Pallas' Warbler Reading my blogs may give you the impression that autumn in Shetland is nonstop rare birds. Its not. There are always slower periods in a ten day stay. My blogs tend to concentrate on the big rarities but there are always slow days that, in all honesty, can be quite hard work. As in the rest of the UK, it’s all critically depended on having reasonably strong winds from the west or east. This year it was all about eastern winds and birds with hardly a sniff of anything exotic from north America. If truth be told, there’s not much else to do on Shetland at this time of year so slow days can be very hard going. Most days, however, there is at least something in terms of scarce drift migrants to go and see and photograph. On Wednesday 9th October a very rare American Nighthawk was reported on Yell. I thought about going but decided to wait for further information, mainly because I saw the Oxford bird so well a couple of years back. It’s a good job I did because
Shetland Autumn 2024 part two, Shetland delivers a red letter day – Pallas' Grasshopper and Arctic Warblers!
Arctic Warbler I guess the main reason for me coming to Shetland is the prospect of seeing very rare birds. It's great to see and photograph the scarce drift vagrants but it’s the thought of seeing something I have never seen before which really gets my adrenaline flowing. The list of new birds I have seen in Shetland in the past two years alone is mouth-watering, Swainsons’ Thrush, Pechora Pipit, Lanceolated Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Least Bittern, Veery, Eastern Sub-Alpine Warbler, White's Thrush and Yellow Warbler. The thought of adding more to this wonderful list of rare birds is what keeps me coming back. On Monday Shetland delivered the goods big time again! I started the day at the now dilapidated and closed Orca Inn in Hoswick where a very confiding Snow Bunting had been reported. I would hope to see Snow Buntings every year and there is normally an overwintering flock on the cliffs at Eshaness in Shetland. It's very exposed there with no natural cover making