The first Norwegian-ringed White-tailed Eagle in Shetland

One fact that has emerged from the sighting of a White-tailed Eagle with a Norwegian colour-ring is that the Norwegians themselves were unaware of the first sighting of a bird in 2001 and 2002. This short article gives details of the first sighting. For more on the bird present this winter see Brydon Thomason's article on the Shetland Nature blog.

The first bird was seen in 2001. It may have been the bird that flew north over Fair Isle on 21st May, as it was assumed that this bird was the same as a bird found by Steve Duffield on Hermaness on 27th May. It was flying along the western cliffs and, in the early days of mobile phones, he managed to get a phone call through to us. We (Mike and Margaret Pennington) headed off and, based on the directions we had received from Steve, we headed up the Milldale at the south end of the reserve, hoping to intercept the bird. We did better than that, as the bird flew straight down Milldale and passed right over our heads, no more than a few metres above our heads. As it flew over our heads it was obvious that it was bearing a single blue colour-ring. There was no sign of any other colour-rings or tags, although there was a metal ring on the other leg. I no longer have my notes so can't remember which leg bore which ring.

Enquiries were made about the colour-ring and we were told that it indicated that the bird originated in Norway. Obviously, this information was never passed back to the Norwegian authorities.

We aged the bird as a first-summer, as it was clearly in very immature brown plumage, although the recent bird on Unst (ringed in 2011 but still looking like a first-winter) shows that ageing by plumage is not always reliable. 

This particular bird stayed on Unst for about five weeks and it was seen by many observers. It was usually seen by watching from the hill of Sothers Field, on the slopes of Saxa Vord. It was also seen flying over Gutcher on Yell on 6th June (but was back on Unst the next day), over Whalsay and Olnesfirth in Northmavine on 9th June (but was back on Unst the same afternoon), and in north Mainland again on 13th, 14th and 28th June. It was last seen on Unst on 1st July and finally at Basta Voe on Yell on 3rd July. Unfortunately, in the days when digital cameras were still unusual, there seem to be few photos of this bird, and the best shown here, was taken by David Tipling at Gutcher on 6th June, but shows little detail.

Intriguingly, in 2002, an immature was seen in the central Mainland of Shetland, near Vidlin, on 27th May, north of Ronas Hill on 24th June and at Hillswick on 30th June. On at least one of the first two occasions it was seen by N. Aspey, who also reported that the bird was carrying a blue colour-ring. This was presumably the same  that was seen in 2001, although where it was for almost a year in between is a matter of conjecture.

A MYSTERIOUS Brünnich’s GUILLEMOT

By Martin Heubeck

Reprinted from the Shetland Bird Club Newsletter No. 169

There are two freezers in the basement at Sumburgh Head into which dead birds get put, usually but not always in a plastic bag clearly marked with the species, date, location and finder. Every so often I box up some of the more interesting specimens and mail them to Bob McGowan at the National Museums of Scotland. This is what I did, in a hurry, on 7^th March 2010 and I later emailed Bob a list of the birds I’d sent. One was the Brünnich’s Guillemot found on Scousburgh beach by Roger Riddington on 25^th March 2007, which had been properly bagged and labelled, but there had been another Brünnich’s in the freezer, not in a bag and not labelled, which at the time I assumed had to have been that found by Mick Mellor at West Yell on 4^th May 2006. However, I do remember being puzzled when I packed it, because I thought I’d already sent that one off; stupidly, I didn't check the photos of that individual, which was in summer plumage and clearly a different bird.

I’d forgotten all about this until I got an email from Bob on 9^th August, who’d only just got around to defrosting and opening the box. The West Yell bird was indeed already in the skin collection – so where had this one been found, and by whom? Who had put it in the freezer, and why? The pale tomium (pale stripe along the upper mandible), the extent of black on the face, the blackness of the upperwing and the dark shaft on the outer primary all point to Brünnich’s Guillemot, but the only clues to its origin are that it is in winter plumage and appears to have been found on a sandy beach. Pete Ellis and Mick Mellor are certain they had never seen this bird before, it rang no bells with Helen Moncrieff, and few other people have access to the freezers. The twine around the neck and through the gape is highly unusual for a Common Guillemot, and had it been a beached bird survey corpse mis-identified as Common Guillemot it should have been recorded as ‘entangled’.

