Shetland 2020

For the fourth year running, I made it to Shetland for a week at the end of September. It was always going to be touch and go amidst the Covid lockdowns but it seemed a good time to make the journey with relatively low levels in the country, and especially in Shetland where it was almost non-existent.

This years overnight ferry was the worst I'd known. There was quite a swell once we'd got away from Aberdeen; it didn't seem any worse than usual but for some reason I started to feel ill from an early part of the journey, probably due to tiredness after a previous 48 hours with a long drive to Aberdeen and virtually no sleep.  Luckily the bar was closed so I wasn't tempted with a few beers.  Somehow I managed not to puke up with the help of some sugared black tea.

Location at 8:04PM:

Luckily the ferry called into Orkney around midnight so there was an hour or so of respite as it docked in the harbour.  The final six hours across to Shetland was just as rough but for some reason I didn't feel quite as bad and even managed an hour of sleep whilst sat upright in the bar area. 

Lerwick at dawn:

Arriving in Lerwick I parked up and slept for a while just to the south. An otter was hunting along the shoreline in front of the car but I was too exhausted to pay it much attention.

A couple of quiet days spent birding usual locations with nothing too exciting, other than some Shetland regulars like these Twite:

A Shag in Lerwick Harbour:

A nice juvenile Woodchat Shrike was found near Boddam:

Lapland Bunting at Eshaness:

Great Skua and Black Guillemot at Lunna:

Yellow-browed Warbler and Curlew at Lunna:

Fulmars at Sumburgh Head:

Otter in the harbour at Voe:

On day 3 I took the long journey to Unst, the northern most isle which as a round trip involves four ferry journeys from the mainland. A quick stopover at Bobby's Bus Shelter to check out what was happening in there seemed to have a lockdown covid theme:

After a short time at Norwick where it was very quiet, I headed up over the headland to Skaw to look for the Buff-breasted Sandpipers that had been present for a few days.  After a long search they were finally located and typically proved very confiding:

The headland location is just adjacent to Britain's most northerly habited house:

On the return journey I picked up a Scaup at the south end of Unst:

Things certainly picked up on day 4. I spent an hour around a garden at Asta looking for an Olive-backed Pipit that had previously been feeding out in the open from the previous afternoon.  There was no sign of it, and then a message came up on the group chat that a Tennessee Warbler had been found that morning on Yell.  A quick dash back to the car and then a 30 minute speedy drive to the ferry terminal and I was in the queue to get over to the island to the north of the Mainland. Luckily all the vehicles in the queue managed to squeeze onto the first ferry and about 40 cars were soon descending on the small village of Burravoe. 

The bird was seen almost immediately as it fed in what would become its favoured tree, a relatively small Sycamore between two houses.  Typical Shetland birding really - staring into someones garden!

The bird showed well all day, only occasionally moving to a different tree around 100 meters away, before returning to its favourite spot.

This is only the 5th Tennessee Warbler for Britain, so a major rarity and a great day to be in Shetland.

The next day I returned to the site of the Olive-backed Pipit and after about 2 hours it appeared and showed really well for what is usually an exceptionally elusive bird:

Unfortunately the trip was curtailed by a couple of days due to the weather forecast and having to get back for work, and the last day was disappointing after missing a White's Thrush at Quendale before heading over to the ferry.

The return ferry was incredibly rough, worryingly it started with a warning that there would be a lot of movement as soon as were were out of Lerwick harbour. This was exactly what happened and it was almost impossible to walk around the ferry without getting thrown from one side to the other.  In the restaurant the beers on the next table lasted about 2 minutes before flying onto the floor.  This time I was fortified with sea-sickness tablets and a bed, and although the journey was the worst I'd ever encountered I made it to the dawn as we arrived in Aberdeen ready for the long drive home.

Thanks for looking!

Lammergeier - Bearded Vulture - Derbyshire & South Yorkshire July & August 2020

First seen in Holland and Belgium, a young Bearded Vulture originating from the Alps made its way across the channel to the UK in June 2020.  Initially sighted in the UK in the Midlands, a number of  relatively brief sightings were reported from Derbyshire over the next week, and a few days later the Lammergeier was seen several times in the valley to the east of Ladybower reservoir on 10th July.  I still managed to miss it several times despite being in the area, but later that day it was pinned down roosting in a steep valley towards Howden Moors.  This meant a long trek in the dark the next morning for several hundred birders, from the Strines Inn over to the location to catch it before it left its roost spot at dawn. A large number of people made it in time to the valley edge opposite its location as it dropped off its cliff ledge just after dawn and glided down the valley and then up over towards Back Tor.  After about ten minutes gliding over the nearby moors it headed back and spent a short while back at the roost site before heading off again.

Over the next couple of weeks the bird stayed in the same area, ranging over a wide location and not always roosting in the same place.

