SHETLAND (27th-30th Sept 2012) – Day 3

After an unproductive second day, I was in need of some replenishment on the third day (29th September), despite a decent first day. It’s fair to say that my desire was met, in a pretty full on way.

The South seemed the best area to be, given the previous days’ difficulties in the North. We planned to start at Wester Quarff again, but news of a Dick’s Pipit and Common Rosefinch at Quendale scuppered those plans. With the latter being a passerine bogey of mine, I was keen to get there and have a butcher’s. Passing through Channerwick on the way down produced a Great Skua low over the car. Arriving at Quendale produced two more as we received gen on the whereabouts of both scarcities. A movement of Skylarks was also of interest, with at least 30 north early on. The Dick’s Pipit was closer to the mill, so naturally we had a look for this first. As we approached the mound it was favouring a lithe female Merlin zipped through, harrassed by a Hooded Crow, a sequence of events which was over in the blink of an eye. We joined a lone birder in admiring the Richard’s Pipit, which took a minute or two to connect with as it had initially disappeared over the brow of the mound. Eventually however it appeared, standing still briefly in diagnostic thrush-like stance in between erratic scuttles hither and tither along the edge of the mound. A harsh wind made viewing difficult as I found my eyes watering constantly, and given the distance of the bird it proved tricky to examine the finer features of this dapper pipit, though the buffy well streaked upper-breast, stout bill, creamy super and ill-defined pale lores were all clear. Battling against the wind, I managed to get an abysmal record shot, which can be seen below. A lovely bird and a fantastic start to the day; it was shame that it had picked such an exposed spot to favour though!

possibly the worst shot you’ll ever see of a Richard’s Pipit, Quendale, Shetland (29/9/12)

Regrettably, the twitcher syndrome had caught on. After 10 minutes we left this  pipit, and I immediately set my sights on ‘cleaning up’ on ‘the’ Rosefinch, the lifer of the two species. The quarry it had been favouring was virtually just round the corner from the Richard’s Pipit, so we went from watching a Dick’s Pipit to a bizzare looking juvenile Common Rosefinch in a matter of a few minutes. A wave of intense relief swept over me as I alighted on this bird, given a succession of dipping this species elsewhere previously.

It was a downright strange experience watching this bird. Unlike all previous birds I’ve dipped, this bird was in no way a bog-standard looking juvenile, and it was riduclously tame. I found myself with views below 10ft of what was possibly the most drab yet utterly distinctive rare passerine I’ve ever seen, gorging on nettles and seeds on top of a heap of crap, in Sumburgh Little Bunting fashion. When I say gorging, I mean gorging. This bird just wouldn’t stop feeding. On the rare occasions it popped its head up, its bill was covered in little seeds and pieces of nettle. It was so famished that it barely moved from the spot it was sat, not responding as I got closer and closer for photos. Close views allowed for a decent inspection of its finer features. This was a uniquely indistinct grotfinch, entirely brown with the only exception being a more rosey-tinged alula. The median and greater coverts were noticeably worn and the diagnostic pair of white wing bars non-existent, perhaps implying the beginnings of its moult into adult plumage. The eyes were entirely black and large, giving the bird a beady-eyed look, and the bill was distinctly chunky. Other than this however, there was little to assess. A very strange bird, but of great joy and interest to see. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day; two top draw scarces in the space of half an hour.

Common Rosefinch, Quendale, Shetland (29/9/12). Paradoxically distinct and indistinct

tucking in

note the distinctly rosey alula

It turned out to be one of those days when the birding was so ridiculously good that it was too hard to digest in a one-er. We had barely left Quendale when RBA came in with news of the Olive-backed Pipit’s return at Hestingott. Having dipped this bird on the first day and feeling lucky after a great start, we were anxious to give this OBP a second go. On arrival many birders were wandering around the various gardens, clearly with no luck. 15 minutes passed with no sign. Even if we missed it that day would still be memorable, I told myself. However, the good times just kept on going.