Upper left: The mystery bird. Upper right: The mystery bird (left) and the March 2007 Scousburgh Brünnich’s Guillemot (right). Lower left: The mystery bird (upper) and a curated Brünnich’s Guillemot upperwing. Lower right: The mystery bird (left) and a Common Guillemot. Photos: Bob McGowan.

A check of beached bird survey records found only two entangled Common Guillemots between January 2000 and February 2010. One, on Bardister Ness in Sullom Voe on 27^th February 2003 (monofil) didn’t fit the bill, as Bardister Ness is rocky and the orange twine on the mystery bird isn’t monofil. The other, on Sands of Meal, Burra on Tuesday 28^th January 2003 ‘unaged remains (rope)’ looked more promising. Dave Okill normally covers Sands of Meal but has no memory of picking up a guillemot tangled in twine, or of putting one in the freezer. Since that day was an Up Helly Aa Tuesday, Dave should have been at work, with no daylight outside working hours. It is quite possible I did this survey, but for me to have scored a Guillemot as unaged means there would have been very little left of it, and I can’t believe I would have overlooked the head features and not checked the outer primary shaft on such an interesting corpse.

This leaves us in the embarrassing situation of there being a 15^th record of Brünnich’s Guillemot for Shetland, but with no idea as to when or where it was found. There can only be two reasons why somebody took the trouble to put this bird in the freezer (or asked somebody to store it). First, they knew or suspected it was a Brünnich’s Guillemot but forgot all about it and forgot to tell anybody. This seems most unlikely. Second, they didn't realise it was a Brünnich’s but thought the fact that it was entangled in twine was unusual enough for somebody to be interested in it. If anyone can shed any light on this mystery bird, please contact me, Martin Heubeck Mansefield, Dunrossness, Shetland ZE2 9JH.
Tel. 01950 460304. Email: martinheubeck@btinternet.com).

Waxwings in Shetland in early November 2012

Waxwings are scarce passage migrants in Shetland, with the majority usually recorded in late autumn (October and November). It is a classic 'irruptive' species, and when berry crops fail in northern Europe they move long distances in search of food. In these circumstances, Shetland is invariably one of the first places in Britain to record Waxwings, due to its close proximity to Scandinavia where many of these birds are leaving from. Their appearance in Shetland is often fairly brief, due no doubt in part to the relative lack of 'berry trees' in the islands - once in Shetland, Waxwings usually feed on rosehips, and can be attracted to gardens by the provision of fruit (particularly apples).

Waxwings at Baltasound, 3rd November 2012 - Rob Brookes

Towards the end of October 2012, it became clear that there were lots of Waxwings in Shetland, with numerous reports of small groups throughout the islands. On November 1st, a flock of 55, one of the largest ever in Shetland, was at Baltasound school on Unst, and 40 appeared at Toab in South Mainland the same afternoon. An appeal was made via the Nature in Shetland facebook page www.facebook.com/natureinshetland for as many people to get in touch over the period Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th November with their sightings of Waxwings, to try and get as good a picture as possible of the invasion. As Waxwings are distinctive, sociable and often very tame birds that usually frequent gardens, the response to the request was excellent; almost 70 people contributed, and reports were received from all parts of Shetland.

Waxwings are well-known for moving about in search of food, so estimating the exact numbers of birds involved is difficult; inevitably there will be some duplication in records, especially in the larger towns such as Lerwick, Scalloway and Brae. Conversely, many birds will have been missed, as it appears that the influx was very widespread: several birders have commented that there seemed to be a handful of Waxwings in virtually every rose bush they looked in!



