Being a cold morning I wasn't too surprised that I had failed to see a new migrant. However, Pete Aley and his teams have an enviable reputation for finding rarities on their regular Autumn visits to Shetland, and even with the weather seemingly against them this visit, Pete and Roy McCarthy found a River Warbler in the iris beds at Gardie at the south end of Loch of Cliff just west of Baliasta - a brilliant find and the first record for Unst. I joined the gathering birders and enjoyed some brief but nice views as it was coaxed into view before it settled into a discrete patch of irises where it was then showing very occasionally of its own accord.
Gardie
River Warbler at Gardie
