I saw a few odds and ends whilst working on Yell today including a Grey Plover on Gossabrough beach, a Bar-tailed Godwit feeding with Golden Plovers in a field at Hamnavoe, a Yellow-browed Warbler at Camb and 3 Blue Tits at Burravoe.
Another much nicer morning than forecast with just a slack northerly breeze. Our garden was playing host to a Redwing, a Siberian Chiffchaff and 2 Blue Tits all of which boded well. I walked to Valyie and before arriving there I'd seen another 2 Siberian Chiffchaffs together, my first Great Tit of the Autumn and a Hawfinch. There was an increase in numbers of finches in the fields and a few Redwings and Fieldfares were overflying, heading inland. The Coues's / Icelandic Arctic Redpoll was still present, although on its own today when I saw it, but still very mobile around the fields. As I quietly entered the sycamores at Vaylie, all those hours scrutinising the forest floor in southeast Asia paid dividends as a movement in the darkest recess caught my eye... I raised my bins... and there was a Red-flanked Bluetail sat motionless in full view on a low branch - superb! I slowly lowered my bins, raised my camera and hit the trigger... click, clunk... click clunk... I'd forgotten to increase the ISO on entering the garden and the camera was firing at 1/60th of a second! The Bluetail hopped around on the low branch, then down onto the ground and made a few hops to the left and out of view. I cranked up the ISO, moved slightly to my right, but in doing so the Bluetail took flight and zipped to the outer edge of the garden. The adrenaline rush kicked-in and I hardly dared take a look at my images, fearing the worst, but was very pleasantly surprised! I briefly waited hoping for it to return and then saw it again on the outer edge of the garden but largely obscured. I made my way round the barn, approached the edge of the garden with care, only to see it fly along the fenceline and disappear back into the garden. I don't have a mobile phone signal at Valyie so climbed up the grassy bank to Holsen's road where I put the news out. I returned to the garden and Robbie was the first to arrive and we heard the Bluetail calling. A few more observers arrived... and it took a while to relocate... when I again saw it on the very same low branch! I obtained a couple more brief views and I then left, but thankfully it continued to perform for those arriving from further afield. We headed to Skaw and Lamba Ness seeing more Thrushes, another Siberian Chiffchaff and a Blue Tit. Haroldswick added 2 Hawfinches together that flew north. Robbie then kindly told us that a Pallas's Warbler was showing well at Buddabrake that we enjoyed watching late in the afternoon.
I started at Valyie where it seemed a little quieter for migrants than in recent days albeit I saw 4 Blue Tits, the Common Rosefinch and the Little Bunting. Skaw added a Jack Snipe and another Blue Tit and Brenda saw 2 Blue Tits in our garden. During a visit to Quoys I found my first Bullfinch of the year - it appeared large but its call sounded very ordinary and it certainly wasn't trumpeting! On returning to Norwick I heard some Redpolls overflying heading towards Valyie so I made another visit and was pleased to refind the Arctic Redpoll from a couple of days ago. It appeared smaller than some of the accompanying Northwestern Redpolls, and whilst employing a little playback of Coues's Arctic Redpoll, it was the only bird present to show any interest by first attempting to land on my shoulder and then my cap! Thinking it would be my 'bird of the day', Brydon found a Lanceolated Warbler at Baltasound that Mike caught and we enjoyed seeing it be released... and it flying and disappearing straight into cover.
For a pleasant change there was plenty of early morning visible diurnal migration over Norwick with a few flocks of Meadow Pipits, Redwings, a Fieldfare, several flocks of Brambling and even 8 Goldcrests were seen to take to the air and fly as a loose flock inland from Valyie. Whilst this was nice to see it also likely resulted in what amounted to a very brief encounter with an Arctic Redpoll that flushed from the ground at Valyie with c.8 Redpolls that I took to be a small flock of Mealy Redpolls at the time. They all alighted in the sycamores and having only secured a few images of the Arctic the entire flock took flight calling but I anticipated/hoped that they would simply circle around before settling again. But there was a flock of c.20 Redwings flying overhead and inland at the time and much to my horror the Redpolls climbed-up into the sky to initially loosely associate with the Thrushes for a while before separating from them until I lost them as specks high in the sky heading towards Saxa Vord camp. Whilst at Valyie I also saw c.10 Robins, a Yellow-browed Warbler, the Common Rosefinch and 2 Little Buntings. Geoff & Robbie then very kindly helped us set a new window at our house that took a fair while during which time a Common Redstart, a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcaps, a Goldcrest and a Blue Tit spent varying times in our garden and a few Brambling overflew. During the afternoon I headed for Lamba Ness seeing a Jack Snipe, 2 Bluethroats and another 10 Robins. Skaw added a Yellow-browed Warbler and 3 Chiffchaffs.
A nice calm morning to be out birding and there were still plenty of migrants lingering on the island with good numbers of Redwings, Song Thrushes, Robins, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests seen at most sites visited. We also saw a Common Redstart at Baltasound, a Siberian Chiffchaff and Yellow-browed Warbler at Clingera, Rob Dowley's Red-breasted Flycatcher at Baliasta, a Spotted Flycatcher at Norwick, Reed Buntings at Lamba Ness and Norwick, the Little Bunting and Common Rosefinch at Valyie and a Blue Tit in our garden. It was also really good to see Graham & Mary Bundy out birding today and that they'd found a Yellow-browed Warbler at NorthDale.
Another wet and windy start to the day. From the off there were birds in our garden including a Redwing, 2 Blackcaps, a Goldcrest, a Chaffinch and a surprise Blue Tit - bearing a ring. On the way to Skaw I saw a Water Rail, a few Redwings, 2 Song Thrushes, a couple of Phylloscs flick across the road and a Wheatear so my hopes were high. It was then something of a disappointment that Skaw proved rather similar to yesterday with 14 Redwings, 2 Song Thrush, a Robin, 8 Blackcaps, 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Goldcrests, a Chaffinch and a Reed Bunting seen. A look around Norwick added 3 Swallows, a Dunnock, 2 Stonechats, 30 Redwings, 10 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 2 Yellow-browed Warblers, a Goldcrest, 20 Bramblings and a Greenland Redpoll and 2 Blue Tits (one bearing a ring) at Leawart and a party of 5 at Valyie. A walk out on Lamba Ness produced a Long-tailed Duck, 10 Robins, a Dunnock, a Red-backed Shrike, a Little Bunting, 6 Lapland Buntings and a Snow Bunting. However, the highlight of the afternoon were the flocks of Barnacle Geese arriving over Lamba Ness that amounted to 670 including a leucistic individual. I met Mike at Burrafirth where we saw a Long-tailed Duck, a Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Reed Buntings and the lingering Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll along the burn and 2 Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff, a Yellow-browed Warbler and 6 Bramblings at the Shore Station.