Waxwings in Lerwick, 3rd November 2012 - Larry Dalziel

It seems likely that there were as many as 975 Waxwings recorded in Shetland during the three-day period. The most favoured area was Lerwick, where a maximum of 113 in scattered flocks was recorded on 3rd November. Central Mainland, with its large number of mature gardens, also fared well, with upwards of 200 birds found. The largest total, however, came from South Mainland, with almost 250 birds noted. It is thought that this part of Shetland did well for Waxwings in part because birds were filtering south through Shetland and congregating in favourite areas (such as Cunningsburgh, Gulberwick and the Toab/Virkie area), before continuing south and thus out of Shetland. Numbers in the well-watched Toab area fluctuated daily, whilst a total of 44 (in small groups) were seen heading south over Sumburgh Head on Saturday 3rd. The theory that there was a constant turnover of birds is ably demonstrated by sightings on Fair Isle, where the maximum day count was 60 on Saturday 3rd, but during the period 2nd to 4th, over 80 individual Waxwings were trapped and ringed (information kindly provided by Fair Isle Warden David Parnaby).

Key to graph (click on image to see enlarged version): SM = South Mainland; CM = Central Mainland; Lk = Lerwick; NM = North Mainland; FI = Fair Isle; WM = West Mainland; U = Unst; Y = Yell; Wh = Whalsay; BT = Burra & Trondra; Br = Bressay

The biggest flocks seen in Shetland during the period 2nd to 4th November 2012 were: 60-80 at Eshaness on Friday 2nd; 40 at Gott, 30 at Sellafirth (Yell), 30 at Aith and 30 at East Voe of Scalloway, all on Saturday 3rd; and 40 at Kergord on Sunday 4th. Many more groups of between 10 and 25 were recorded - for a full list of all known records during the period, see www.nature-shetland.co.uk/naturelatest/latestnews

Waxwing at Scalloway, 3rd November 2012 - Rob Fray

The largest influx recorded in Shetland was in 2004. In that year, there were more than 950 recorded on 20th October; these included the largest single flock ever recorded in Shetland, of 80 at West Yell, as well as counts of 92 in Lerwick, 90 on Fair Isle and 55 at Veensgarth, and an estimate of 400 moving south over Dunrossness in flocks of up to 40 throughout the day. Although remarkably similar to the 2012 figure, the two counts are not really comparable. In 2004, it is clear that there were larger flocks around and the figure for that year was a single-day count, not spread over three days. Additionally, the 2004 count did not have the same access to social networking that made the 2012 survey such a success. Overall, it would seem that the 2012 Waxwing influx is second only to the 2004 influx, but by passing the message quickly around the internet, even more people have enjoyed the pleasure of watching these magnificent birds in their gardens.

 

Our grateful thanks to everybody who reported Waxwings during the period.

 

Rob Fray

IGC Goose Count weekend

The weekend of 25th/26th February is the international weekend for goose counts for the Icelandic-breeding Goose Census (IGC), which aims to count all the Greylag Geese and Pink-footed Geese from Icelandic populations. Shetland birds included winterers from Iceland, while local breeders are probably 'short-stoppers' which have stopped short on their migration north in the past and bred in the islands.

Unfortunately, with many of the regular counters away this weekend, counts were largely restricted to the main wintering areas, in South Mainland and Unst. The final total for Shetland (excluding many of the islands with smaller populations but also excluding Yell and Fetlar) was around 3500 birds. In South Mainland, initial results suggest that there were about 2000 birds from Sandwick south, slightly lower numbers than earlier in the winter (there was a census in December). On Unst, there were about 750 birds, almost exactly the same number as were present earlier. Overall, counts suggest slightly lower numbers than earlier in the winter.

A paper on the status of the Greylag Goose in Shetland has just been submitted to Scottish Birds and will hopefully appear soon.

For full details on birds and other aspects of the natural history of Shetland, don't forget to visit the website at http://www.nature-shetland.co.uk, while there is also a Facebook site, with different content, at http://www.facebook.com/natureinshetland .

Iceland Gulls in January 2012

Iceland Gull is generally considered to be a scarce, but regular, winter visitor to Shetland in small numbers. From about January 7th 2012 larger than usual numbers began to appear in the islands, and it soon became clear that a major influx was taking place.