We were in the right place at the right time when someone called the OBP. We heard a distinctive, somewhat mournful, metallic ‘ziip’ call above us and looked up to see the Olive-backed Pipit fly from the plantation into one of the gardens on Ninian’s Drive. Exhilirated, everyone converged on the garden it had landed in. It proved to be flightly and difficult to track down, with brief  views being the best we could managed as it kept largely out of sight behind a shed. After some time it eventually obliged and performed well briefly out in the open, where I managed to admire it and get a few photos before it disappeared. This rates amongst one of the most attractive rare passerines I’ve ever seen. A stonking adult with outstandingly olivey upperparts (easily noticeable even in flight), it was unmistakable. The facial pattern had a subtle but intense beauty, with a whopping and extensive white supercilium contrasting with single black and white spots on the ear coverts and black-bordered lateral crown stripes. The mantle and scapulars were very faintly streaked – appearing almost plain – whilst the tertials were very fresh with dark centres and strong olivey fringes.  Surprisngly, it wasn’t very heavily streaked on the underparts, with very little streaking whatsoever on the posterior flanks. With views down to 25ft, this was bird was a delight to watch. It’s a pity that it was so flighty; within 10 minutes of its re-discovery it had disappeared. A very nice bonus bird indeed was Hawfinch. A few of us had this stocky finch pelting out the plantation in an easterly direction, disappearing rapidly into the distance.

Olive-backed-Pipit, Hestingott, Shetland (29/9/12). The best shot I could manage during its all too brief foray out into the open

a rear end view, the plain mantle contrasting with fresh dark centred, pale-fringed tertials was outstanding.

We were buzzing after this; 2 rare pipits and a Common Rosefinch in under 3 hours was not something we had imagined at the beginning of the day. After the hype of a superb morning’s birding, things calmed down somewhat as we visited a few quieter sites. We started at the Boddam garden which two days earlier had given us a nice sprinkling of warblers. The YBW and Lesser Whitethroat were no longer present, but it was nice to see the female Redstart again and at least 2 Song Thrush. A flock of 50 Golden Plovers were scattered by a female Merlin, which could well have been the same bird as at Quendale. It was then onwards to Burn of Geosetter, somwhere I’d been very keen to check. The habitat was fantastic here, amongst the most promising I had seen; a lengthy creek lined with decent cover and crevices for migs. The best we could dig out was a female Redstart and 2 Bramblings, but its ability to produce cracking stuff was obvious; the mind can only wonder how many Lanceys and PG Tips have moved through there unnoticed. In true Shetland style, I watched one of 8 Blackbirds scuttling along the ground at the bottom of the creek. It’s these sort of moments that remind you just how uniquely exciting Shetland is…

an item of interest in the wilderness; surely taking the piss?

Lunch was enjoyed at Pool Of Virkie, where 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Bar-tailed Godwits, 22 Dunlin, 30 Redshank and 30 Ringed Plover provided a nice change of scene. Before heading to Scatness, we popped into the Little Bunt quarry at Sumburgh, where a female Merlin was seen again. Whether this was the Quendale and Boddam bird having done a tour of the south we could only wonder. The pool at Scatness held 8 Wigeon, 6 Tufted Duck, 4 Teal  and 2 Whooper Swan. We planned to cover the peninsula here, but the discovery of an American Golden Plover at Veensgarth near Lerwick had us in two minds. After such a decent day, we couldn’t resist, so piled our way northwards. We arrived at about 4pm, initially struggling to locate a Golden Plover flock and getting lost. While lost I had a look round a promising little plantation and discovered this little fella walking around by my feet…

Hedgehog at Veensgarth, Shetland (29/9/12); like AGP, only my second ever!

After a while we finally located the Golden Plover flock. There was no-one else present, so at this stage it was ours to re-find. It wasn’t tricky either, as I quickly picked out the American Golden Plover roosting at the front of the flock. The light was rubbish, yet this cracker was easy to pick out. An adult in a transitional phase between summer and winter plumage, this AGP was a very dark individual with its defining feature as it roosted being a white supercilium extending beyond the ear coverts to the nape; sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the posse of 150 winter plumaged Golden Plovers. Its transitional plumage gave it a black and white chequered look on the underparts which was vastly unlike any of the golden plovers, whilst the entire upperparts were notched blackish-grey. Others soon arrived and we directed them onto the bird. It wasn’t moving much in the harsh wind, staying rooted to its spot at the front of the flock as it roosted. After half an hour it eventually started moving about, though light was fading at this point. Somehow I got some digiscoped shots displaying the diagnostics in the nasty conditions. A sharp rain shower then passed through, at which point we made a hasty retreat.

American Golden Plover, Veensgarth (29/9/12). This dreadful shot shows the white supercilium and notched black upperparts.

With what light there was left, we popped into Loch of Tingwall and Wester Quarff. 2 Whooper Swan and 10 Tufties were present at the former, whilst the latter held on to its Redstart and a Brambling. As we headed back to Lerwick a Snipe flew over Loch of Brindister.

