First trip back to Shetland in 3 years. It was the usual crew with Andy Lawson, Paul Hawkins, Shaun Harvey and Tony Brown. The trip didn't start off too well getting stuck for 2 nights in Aberdeen after flights cancelled 2 days in a row, made even more stressful knowing on Shetland just 15 minutes drive from our digs was a mega rare Siberian Thrush, at Asta Loch, near Tingwall. Luckily for us the bird stayed until we got onto Shetland 2 days later than expected.
It was quite a tough week birding wise with strong winds and lots of rain, but we managed to see quite a bit of stuff. A surprise tick came in the form of a Western Subalpine Warbler at Levenwick, which I thought I didn't need, but, as it turns out my previous Subalpine Warbler had been re-classified as Moltoni's Warbler, so this was a new bird for me.
Another mega seen was our only yank of the trip, Blackpoll Warbler. A new bird for TB, so we made the long trip north, via 2 ferries, to Unst, to see it. After no sign at first it was relocated feeding on the beach and provided lovely views. Unbelievably this was mine, and Shaun's 4th Blackpoll Warbler in the UK after seeing 3 previously on Scilly.
Whilst on Unst we also had 3 Glossy Ibis, and dipped a Short Toed Lark.
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