With this in mind, a co-ordinated Shetland-wide count was organised by members of the Shetland Bird Club, and others, for Saturday 14th January. Observers were despatched far and wide to locate as many birds as possible, in order to try and record the influx as best as possible. We've received virtually everything now, although there may be one or two extras to add in later. Below is what we've come up with so far:

Unst (total 24)
Skaw - 4 (all 2nd-winters)
Norwick - 1 (2nd-winter)
Baltasound - 3 (all 2nd-winters)
Westing - 1 (2nd-winter)
Belmont - 13 (4 adults, 4 3rd-winters, 4 2nd-winters, 1 1st-winter)
Uyeasound - 2 (adult and 2nd-winter)

Yell (total 12)
North Sandwick - 7 (2 adults, 2 3rd-winters, 3 2nd-winters)
Mid Yell - 1 (2nd-winter)
Ulsta - 1 (2nd-winter)
Hamnavoe - 1 (2nd-winter)
Loch of Littlester - 1 (2nd-winter)
Burravoe - 1 (2nd-winter)

Fetlar (total 1)
Just one 2nd-winter on the island

Whalsay (total 22)
Symbister - 15 (5 adults, 3 3rd-winters, 4 2nd-winters (one of which was dead) and 3 1st-winters)
Hamister/North Voe - 2 (1 adult, 1 3rd-winter, both showing characteristics of Kumlien's Gull)
Skaw - 1 (adult)
Vaivoe - 1 (2nd-winter)
Challister - 1 (2nd-winter)
Brough - 1 (2nd-winter)
Huxter Loch - 1 (2nd-winter)

North Mainland (total 2)
Ronas Voe - 1 (2nd-winter)
South Collafirth - 1 (2nd-winter)

West Mainland (total 13)
Melby - 5 (1 3rd-winter, 3 2nd-winters, 1 1st-winter)
Burrastow - 8 (5 adults/3rd-winters, 3 1st/2nd-winters)

Central/East Mainland (total 55)
Firths Voe - 3 (1 adult, 2 2nd-winters)
Laxo - 3 (1 adult, 1 2nd-winter, 1 1st-winter)
Lunna - 1 (2nd-winter)
Dury Voe - 4 (2 adults, 2 2nd-winters)
Brettabister - 1 (1st-winter)
Scalloway - 6 (all 2nd-winters)
Loch of Tingwall - 1 (3rd-winter)
Lerwick - 36 in total; 35 (8 adults, 5 3rd-winters, 20 2nd-winters, 2 1st-winters) at Shetland Catch, and 1 (1st-winter) at Breiwick

South Mainland (total 15)
Sumburgh - 1 (adult)
Scatness - 1 (adult)
Fleck - 1 (adult)
Boddam - 1 (3rd-winter)
Clumlie - 2 (adult and 2nd-winter)
Scousburgh - 3 (2 2nd-winters, 1 1st-winter)
St Ninian's Isle - 1 (2nd-winter)
Gulberwick - 1 (1st-winter)
Wester Quarff - 4 (unaged)

Fair Isle (total 8)
2 adults, 1 3rd-winter, 5 2nd-winters (one of the 2nd-winters was found dead)

Grand total: 152
We'll continue to update the totals as and when more information is received.

There was some evidence that birds had moved on over the last few days (or relocated to other sites within the islands), particularly on Unst, where there had been 33 at Belmont on January 11th (compared to 13 on the 'count day') and 13 at Skaw on January 10th (compared to 4 on 'count day'). In addition, careful scrutiny of the ages of birds in Lerwick has shown that at least 44 individuals have been present during the last week.

It is fairly safe to say that the January 2012 influx is the largest to ever be recorded in Shetland. The previous biggest arrival was in January/February 1983, which produced at least 120 birds. In addition, the record site count has also been broken this year - the previous highest count at one individual site was 31 in Lerwick in January 1993.