What a day. 2 rare pipits, a Common Rosefinch and a Nearctic AGP in the space of 8 hours, with Hawfinch and a scattering of other things to boot. Retrospectively, this day is up there with 16th October 2010 on Fair Isle as one of the best day’s birding I’ve ever had. The trip was well and truly worth £800 now; anything else from now on was a bonus. On our final day, there was more to come…

Thanks for reading,

Joseph

Egyptian Goose at Meikle Loch – 2nd For Scotland And Regional First

A few weeks back I was delighted to receive news that an Egyptian Goose I had submitted to the NESRC back in 2010 was accepted under Category C as a first for the region and by the SBRC as a second for Scotland. Egyptian Goose records don’t normally scream seriousness in your face, but I’m glad to say this individual was an exception to that rule. A very interesting bird, as you’ll see below.

Egyptian Goose at Meikle Loch  – Circumstances and Description:

 On the morning of 27th March 2010 I decided to spend a few hours around the Ythan area, hoping to catch up with a Bewick’s Swan which had been found in fields in the Waulkmill area the day beforehand, and perhaps a few early migrants. After successfully tracing down the Bewick’s Swan and popping into Collieston, we headed down towards the estuary via Meikle Loch. As we drove down the track, I noticed a flock of Shelduck and something larger take off towards the back of the loch. Getting the binoculars up revealed a pale, stocky medium sized goose with cinnamon undertail coverts and gleaming white wing panels contrasting with jet black primaries. It dawned on me that, much to my surprise I was watching an Egyptian Goose.

I can remember exclaiming something along the lines of ‘What on earth is that doing here?’ as it powered into the distance. The Shelduck flock touched down at the very edge of the loch, but the Egyptian Goose continued into the fields behind. It hit us that this was may be all we were going to see of the bird in question, but to our relief it landed in the field to the left of the cottage, some 300ft away from where we were stationed. At this point were able to note the buff-grey head, chestnut eye patches and pink bill before it walked out of view behind a patch of conifers. A few tense minutes were spent hoping that it would reappear into view, and eventually it flew back onto the loch, detached from the other wildfowl and seeming entirely unable to settle. Within a couple of minutes it had flown high to the southeast; gone after no more 10 minutes of us arriving. It later became apparent that the bird had been seen on the Ythan by Waterside Bridge with Shelduck at 12:30pm, roughly an hour and a half after we had last seen it at Meikle. It would not be seen again in the region thereafter.

Alarm bells rang in my head that this may not be an escapee. Had this bird acted tame and settled I wouldn’t have even dwelt on this possibility. In reality I had been faced with a very mobile and flighty Egyptian Goose which had stuck around at Meikle Loch for no more than 10 minutes before moving south. Could this have been a genuinely migrating bird that had strayed from a self-sustaining population? I could only wonder. I soon became alerted that a mobile Egyptian Goose had been in Shetland the previous month. It was last seen there on 25th March at Exnaboe on the southern tip of the mainland, just two days before the individual at Meikle Loch was found...

An account posted the day after it was found can be seen here.

Status Of Egyptian Goose In Scotland – The Record In Context:

Of the occasional reports of this species in Scotland, most likely refer to escapees from wildfowl collections or those from the self-sustaining groups such as those in Norfolk, Denmark and the Netherlands. There have been several records accepted under Category E of roaming individuals in Scotland, including from Kinross, the Black Isle and West Lothian in the late 1970s and more recently in NE Scotland at New Deer in 2008, but it is unlikely that the published records so far accurately represent the frequency of this bird in Scotland (Valerie M Thom 1986, T&AD Poyser). Historically, a substantial Scottish free-flying population was kept at the Gosford Estate in East Lothian throughout the 19th century, with some groups from this population being noted to have wintered in Northumberland, where they were known as “spanish geese” by local wildfowlers, but failed to subsequently become established into the 20th century (J.T.R Sharrock 1976, T&AD Poyser).

The Shetland bird represented the first to be accepted onto Category C of the Scottish List due to its location and also the time of year. Late winter and early spring have been acknowledged as a period when this species are potentially on the move in England (Riddington 2011, SOC) and thus the Shetland bird was deemed as having the necessary credentials for a ‘wild’ bird from a self-sustaining population. Due to the ties in dates with this bird, the Meikle Loch individual has been accepted on similar grounds as a second for record Scotland and a first for NE Scotland.

