A Rubbish Day!
Decided on a bit of dirty twitching to the Mainland as the guys were keen to see the Lesser Grey Shrike if at all possible. I had taken a little risk and held off going. Hoping I had made the right decision we headed south. There was a funny moments when we arrived at Voe and met another group of birders obviously having a melancholic moment. When asked what they had seen the robust reply was “Nothing, we’ve seen nothing” It’s rubbish on these islands”. Well you decide:
By the end of the day as we sat around our lovely evening meal at the Baltasound Hotel we reviewed the remarkable ‘white Redpoll’ at Ronas Voe, the adult male Surf Scoter amoung the Eiders also at Ronas, the stunning pink stink of an adult Lesser Grey Shrike, finishing off with a 1st winter male Black-headed Bunting at Unst. Almost as usual we found a Yellow-browed Warbler too. Rubbish really!
Icelandic Redpoll, Ronas Voe, 28th September 2011 © Roger Wyatt
Adult male Surf Scoter, Ronas Voe, 28th September 2011
Adult male Lesser Grey Shrike, Laxo, September 2011 © Jim Nicholson
1st winter Black-headed Bunting (with House Sparrows), Belmont, Unst September 2011 © Roger Wyatt
Thanks very much indeed for the ace photos to Roger and Jim
I’m hoping the birders who found Shetland ‘rubbish’ won’t bother next September when I will be back…