An interesting aspect to the arrival in January 2012 is the make-up of the ages of the birds involved, with much larger numbers of 'older' birds than would normally be expected, and a strange dearth of 1st-winter individuals. This is something that we hope to expand upon in due course.






Observers who specifically went out looking and participated in the co-ordinated counts were:

Rob Brookes (north Unst)
Mike Pennington (south Unst)
Brydon Thomason (Fetlar and north Yell)
John Lowrie Irvine and Brian Marshall (Whalsay)
Jim Nangle and Lynn Thomson (Yell)
Rob Fray (south Yell, central and east mainland)
Gary Bell (north mainland)
Rory Tallack (west mainland)
Paul Harvey and Pete Ellis (Lerwick)
Juan Brown (Scalloway, Tingwall Valley, Burra and Trondra)
Jim Nicolson and George Petrie (Cunningsburgh to Gulberwick)
Roger Riddington and Glen Tyler (south mainland)
Naomi Scott (Papa Stour)
David Parnaby and Tommy and Henry Hyndman (Fair Isle)

In addition, casual records that added to the totals were received from Martin Heubeck and Mark Chapman, and a couple of records have been gleaned from various news services.

Our grateful thanks to everybody who took part.

Rob Fray

Colour-ringed and neck-collared geese

There have been unusual numbers of geese around in the last few weeks, with European White-frontedGeese, Tundra Bean Geese, Pink-footed Geese and several other species joining the usual Greylags. In amongst all these new arrivals have been two birds with neck collars. Rory Tallack found a White-fronted Goose at Sandness on Sunday 20th November (photo by Rory Tallack).It was probably marked in its wintering grounds in Germany or the Netherlands.

On Monday 21st November, Jim Nangle found a Pink-footed Goose at Cullivoe on Yell (photo by Jim Nangle). Although the full code on the collar has not been read yet, it has been confirmed that this is a bird from Svalbard which should have been migrating down through Norway and Denmark to the Netherlands or Belgium for the winter. This is a very interesting record as the Pink-feet that pass through Shetland are usually from Iceland. Although given the the fact that the other geese that arrived at the same time all came from the east, perhaps it isn't that surprising that the Pink-feet came from the same direction.

It is alo worth pointing out that a small number of locally-bred Greylag Geese were fitted with either colour-rings or neck-collars this summer, in a attempt to find out whether local birds emigrate in the winter, Any sightings of these birds, which were marked in Dunrossness, would be welcome.

Your Shetland List may have just gone up by 2!

The most recent report from the BOU Taxonomic Committee has announced two splits which affect the Shetland List - Hudsonian Whimbrel Numenius hudsonicus (three records, on Fair Isle on 27th-31st May 1955, Out Skerries from 24th July to 8th August 1974 and Fair Isle again on 29th-31st August 2007) and Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus (just over 100 individuals recorded, the first on Fair Isle on 13th-21st October 1961).

The Shetland List now stands at 449 (including 5 in Category D, 2 Category D candidates, 2 not seen from land and one extinct).

To read more go here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01155.x/pdf

Water Pipit, a first for Shetland

Unst managed to turn up its second first for Shetland in 2010 with a Water Pipit at Norwick on 21st-23rd November. Here is a finder's account from Brydon Thomason.

Water Pipit at Norwick by Jim Nicolson

November is traditionally a month never to be underestimated when considering winding down an autumn birding in the isles. It is a month that seldom passes without at least one surprise rarity. Personally speaking, November has indeed been more than kind and has brought  a diversity of  rarity finds such as Gyrfalcon, Lesser Scaup and Hume’s, Arctic and Dusky Warblers, to name but a few - along with multiple King Eider and White-billed Divers.

With that said though, it can certainly be a hard month to keep motivation going when out in the field. Migrants can be very few and far between and suitable habitat and cover for a potential rarity is often all but weathered away.

Although birding time had been at something of a premium, I had still had my usual November aspirations of finding Pine Bunting or Desert Wheatear but, alas, once again it was to be a year of neither! But what I was to find, in a local context at least, was to be a much rarer bird than either of these ...