Personally, I believe the evidence given points to this bird being the same individual as the Shetland one, given its outstandingly mobile nature and ties in dates with said bird…. Not that it matters too much; undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year.

Local Egyptian Geese in Norfolk, at Costessey House Private Estate in April 2012. The Shetland/Aberdeenshire bird could refer to an individual from this population moving with migrating Greylags.

References

British Trust for Ornithology, Sharrock, J.T.R. (1976) – The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, P.96-97

Thom, M. Valerie (1986), T&AD Poyser – Birds in Scotland

R. Riddington, Scottish Ornithological Club (2011) – Egyptian Goose in Shetland

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 Thanks for reading

Joseph

Who’s For Dessert (+ A Few Toppings) ?

All of the following were locally seasoned in the last month or so. A heavy work-load at school in recent weeks has hindered me from getting out birding outwith the vicinity of Aberdeen, with only three days birding managed a fair distance away from the city since the beginning of November. The Strathbeg area has naturally been the place of focus, where gulls and ducks have predictably been the main attractions.

On 3rd November things were still in a trasitional phase however, with a few late migs moving through but also decent numbers of winter wildfowl. I’d started that day at The Ness (see last post for more) where there’d been a few continental migs, and with that being relatively productive I headed to Balmedie to see if things were moving to the same degree there round the car park plantations. It wasn’t as productive on the continental Robin front (a good 12-15 had been at The Ness) with just 2 present, but did produce a couple of items of interest. A male Brambling was flushed almost immediately on arrival, heading high to the south. A Northern Blackbird was flushed at the northern edge of the car park, where a single Goldcrest was also present. In the same patch of conifers was a Treecreeper, which had me very interested as I noticed a prominent white supercilium. Seeing any migrant Treecreeper is exciting, but in that glimpse of the striking super I was thinking Northern Treecreeper (ssp. familiaris). It disappeared around the other end of the conifer it was on, but appearead for a good minute or so again shortly afterwards. The upperparts were noticeably frosty, more so than past mig Treecreepers I have seen. I felt that this was a Northern Treecreeper, which typically show the aforementioned features. Given the time of year and influx of scandanvian passerines during the preceding few weeks and its location, it seemed feasible. However, given how tricky this subspecies is to identify without biometrics and ringing, it can only realistically go down as a Treecreeper showing characteristics of the nominate, northern familiaris race. Interestingly, November seems to be the time that potential candidates for this subspecies have turned up in Aberdeenshire in previous years, with one candidate noted at Old Church Kinneff back in 2010.The rest of that day was quiet, though decent numbers of commoner winter wildfowl were in evidence at Strathbeg. The below however was a personal mammal first at the site and brightened things up.

Badger disappearing into the undegrowth, Loch of Strathbeg (3/11/12). My camera wasn’t set up and it was only briefly in view after emerging from the gorse, so I wasn’t fast enough to photograph it face on…

It wasn’t till 24th that I was able to get up that way again, this time focusing solely on sifting through duck flocks and gulling. With the pools in front of the visitor centre being frozen over, most of the ducks have been favouring the loch in recent weeks. It didn’t too badly, though the loch itself was underwhelming, the highlight here being 10 Pintails (4 drakes and 6 females) and a drake Red-breasted Merganser amongst maybe 150 Wigeon. Teal numbers were negligible here however, so our attention turned to the pools at Savoch Farm, where the majority of wildfowl was unusually concentrated. This included at least 300 Wigeon and 90 Whooper Swans but only 20 Teal, as well as 9 Shovelers and a couple of Gadwall. A smart argentatus Herring Gull was also present here. The overall highlight here probably goes to an Otter, which briefly popped its cat-like self above the water about 50ft away from Fen Hide, yet another mammal first for the site.

Sandhaven, Med Gulls and I don’t usually bode well together. This site, along with the wider Phingask Bay, is the only reliable place for Med Gulls during the winter in the region, but prior to this occasion I’d failed to see them every time and were a major regional bogey. It thus follows that I was massively relieved when an adult Mediterranean Gull graced my bins on arrival at Sandhaven from Strathbeg, amongst 30 or so Black-headeds in the harbour. Conditions were ideal so we had lunch whilst admiring  this fine beast , the sunlight accentuating its translucent white primaries. Initially it had been alone on the water, but it soon joined the wider group of gulls on the rocks closer in. As it flew I noticed that it was sporting a red ring with white digits on its left leg. This proved to be very hard to read as the ring was largely obscured by seaweed as it sat on the rocks. Even on the few occasions that its ring was on display it was still a struggle, but managed enough on it to narrow it down to either PER8 or PER6. I enquired into the origins of the ring when I got home that night, and was intrigued to hear that the code formula (3 letters and a digit) and the colour combination (bright red with code in white) confirms that this is a Polish-ringed individual. I have sent off for ringing info from the polish ringing scheme, but there’s been no reply as of yet. Having asked a few folks about it, it seems possible that this bird could be a new individual to the area rather than a returning bird. Hopefully more info will transpire soon. The rest of the day was seen out at Cairnbulg and Peterhead, where a few argentatus Herring Gulls were noted, as well as 20 Turnstone, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Knot at the former site. Prior to this, a Purple Sandpiper and 30 Wigeon were at Phingask.