Its roost location in Howden Moors involved a long walk, usually a 3am start would get you to the location fro dawn!  There was no guarantee it would be there, as it clearly had other locations as evenings it wasn't returning and gradually became less frequent at the Howden Moors site.  The final part of the walk to overlook the gorge was quite treacherous underfoot, but the midsummer location provided some spectacular views:

The Bearded vulture on the first morning over Howden Moors:

Leaving the gorge it regularly roosted in:

Above its roost spot:

A week later I was near Bamford Edge when the bird performed superbly as it briefly flew along the edge before heading over to Ladybower:

Taken back at its roost site one morning:

After disappearing for a week, the vulture was relocated further north-west at Crowden near Glossop where it remained for a further three weeks in August before finally departing late in the month, and finally leaving the country in October.

Here the Vulture is at its roost location in the valley above Crowden.

In flight in the valley above Crowden:

Overall I made 12 attempts to see the Bearded Vulture at its various locations, and connected on 10 occasions. Even my mum made it on the last attempt:

Thanks for Looking!

Black-browed Albatross at Bempton Cliffs - A Dream Morning

There are some birds that I never expect to see, either in the UK or elsewhere.  Black-browed Albatross, or any Albatross for that matter, is one of those birds. I'm unlikely to ever find myself on a bespoke trip in the Southern Atlantic, and I'm not really one for spending days looking out to sea on the off-chance that one day one will drift through my telescope view as a blurry blob in the haze.  So the chances of seeing one were virtually zero. Until Thursday 2nd July 2020.  

During that evening two birders on Bempton Cliffs were lucky enough to come across one as it drifted above them, eventually landing with a small group of Gannets on the cliff top. It stuck around for a while allowing a few lucky people great views. The Gannets weren't too happy with it and pushed it off; it left the cliffs and flew strongly north past Filey Brigg and was last seen briefly further north again. 

Although I expected it to have headed off along the coast never to be seen again, I thought it would be worth taking a chance so I headed over to Bempton Cliffs for dawn the next day, speculatively hoping it would appear at some point during the day, but not really expecting it. If there was no Albatross it wouldn't have been a wasted day as Bempton is one of the best sites in the country, always something interesting to look at and a spectacular place to be. 

I arrived before dawn and sat in the car as it got a little lighter.  At dawn it was misty and raining lightly, and I headed down to New Roll-up viewpoint where there were around five others looking in all directions. One was a local and after around 15 minutes he took a phone call from a friend who was a couple of miles down the coast at Flamborough Head. I couldn't believe the news that was being relayed - the Albatross was flying around the north side of the Headland. It should have been visible distantly through the various scopes that were desperately trained in the direction of Flamborough, but it was murky and no-one could pick it up.

There was a difficult decision to be made - should we leave and head to Flamborough, which would have taken around 20 minutes in total, by which time it could have drifted north and we would have missed it.  Two of the small group left and took the chance, the rest of us remained in place and preyed it would move closer towards Bempton.  A handful of others arrived.  A couple more phone calls suggested it was still there, but the news this time was that it seemed to be slowly moving out form North Landing up the coast. At this point I realised I might have a chance of seeing this bird and things got serious.  Someone spotted it, moving out to sea in the distance, surely it wasn't going to dissapear? It veered back in towards the coast, but into one of the many bays and out of site.  

It came out of Thornwick Bay between Flamborough and Bempton and a couple more of the group got onto it before it went back into the next bay, but importantly it was getting closer. It then again came out from behind one of the cliff points and I saw it - huge, unmistakable, majestic. The Albatross continued towards us, around the corner again into Staple Newk.

The Albatross spent the next ten minutes flying in and out of the cove, trying to land with the Gannets but never quite making it. I moved down to Staple Newk itself and briefly got some shots of it a little closer as it glided in and out.  It then drifted north past my previous viewpoint and out of sight further north. Everyone present was ecstatic.

Over the next couple of hours it wasn't seen again but more people were arriving, and by late morning there were several hundred people on the cliff tops. A huge roar was suddenly heard around 11am as the bird re-appeared from the North end of the cliffs, lingering for a while at various points and giving stunning views as it drifted within metres of those crammed on the various viewpoints. I actually saw some jumping up and down with excitement and high-fiving as it flew past them.

In the interim few hours it had been sat on the cliffs somewhere, evident by the patch of mud it had acquired on its breast.

The Albatross looped around again then moved quickly north along the cliffs, and was soon gone from the Bempton area as it presumably continued up the coast.

Despite more people arriving through the afternoon and the next morning it didn't appear again and had clearly moved on.

This is without doubt the best bird I have seen in the UK, and to experience it at such a great location as Bempton Cliffs was a special morning.

Thanks for looking!