Shetland Day 1

The wind is South Westerly and has been for a few days. Long gone are the Easterlies that prevailed last week and as such I am not expecting many new birds. However, the remnants of last week's 'fall' include an Olive Backed Pipit at Toab in South Mainland. I am well armed with 3 OS maps so even I can't get lost. My only concern is with the Ford Ka and will it make it up any hills I encounter.

I park up at Toab and immediately see a huddle of birders peering into the back garden of a house in St Ninians Avenue. Now I am not particularly comfortable about staring into someones back garden with a pair of binoculars but nonetheless I glimpse the OBP in the garden before it lifts off over the houses apparently back to the playground which is its favourite site.

The 'crowd' follow it round and eventually find it in someone elses's back garden where it shows for a prolonged period alowing a record shot:

Olive Backed Pipit

This is a good start. I have seen one before on Scilly but not nearly as well as this one. The white spot on the rear cheek emphasised by the adjacient black spot are very striking. After this the bird disappears and birders arriving in the afternoon dip it.

Following this I give up twitching and attempt to find my own birds:

This isn't nearly as much fun so I bugger off to Quendale Mill in the search of Rosefinch in some quarry. I can't even find the quarry and resort to photographing Twite that appear very common in Shetland:

A very mobile Isabelline Shrike has been relocated back at Toab so I head back there and dip it but have the compensation of seeing a Yellow Browed Warbler and a Hawfinch.

Curlews over Toab

By now the wind is increasing and I head over to the Pool of Virkie to see a selection of waders including a Black Tailed Godwit before calling it a day fairly early and heading for my B&B in Lerwick.