The road in question is also narrow with limited opportunity for parking and the potential for upsetting the local farmers concerning access is ever present so it requires extreme sensitivity on the part of birders such as myself keen to see the duck and/or view the loch.

The other problem is that the duck is in eclipse plumage which renders it very similar in appearance to the local Eurasian Teal with which it associates and also likes to disappear with into the grass at the edge of the loch. The only failsafe method is to view it when it flies, when the pale blue wing coverts appear as two highly distinctive patches on each of the forewings.

There is a viewing alternative  as the Blue winged Teal can sometimes be seen at Setter Marsh, a spit viewable from a layby on the road overlooking the Loch of Spiggie, to where it often flies during the day along with its commoner cousins and spends time there but again there is the same issue of being able to identify it at distance when not flying.

I parked my car off the road by a deserted farm building at Hillwell and set up my scope to scan the loch that lay beyond and below me. Shortly afterwards Hugh Harrop, probably Shetland's most well known professional naturalist, who owns and runs Shetland Wildlife, came along the road and suggested I might be best to park my vehicle in another area less  likely to cause local concern. I duly did as suggested and then he said to follow him down a field towards the loch. The object was not to get closer to the teal but to try and find a European Turtle Dove that had been frequenting this field for the last few days.

We failed to flush the dove but getting nearer to the loch the ducks and geese took to the air.

Looking through my bins I picked out the Blue winged Teal flying at the front of a flock. of around twenty Eurasian Teal 

Hugh raised his camera and pointed it at the flying ducks

Where is it in the flock  Ewan?

Near the front Hugh, about third or fourth in

Got it!

A volley of camera clicks ensued and Hugh achieved the image that you see above.I doubt I could have managed  this and anyway my main priority was to see the bird and even Hugh  said he took a multitude of images of the flying teal flock 'just in case' and hoped one would come out that featured the Blue winged Teal.

It did and he has been kind enough to consent to allowing me to use it to illustrate this post

So thanks Hugh and what could have been a difficult and lengthy identification process was made a whole lot easier and I could add another new species to my Shetland Birdlist.

Retrospective on Shetland - Short toed Lark - 24th September 2025

The morning I arrived on Shetland I had planned to travel immediately to Unst to see a very rare Eastern Bonelli's Warbler but it had done a bunk that previous night so I abandoned plans to travel to Unst but decided to go to Yell which lies between Mainland and Unst, the reason being a Short toed Lark had been found by Adrian K at a place called Otterswick.

Short toed Larks are an annual rarity on Shetland, their infrequent visits often linked to weather patterns I have seen three on Shetland, remarkably one on each of the main three islands of Mainland, Unst and now Yell. They breed in southern Europe and northwest Africa and fromTurkey and southern Russia to Mongolia.The European populations move south in winter to the southern edge of the Sahara.

Yell is very different to Mainland with human habitation much less evident and the road that runs across the island to Gutcher, where you get the ferry to Unst, is a usually deserted ribbon of tarmac passing through barren moorland, the landscape's raw beauty populated by little else but sheep, the sea  forever evident, stretching away into vaguely glimpsed distant landmassses below huge skies

Otterswick is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but then most places on Yell are and the single track road the lark was feeding beside was even smaller and narrower than the road I turned off to get to it.

I arrived at Otterswick to find Adrian, who has realised his dream of moving to Shetland, forsaking running a business in  Essex to settle for a very different and apparently more satisfying life on Yell, already staking out the road from his car at the top end by a single empty house. He told me the lark liked to feed at the edge of the road where the grass verge met the tarmac. He suggested I go back down the road and park at the bottom by a cattle grid and the lark would come down between us on the road to feed. He further advised the lark was very flighty so we had to remain in our cars if we wished to see it. 

At the moment the road was only frequented by a handful of those ubiquitous Shetland residents Starlings but as instructed I waited in my car lower down the road for the lark to return which was apparently feeding somewhere in the fields to our left.

To encourage it back Adrian put some seed down by the roadside and sure enough after a litle wait the lark returned to feed on it. Unfortunately my position precluded any photos due to distance.