It was our son Casey's belated first birthday party so, with the Sunday dinner preparations all in hand, and along with my parents, wife Vaila and our birthday boy we set out for a nice pre- dinner outing. Having enjoyed a lovely walk at Skaw beach we made time for a drive along the shore-side road which overlooks one of Shetland’s iconic vistas, Norwick beach. 

As we drove towards the turning point, a passerine flitted over the verge and down toward the beach. I caught no more than a fleeting glimpse, but what I did see certainly intrigued me; the amount of white in the outer tail suggested pipit, but perhaps even a bunting or lark were all possibilities given how poorly I’d seen it. In any case any pipit, lark or bunting in late November is worth checking; they are few and far between by late November.

Leaving the car running and family in it, I peered over the bank and down onto the dead seaweed smothered beach only to see a female Black Redstart fly away from me - confused, my eyes quickly then fixed on my mystery bird flying off along the beach. It was certainly a pipit, but which? It showed quite a lot of white in the outer tail and seemed to show some brownish tones. I knew something was unfamiliar about it as I watched it fly to the far end of the beach. I quickly shouted to Vaila to come back for me ‘in a bit’, having no earthly idea how long that would be!      

I relocated the bird at the far end and got my first ‘on the deck views’. It was some 40-50yards away and I had no scope! The split second thoughts of Blyth’s (more by its apparent choice of habitat than anything else, feeding along the edge of dunes) were expelled instantly, not least on plumage tones and underpart streaking but also structure.

Its underparts were strikingly clean white, plus the white in the tail ruled out local Rock Pipit and I was fairly certain littoralis was not in the picture either. Water or Buff-bellied Pipit were all that were possible, I thought to myself. Without even getting the chance to stalk forward and get better views, a dog walker flushed it, causing it to fly over my head and all the way back to the far end of the beach, calling once as it went - a rather flat Rock Pipit like ‘psp’- surely it must  be  a Water Pipit?  

It had been several years since I had heard Buff-bellied Pipit in the States but I was pretty confident this was not one. I began to really train my thoughts on Water Pipit, a species I had never even seen in Britain, and not since a UAE trip many years ago, and even there I had admittedly paid them little attention. BBP was very much fresh on my radar having seen the bird at Eshaness only a few weeks previously, but this was just never coming across with a Buff-bellied Pipit vibe to me.

When I returned to the other end, my father was at the wheel of my Freelander and informed me the others were back home (only a few minutes up the road). I grabbed my scope but had no tripod with me. A blustery and very anxious few seconds through the scope for the first time appeared to confirm to me the following basics;

·          Tail, coverts and tertials did not appear strikingly blackish or crisply fringed as in BBP

·         The mantle appeared to be visibly streaked as opposed to rather plain BBP

·         Streaking on clean white underparts was quite bold all the way down flanks

·         Slightly browner tones around rump area

·         Perhaps most importantly the lores appeared to be quite distinctly marked and not open

·         Nor did it show the striking eye crescents of BBP - It had to be a Water Pipit I thought to myself.

Water Pipit at Norwick by Rob Brookes

All this had happened in under ten minutes, it was just after 1500 and light was failing fast, I had to get news out to the ‘Unst boys’. Unusually, I had no camera with me nor did I even have a field guide to hand. We drove off up the road to get phone reception and where Mr P (Mike Pennington) was my first and very definitely priority call. Thankfully he answered and within ten minutes was by my side followed swiftly by Robbie Brookes – I knew young Rory T was off island.

Water Pipit was certainly a first for Unst and I was also aware that it would almost certainly be a new species for all the Shetland ‘listers’ but didn’t actually realise at the time it was in fact a county first! Whilst anxiously trying to relocate the bird with Mr P I relayed all that I had noted. Thankfully without too much distress (although perhaps maybe with a little ‘tension’ in the air!) we pinned it down back feeding on the dead kelp on the tide line of the beach, which proved to be its favourite spot. We enjoyed fairly good and definitively conclusive views through a shared scope but with light that was by now bordering on appalling neither Mike nor Rob got anything better than poor record shots.

