The NW wind does blow

And today it blew hard making any productive birding a real challenge.

We did our usual and headed to Valyie as this was probably the best place to find some calm conditions. 3 swallows and 3 house martin over the garden were new in and an increase of skylarks in the crop in the valley. At least 15 birds were present.
There were quite a few people not on the island so we thought we would do something crazy and try somewhere new in the hope of finding some more crossbiills.

While talking to the guys staying in Northdale yesterday the talked about a small plantation on the east  side of the road to Burrafirth which they named 'Pauls Pines' after one of their number stepped on a nail while checking it out last year.
It was a bit of a trudge over the moorland to get to it but we were hopeful of getting something there. Sadly it only contained a chiffchaff and chaffinch but it was worth putting in the effort; you never know and at least neither of us got injured.

Not a single bird was in Burrafirth so we decided to head home for lunch. To be honest we really didn't know what to do. The weather and number of people around left us undecided as to where to go.

We decided to walk to Houlland from our digs, down the burn checking the iris beds then up to the house and back along the road. We were rather surprised by the amount of iris near the house but they contained noting today. A reed bunting was still in the irisbed north of the road and then Nick flushed the probable grasshopper warbler we saw yesterday evening. Views weren't much better than yesterday but we did manage to get a couple of record flight shots. Although the tail looks short in my pics I suspect that it is just an artifact on the picture and in reality it was much longer.

Around the garden the redstart was still present along with a yellow browed warbler and a pink footed goose over calling.
On the walk back we stopped to chat to another birder when Nick picked up a little bunting saton the fence on the edge of Baliasta. The bird showed well briefly on the road before flying further down to the burn. A yellow browed warbler was in the next garden along with another next to our digs

We decided then to try Clingera for some shelter. There wasn't much but we did get a couple of redstart and 3 chiffchaffs. One of the redstarts was rather damp and showed well around the farm buildings.

Final stop of the day was another look at the parrot crossbills. They were rather more elusive than yesterday but still showed well.

Loxia Luck

When we had a large looking crossbill fly out of Valyie this morning, never did we realise what was going to happen later on in the day.

We were at Vaylie as it is one of the areas on the island that we can get signal so we headed there in the hope of getting news about the pg tips that was on the mainland yesterday. The birds were pretty mush the same but we did have a two tree pipits behind the house along with a redstart and reed warbler along the road. A calling crossbill in the top of the garden flew down into the small pine plantation before heading up the valley towards Saxa Vord. Both of us commented on the size and that the call 'sounded different' We didn't get anything on it so left it. Nick also had a second bird fly out and head towards Skaw but I didn't see that one.
Ken Shaw joined us a short while later and also commented on the crossbill that the size and call were interesting

We headed to Baltasound to get some signal and any news on the pg tips. No sign so we gave up waiting and went birding.

With the wind now in the south-west, much of Haligarth was sheltered so we had a boot around the walled garden. 2 spotted flycatchers and a bunch of chiffchaffs we feeding around the edge and Nick had a single pied fly within the trees. The common rosefinch was still in the scrubby rosa bushes next to the ruined house. While I was on the outside of the garden a crossbill came in from the east calling. I thought it was going to drop into the wood but it just circled and headed towards Setters Hill. The bird was strikingly big and had a bright pink rump as it flew away.
I grabbed a couple of pics of the tree pipit and then we headed up to Setters Hill.

We took a side each of the small pine belt but only managed to locate a robin and a female blackcap. We walked along the back of the estate where the little bunting was still present along with a female redstart. At the end, I decided to cross the moor to the next estate while Nick retraced our steps. At the bottom of the estate, Nick radioed to say that he had found the crossbills, lucky really as his radio was about to die and he wouldn't have been able to reach me.
I headed back along the road towards the estate, flagging down Ken Shaw and his team, to find Nick watching the birds feeding in the pines. Nick had decided to walk through the trees and could hear them feeding above his head!!
With 2 males and 2 females present, it looked like the birds that were being seen around the area throughout the morning had come together into a little flock. A lot of discussion was had around the identity of the birds with the males almost certainly parrot crossbills and the females probably were too.
Watching them feeding amongst the trees you could really get a feeling of how big they were with large deep based powerful bills. They were certainly nothing like any common crossbill I have seen. It was really interesting watching the way the birds were feeding, pulling the cones off and dropping onto a lower branch to feed on them. Great birds but tricky to get a good photo.

As more people arrived we had out own twitch, we didn't realise there were that many birders on the island. Later in the day there were even people from South Mainland at the site. There were plenty of photos being taken and at least two people got some sound recordings so that should help with the description process.

With the weather getting poorer we headed to Skaw to seek some shelter. We didn't but we still had a boot around the area before the rain got too bad. Both the red throated pipit and little bunting were still present but the rain beat us.

After a short break to dry off and change waterproofs, we headed up to Burrafirth but there were only a few birds about and nothing new in.
Final stop of the day was a visit to our Houlland patch. The chiffchaff, robin and redstart were still present along with some frustratingly brief view of a warbler sp flushed from the wet areas below the croft. We concluded it was probably a grasshopper warbler but it disappeared before we could pin it down. Maybe tomorrow....

Last bird of the day was a new yellow browed warbler outside our digs.

It started as a frustrating day but ended up pretty good.

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....