Shetland - Week 2

This week has been desperately quiet on the birding front, bar one quite remarkable day! Struggling up north, this week did produce a flurry of Redwings, Blackbirds and Bramblings, but again common migrants have been hard to come by, even with the arrival of our hoped for south-easterly winds, which delivered big time!

Friday 1st October will be one of those legendary days talked about for years to come, but unfortunately only for the lucky few that were their to witness the presence of a true Siberian enigma, a Siberian Blue Robin!

At about 11.20, Hugh Harrop posted a message to say the Sibe Blue was in his garden. Absolute delirium followed, and by some form of absolute luck, Steve and I were at Hoswick, usually a 15 minute drive to Hillwell, but today, a mere eight minutes!! Having been up north almost solidly since we arrived, to be south of Lerwick on this day proved to be crucial, as all of those much north of here were pushing their luck, unknowingly to them, in seeing this species. 

We arrived and joined the mass of birders in the garden (madness really considering how close we were to the site) and over the course of 90-minutes we obtained some tickable, but underwhelming views. I as always decided to steer clear of the throng and instead hid myself at the side of the garden looking into a darkened corner, something that I know this species prefers having seen them multiple times in the gloomy SE Asian rainforests. This paid dividends three fold as it zipped past me, back again, then remarkably landing in the open on a branch, allowing not only five seconds of a binocular view, but just enough time to snap off a few pics. Surprisingly, not long after this, the robin must have departed the garden and was not to be seen again! Quite frankly, it was gutting to realise that lots dipped this bird... maybe if it wasn't ushered around the garden by its finder to please those already on site, it may have hung around, who knows!

Soon after, we retraced our steps back to Spiggie where a Lapland Bunting flew over, only for the second mega message to come through, and just down the road from the robin... a Two-barred Warbler at Quendale! Not quite as dramatic as the robin, but a UK tick and a superb bird that showed nicely.

The day was then rounded off with a Siberian Stonechat, Little Bunting, four Barred Warblers and possibly some other bits that got forgotten, for what was a mental day in British birding!

first-winter male Siberian Blue Robin at Hillwell

Two-barred Warbler at Quendale

Shetland - Week 1

Steve Wilson and I arrived onto the islands on Tuesday morning and were treated for the first three days with fine weather and some good birds, but as the week progressed, so did the wind increase, and fair to say it's been hard work in the past few days. Such struggle has been emphasised by the fact I've only found two Yellow-browed Warblers! 

Highlights from the first week:

Western Bonelli's Warbler
King Eider
American Black Tern
Kingfisher
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Glossy Ibis
Lapland Bunting
Baird's Sandpiper
Citrine Wagtail 
Yellow-browed Warbler

Common migrants have pretty much been non-existent, with totals comprising the following:

Blackcap - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 3
Garden Warbler - 1
Willow Warbler - 5
Chiffchaff - 3
Song Thrush - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Tree Pipit - 1

Stoat at Esha Ness

Lapland Bunting at Esha Ness

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Esha Ness

Western Bonelli's Warbler at Ocraquoy

Twite at Melby

Final week before Shetland

This year I'm on Shetland for three weeks in what looks to be a period of rather un-inspiring winds, however, if last year was anything to go by, winds can almost be irrelevant to the success of an autumn visit here, so we'll see. Once again, Steve and I will be based up at Housetter, away from the southern crowds!

On the lead up, it's been a quiet week, but on Friday I managed to escape and head out west to search a few beaches and wader groups in the hope of uncovering an American wader, but all I could muster were some scary looking juvenile Sanderlings, a smart first-winter Mediterranean Gull at Gairloch and a flock of 82 Pale-bellied Brent Geese seeking shelter.

On Saturday, I took Fly for a lovely walk from Tain, all the way out to Innis Mhor, that juts out five miles from Tain and comprises mostly of a sand dune system. This is where Pete Stronach last week found a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, somehow only the 10th Highland record. Being an active military site during the week meant it had to be the weekend before I could attempt it. Thankfully it was on view immediately upon arriving after an 80-minute march! Also along the way was a Grey Plover (very scarce up here) and another flock of Pale-bellied Brent Geese... these westerlies are certainly delivering many flocks to our shores. 

On my final night at home, just before bedtime a flock of Brent flew over the house, but being dark meant it was an educated guess at 30 birds.

Mediterranean Gull at Gairloch

Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Cove

Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Innis Mhor

departing Aberdeen

Stoer Lighthouse 12th September 2026

It's been a week of a few miles under the belt. Mid-week I caught up with a juvenile Sabine's Gull off Embo which has been present for a few days. Then for Saturday, the winds were looking very promising for NW Highland. I have yet to visit the area around Stoer Head, but it did look promising so I ventured up to there very early, arriving in the dark, but seeing a Barn Owl and a perched Long-eared Owl along the way was a good start. 