By about 1530 we had lost the bird due to poor light. On route home we put the news out and I was back home in time for getting the ‘tatties’ on and set the table - a county first and my son's first birthday party, the perfect Sunday!

A Round-up of Killer Whale Sightings involving Shetland in 2010

by Andy Foote, Brydon Thomason and Suzanne Beck
 

Even as this year draws to a close there have been Killer Whale sightings around Shetland. So it seems like a good time to look back at the comings and goings of our Killer Whales during 2010.

The first whales showed up in late March (23rd) in Yell Sound, which is consistent with the past few years. We got a chance to photograph them from the Yell Sound ferry, but the sun was working against us and the images were backlit and we couldn’t really positively ID any of the whales. One of the female-sized fin silhouettes however had two distinctive notches in the trailing edge, which looked very much like the female with ID number 12. But other individuals had silhouettes that did not match any of the fins in our photo-id catalogue, and so it seems like we had some new whales!

The new individuals appeared to stick around for a couple of weeks as the fin shapes match with those seen hunting in Scalloway harbour only days later on the 28th March and with 2 males photographed in Yell Sound on the 8th April.

May was a quiet month around Shetland, and all the action was further south. The group of four (27, 34, 72 & 73) that are regularly seen around Shetland showed up in Scapa Flow in Orkney (6th May) and they had a new calf! It appears as though 27 is it’s mum as it stayed closest to her in all the photos we were sent. The photo (above) of this pod was taken on Bluemull Sound on 15/03/08.

We got to follow this group's travels through a series of great photos provided by the public. On the 13th May they were seen off Durness in Sutherland, but they headed east again and were photographed on the 20th off Whaligoe steps, Ulbster, Caithness. They didn’t show up again until 23rd August when they were photographed off the Faeroes feeding on eiders and doing some hunting training with the youngsters, and even hit the headlines by making it on to the Faeroese evening news.

12 and her group were also sighted regularly in May, being photographed between Shapinsay and Kirkwall in Orkney on the 9th May, and then Duncansby Head, Caithness on 16th. They were back up to Orkney where they took a marine mammal in Eynhallow Sound on the 25th May, before heading south again, being seen back off Caithness on the 28th May. Then they headed west and were last positively identified off St Kilda on 12th June. They may have also paid a fleeting visit to Shetland as a group that looked like them were photographed on 8th July off Bressay, but it was choppy weather and the photos weren’t clear enough to be sure.

Larger groups of Killer Whales were also getting seen feeding on herring offshore about 25 miles east of Shetland during May. Photos we received were all of individuals not previously catalogued.

June was pretty quiet too, until on the 23rd a group of 5 showed up in Yell Sound and took either a seal or porpoise just off the ferry. This was the start of an unprecedented run of sightings from the Yell Sound ferry, with almost daily sightings for a month. Photos that we have received or collected ourselves between 23rd June and 24th July showed that most of these sightings were of the same group of 5, which were positively IDed on the 23rd June, 7th, 12th, 15th and 18th July. The group had not previously catalogued and it seems highly likely that they are newcomers to Shetland.

They weren’t the only group seen around Shetland at this time. As noted above the group on Bressay were definitely not the same group, and our old friend Bigga (ID number 14) was seen on his own off Gutcher on 10th July and again on two occasions over the following fortnight on Yell Sound.

Further south again, photographs came in of the group with female with ID number 15 (who we last saw in 2009 off Bluemull Sound). They were seen once off the Moray Firth on 29th June and then off Orkney on 20th July.

So, this year due to the amazing public contribution of photos, we’ve been able to track some pods as they have moved over quite a considerable distance, we’ve been able to monitor the birth of new calves, and we’ve seen what look like 2 sets of newcomers to the Northern Isles, suggesting that Killer Whale sightings in this area may be on the increase.

A massive thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s efforts, the support continues to grow each summer!

Read more about the ID project at www.northatlantickillerwhales.com

This blogpost has also been published on www.shetlandnature.net - we would welcome further shared blogposts if they cover subjects of broad interest.

