Upland disappointment

We didn't hear about the upland sandpiper on Fetlar until it was too late yesterday so we decided to head down to the south of the island so we were within striking distance of the ferry should positive news come in.

We did the west side of Uyeasound although it was very quiet. Single willow warbler, chiffchaff and a dunnock were the highlights!! We headed down to the ferry terminal to get wifi access and be ready to the 10:45 boat off the island. Sadly no news came so we went back to do the east side of Uyeasound. The whooper swan was back on the loch along with , yellow browed warbler, chiffchaff and willow warbler were in the large vegetated garden near the church. 2 black guillemot in the harbour.

News of a red breasted flycatcher at Clingera took us back to the Baltasound area for the rest of the day.
On arrival at Clingera we walked the burn leading into the property flushing a garden warbler from the rosa and then a couple of chiffchaff as we entered the wood. There were a few other birders in the wood who told us the flycatcher was still present but mobile They were not wrong, the bird was typically mobile and elusive, bombing around the little wooded area but in the end it seemed to settle down to a routine, favouring a small sycamore. Managed to get a couple of shots but it was a bit too dark really.  Alsso in the wood were 3 chiffchaff and a redstart.

After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon birding around Baltasound covering Setters Hill, the sports centre area and the health centre garden. Highlights included the little bunting at Setters Hill, 2 garden warbler, 5 blackcap and willow warbler in the scrubby areas around the sports centre and a fieldfare on the football pitch. The sheltered health centre garden held a nice little selection of birds. Only our 2nd pied flycatcher was nice along with yellow browed warbler and several chiffchaffs.

With rain starting to set in we headed back to the car and headed to Skaw where we could get a little bit of shelter. A tour group were already present and had done the croft and found nothing new so we went to Burrafirth instead. Male blackcap and robin were new birds for the site but the biggest surprise were 8 swallows over heading south. In the current weather it will take them a while to get to Africa!

The weather was now grim so we headed home.

Gutted that the sandpiper didn't stick as it was a lifer for both of us. Hopefully the PG Tips will get on the list tomorrow if it is still about....