The wind was certainly howling and with on and off rain, it felt good. Due to the angle of the lighthouse, I had to find a sheltered bit right on the cliff edge, but it was at least sheltered! 

Unfortunately during prolonged periods the visibility dropped somewhat, halting any movement, but when it eventually cleared, a trickle of shearwaters and other bits started moving, with the undoubted highlight, and my reason for venturing to the NW, being a superb Great Shearwater. At only 1/4 distance, the views were excellent and this certainly made the journey worthwhile. In the far NW, sat on a remote clifftop, there are few better things than watching a Great Shear cruise past below you!

I then walked a long coastal route to try and find a Lapland Bunting, but it wasn't to be, although seeing the Old Man of Stoer was pretty good.

Totals between 0640-1240:

Great Shearwater - 1
Sooty Shearwater - 8
Manx Shearwater - 35
Pale-bellied Brent Goose - 22
Red-throated Diver - 18
Arctic Skua - 3
Great Skua - 6
Arctic Tern - 2

Great Shearwater passing Stoer Lighthouse

Strathy Point 8th September 2026

Having been in Romania over the weekend for my big brother's wedding, I missed surely one of the year's best seawatches in Highland, so I had to try and make up for that with somewhat promising winds forecast for Tuesday. 

I didn't arrive until late morning, one quick scan and Sooty Shearwaters were moving, so I wish I had arrived much earlier. Anyway, it wasn't the best of seawatches, but there was just about enough moving to keep me interested, with the undoubted highlight being a superb Leach's Petrel watched for ca. four minutes as it slowly progressed westwards. Unbelievably, no Sabine's!

Totals 11.30 - 1600:

Sooty Shearwater - 101
European Storm Petrel - 2
Leach's Storm Petrel - 1
Arctic Skua - 3
Great Skua - 7
Fulmar - 1000+

Sooty Shearwaters

Twites

Strathy Lighthouse

Honey-buzzards & local stuff

Probably one of the birdiest local sites to us has in fact been our garden. For three days running last week an immature Golden Eagle has appeared over to the south of us, while closer, the Honey-buzzards have still been active.

Ten or so days ago I ventured (with permission) into the woods of where I suspected a nest to be, and without any signal from the birds, I noticed a raptor nest up a Douglas Fir. I wasn't convinced initially and suspected an old nest, but then, careful scrutiny underneath revealed some wasp comb! It then took another hour until I realised that sat above the nest were two juvenile Honey-buzzards! With this confirmed, I have since left them to it, but it appears last weekend (15/16 Aug) the female has departed as I've not noticed her, while the male has been sighted daily up until the 25th, but I now think he has also gone. The juveniles are still present as of yesterday.

Last Wednesday, I got stuck into the Cory's Shearwater action with a seawatch off Tarbat Ness during a strong front that approached from the NE, although little else was recorded. 

This week has been manic to say the least, with last weekend's (re?) appearance of Highland's first Pacific Diver. Probably first sighted back in April, this vast expanse of coastline, in addition to the limited number of observers, probably meant that it hasn't been searched for and unnoticed all summer. Highland often relies upon holidaymakers to find some stuff, and that's exactly what happened here. On Monday, Pete saw it early doors, but a prolonged search by Emily and I the rest of the day drew a blank, so I had to go back the next morning, and after a four hour solo search in perfect conditions, I finally found this very striking bird, albeit in winter plumage; this being very helpful as it's currently the only diver present in said plumage. 

I went to Tarbat Ness on Thursday morning for a brief spell and only found a Whinchat... Highland does exceptionally badly for autumnal drift migrants, but I was at least expecting a warbler of any kind!

Pacific Diver off Gairloch

Viewing the diver

Swift from the garden... last sighting 27th August

Stoat at Tarbat Ness

Whinchat at Tarbat Ness

Cromarty Whales & more Honey-buzzard action 1/2 August 2026

This past weekend has mostly all been about my local pair of Honey-buzzards. Having kept a relative close-eye on them, I now know the area of trees in which they are nesting. It's also clearly apparent chicks are present (I'm predicting three-weeks old) as the male and female were both observed carrying wasp comb. 

On top of this, yesterday afternoon and from the comfort of my garden with a gin and tonic flowing nicely, the male Honey-buzzard performed its 'butterfly' display for up to 30 minutes. Quite amazing! My next quest is to of course narrow down the potential nesting area even further, as this information could be vital in protecting this valley.

Even more amazing this weekend was a pod of four Northern Bottlenose Whales off Cromarty on Saturday afternoon, which I wasted little time in attempting to see, this being a new species for me. Lovely views were had and I even witnessed the female spy-hopping. Sadly, it appears one of the whales has perished, as only three are now present in the firth, but as I type, they are slowly moving east towards deeper waters. 

During the week I managed to see a Storm-petrel, so my Highland yearlist is now on 199.

Northern Bottlenose Whales

female Honey-buzzard carrying wasp comb