My early morning circuit had produced a Barred Warbler and a Yellow-browed Warbler and then a Blyth's Lesser Whitethroat. I returned for brunch and we set out again. As we reached Haroldswick I decided to walk through the line of docks almost half-anticipating there should be a Little Bunting somewhere on Unst and it has proved a good place for the species in past Autumns. As I walked through a small Pipit took to the air, steeply climbed but probably to less than 15 feet and almost spiraled back to the ground - it hadn't called. Based primarily on it not calling, it ran through my mind '...that might be a Pechora!' I guess subconsciously those sort of thoughts frequently run through your mind only to usually be quickly dashed. I walked towards where it had dropped and then suddenly saw it stood upright, motionless, simply looking around. Raising my bins, 'bloody hell, it is a Pechora!! Brilliant, a find tick! As I instinctively raised my camera I thought that I saw it move to the left, so was pleasantly surprised to see that it hadn't, it was still there, still stood upright! I pretty much left my finger on the trigger and the image timings show that it remained in view for just 30 seconds before moving to the right and immediately out of view. I stood still, scanning, hoping to see it creeping around but I couldn't. After just a couple of minutes, for no apparent reason, a Pipit then took flight, remained silent, and it was off, away, across the pool and gaining height. I was pretty sure that it was it, and rattled off a few increasingly distant flight shots, before it dropped into the extensive area of grass the far side of the pool. Just in case it wasn't the Pechora, I walked back and forth through the dock but no sign. No phone signal, a dash to Boordanoost but Al was out, it hadn't returned to the line of docks, a signal from the viking ship but not strong enough for whatsapp to load the image, drive to the top of the hill and whatsapp/texts sent. The only previous time I had seen Pechora Pipit (here) in the UK I received the tragic news that one of the best rarity-finding friends, Kevin Johnston, had passed away, and in the immediate aftermath of seeing today's, I'd thought of Kev. Little did I know that literally just a few minutes after sending the first Whatsapp message, I'd be receiving an email containing the very sad news that one of my long-term birding friends - that I'd literally twitched the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland with - Steve Mawby, had lost his battle against pancreatic cancer and had passed away last Friday. So many memories. My thoughts are with his family. This one's for you Steve...
Blyth's Lesser Whitethroat at the Heritage Centre
Pechora Pipit at Haroldswick