Adrian left and I took his place which was nearer where the lark had been feeding at the top of the road. Due to the road being, from what I could see, deserted and unused I parked at an angle across the road allowing me an unrestricted view down the road to where the lark liked to feed. If a car came I could always move my car to the side but one did

I waited quite some time with no one else arriving and eventually the lark pitched down onto the road and shuffled about picking at the seed along with the Starlings. I remained in my car and took my photos from the car window. For five minutes it fed contentedly with the Starlings and looked settled but something alarmed the Starlings and the lark flew with the Starlings and was gone.

I waited hoping for its imminent return and whilst the Starlings did come back the lark did not. 

One of the many bird tour groups that come to Shetland at this time of year  arrived at the bottom of the road and stood around waiting but the lark remained absent.After thirty minutes I decided to accept I had been fortunate to be here when no one else but Adrian was around and left it at that.

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Retrospective on Shetland - Musselburgh's Marsh Sandpiper - 23rd September

Driving to Aberdeen to catch the ferry to Shetland I had time to stop off at Musselburgh Lagoons where a Marsh Sandpiper had been present for a couple of weeks. An uncommon visitor to Britain I had by chance seen one in my home county of Oxfordshire just weeks ago at the end of August, the second ever for the county.

Marsh Sandpipers breed in eastern Europe and the Russian steppe and are a scarce but annual visitor to Britain mainly in late summer (July/August).They spend the winter in sub Saharan Africa.

Musselburgh Lagoons are converted from former industrial ash pools and comprise part of the attractive Levenhall Links Bird Reserve on the East Lothian coast. Having never been here before I was keen to see what it was like and I have to say I was not disappointed and would have liked to linger to explore more widely.

I watched the Marsh Sandpiper for an hour from one of three open roofed concrete hides, wading in the water of its favourite lagoon and giving exceptional views. They look remarkably pale especially in strong sunlight such as was evident today and to me are more elegant and refined in appearance than the similar but larger Greenshank, itself not lacking in similar elegant proportions.

  As a bonus the sandpiper was in the company of three Curlew Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank.

A pleasant and enjoyable precursor to my birding holiday in Shetland

Retrospective on Shetland - On the way North - 22nd September 2025

 

This year on my way north to Shetland I broke my journey at Mark's house in North Yorkshire. Mark, my long time twitching pal was going to join me on Shetland later, in early October   so the plan was for me to drive north with all his photographic gear in my car which I was taking on the ferry to Lerwick.Mark would follow by train to Aberdeen and come over on the ferry on October 4th.

As I was stopping overnight at Mark's house we thought a day's birding before I headed north would be in order so we made our way to nearby South Gare. Frankly it was not the most birdy of days but I wandered off onto the beach on an incoming tide to check out a growing roost of seabirds 

South Gare is a combination of former industrial infrastructure and still good habitat for birds with dunes and a huge sweep of sand stretching south to Redcar in the distance. It is an unlikely recreation spot but the sheer expanse of sand and sea still manages to impart that unique feeling of openness and isolation where one can forget the industrial landscape of Teeside that still dominates the skyline.

In mid afternoon I stood on the sands noting the gradual build up of shorebirds on the sand that was thankfully devoid of dog walkers or any sign of humanity.

The roosting birds were mainly Sandwich Terns and Oystercatchers, the latter's black and white bodies on bright pink legs forming a large dark shadow of loafing birds amongst which were scattered pristine white Sandwich Terns, robust hyperactive birds that will make their way to West Africa any day now

Checking the terns I found a much smaller tern stood incongruously amongst the Oystercatchers and for a moment was at a loss to identify it. Then the realisation came to me that it was a juvenile Black Tern. Not rare but an unusual find for here and one that gave me a pleasant feeling of personal achievement.

Beyond the roosting birds, where the sea met the sand, a line of surf white birds scuttled back and fore like motorised mice. Forever in motion they scuttled down the wet sand chasing the receding sea and then raced back up as the next wave headed shorewards. They were Sanderlings. Sociable birds that never like to be alone but always with others of their kind. They shuttled back and fore coming closer and closer as the tide advanced up the beach.

Eventually at a signal not known or obvious to me they ceased their hyperactivity, closed ranks and tucking short black bills into grey back feathers slept, but all the time  twisting on their own axis, forever keeping one eye open, on the alert for danger. 

I stood for an hour close but not too close to the resting birds and a sense of peace descended as we all stood waiting for the tide to reach its zenith and the rhythm of our markedly different existences to resume.