Polish-ringed Mediterrenean Gull, Sandhaven (24/11/12). The ring reads either PER8 or PER6…

So that’s the toppings. The icing on the cake came yesterday, when a tasty dessert was thoroughly enjoyed at Rattray. News filtered through of a female Desert Wheatear at the end of the previous weekend, a species I’ve been unlucky within in the region ever since I’ve been birding. Given my unlucky past with this species, I was particularly keen to catch up with this bird. As seems to be the case with Desert Wheatears, this bird was either going to be a one day wonder or a long-stayer. Luckily for me the latter has turned out to be the case. Last week was nerve-wracking and slow, with fears that the bird would disapper seeming imminent when there was no reports on Thursday. It turns out this was simply because there was no-one looking, as the bird was reported the next day. To my delight connecting was easy, more or less straight away picking up the female Desert Wheatear up rather comically sitting on a plastic bucket about 30ft away, exclaiming myself something along the lines of ‘you little beauty’ in the process. A tiny group of us soon gathered early afternoon to admire it as it scuttled erraticly back and forth along the beach, roughly opposite the lighthouse. What a cracker it was, blending in seamlessly with its surroundings and remaining utterly unfazed by its little group of admirers. It was typically bold enough to allow close approach, and even approach us, with views down to 25ft mostly but occasionally 10ft when it was feeling lucky. By showing itself off it allowed me to admire some of its finer features and get some photos.

As far as female Desert Wheatears go, this wasn’t an outstandingly pale bird, maybe on the drabber end of the spectrum. There was not any hint of a supericilum and it was brownish faced, with a greyish tinged nape and mantle.  The scapulars were quite pale with dark centres, though these centres were smudgy and not particularly accentuated, thus not contrasting with the scaps as much as I’d expected. There was pale fringing to the black centred greater and median coverts,The primaries and tertials were typically jet black, whilst the diagnostic all black tail and white rump outstanding. The vent was surprisingly rufousy, as one pic displays below. We admired the bird for about an hour, and then left it be. A beautiful  bird and a much appreciated lifer and personal first for NE Scotland. Also noted were 3 Long-tailed Ducks offshore and a single 3rd-winter argentatus Herring Gull on the beach. Excuse the poor lighting in the shots below.

female Desert Wheatear, Rattray Head (8/12/12).

note the smudgey black centres to the relatively pale scapulars, the dark centred median and greater coverts with pale fringes, the grey tined nape and mantle, and darkish face

on the bucket, where it was first picked up!

mid-run

during one of its more ambitious moments…

note the rufousy vent

With only a few hours light left, we spent the rest of the day working Strathbeg. I was happy with just the Desert Wheatear that day, so wasn’t fussed if it turned out to be quiet. However it turned to be at its most productive in recent weeks wildfowl wise. A mixed flock of duck were congregated on the loch as viewed from the south end, with s0me 400 Mallards, 60 Wigeon, 25 Tufted Duck, 35 Goldeneye and 15 Pochard, the latter one of the less regular wildfowl species on the reserve. The highlight was 2 redhead Smews at great distance  that I picked up early on at the left hand end of the flock, somewhat bizzarely associating with the Mallards rather than the nearby Goldeneyes. Somehow or other we managed to lose these  for a good 15 minutes, before picking them up again right at the other end of the flock, where views were far better. Its always lovely seeing these delicate little sawbills; definitely one of my favourite winter visitors and nice to bump into considering not a great deal have arrived of this species as of yet. After lunch we saw off the remainder of the day at Bay Hide, where 350 Wigeon (c.400 overall), 60 Teal,  6 Pintail and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers were noted. A very nice topping of duck species to a scrumptious ‘dessert’!

Thanks for reading,

Joseph