Two new moths for Shetland

Every year, the small band of moth-trappers in Shetland catch a few moths that they are unable to readily identify, and by October have a fridge-full of deceased moths in pots. They are then magically sent away south to be identified by Jon Clifton of Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies (www.angleps.com). The results from 2010 have just come back, and have revealed two firsts for Shetland.

Sandy Carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata)

A moribund individual was trapped on 21st June 2010 by Rob Fray in his garden at Virkie. It was not photographed, but a photo of the species can be seen here.

This moth, which usually inhabits open woodlands, mature hedgerows, calcareous grassland and sand-dunes, is fairly common and widely distributed in England, Wales and southern Scotland. It flies during June and July, although does not come to light very often. It would appear to be spreading north, as it is not mentioned in the books on Orkney Lepidoptera which summarised records until the mid-1990s, but there are now widespread records on Orkney Mainland according to this map.

Splendid Brocade (Lacanobia splendens)

This was trapped by Paul Harvey in his garden at Virkie on 19th July 2010. Again, the specimen wasn ot photographed, but a photo of the species can be seen here.

This central and southern European species was first identified in Britain from a specimen captured at Portland, Dorset),on 1st July 2003, although earlier specimens which had been overlooked have been located since. Since then it has been recorded in the UK on a number of occasions, usually in southern England. It flies in June and July and typically frequents damp woodland and forests in its native range. Not only was this a first for Shetland, it was the first record of Splendid Brocade in Scotland.

On behalf of all who trap and record moths in Shetland, thanks to Paul Harvey and the Shetland Biological Records Centre for providing us with an easy facility to get our moths identified, and Jon Clifton for patiently wading through loads of common moths and locating these occasional little gems.

A fishy first for Shetland

Fish rarely feature on the Nature in Shetland website, but we received a press release the other day which is well worth reading as it describes a n interesting and endearing little fish and shows what there is that can still be discovered about Shetland's fauna.

Europe’s smallest marine fish, Guillet’s goby, has been found off the Shetland coast at Lunna, by two local divers, Rachel Hope and Richard Shucksmith.

This small fish called Guillet’s goby (Lebetus guilleti) only grows up to a maximum length of 24 mm (upper photo of male by Rachel Hope and lower photo of female by Richard Shucksmith). It was spotted by two local divers whilst shore diving at Lunna, Shetland. It is an extremely rare fish and was only described as a species in 1971. There are only a handful of sightings of this species around Europe including 4 in England and other sparse records are from the Mediterranean, northern Spain and one from the Kattegat (previously the most northerly record).  This species have never been recorded in Scotland and this finding extends the known range 140 miles further north.

Due to the importance of this sighting it has been accepted for publication in the peer reviewed Marine Biological Association Journal ‘Marine Biodiversity Records’.

Little is currently known about the Guillet's goby's biology. It seems to prefer living on rough ground such as shelly sand in shallow coastal waters and due to its small size it is able to hide between the shell fragments, making it extremely difficult to spot. Male and females have different colouration (sexual dimorphism), although both have mottled buff coloured bodies. However the male has a brightly coloured second dorsal fin with a blue spot and orange stripes, much like a brightly coloured butterfly.  Gobies are a family of small mostly bottom living fish and share a similar small and elongated body shape. They all have distinctive thick lips and bulbous eyes set close together near the top of the head.  

When we found this species the males and females were found as pairs together with the females appearing to be swollen with eggs. Normally in goby reproduction the male will choose the nest site such as an empty shell, or a crevice where the female will lay the eggs. The male will then guard the eggs until they hatch.  These pairs seem to indicate that these Guillet's goby is breeding in Shetland.

By finding this species in Shetland it means that its known range now must encompass the whole of the UK. Divers and scientists surveying around the coast should look out for this small and beautiful fish when diving or sampling over rough sediment types such as shelly sand or maerl. As more information is collected about this unusual species a clearer picture can be developed about its biology and distribution. It is possible that the spread of this species further north is a climatic range expansion or it could simply be that due its small size and cryptic colouration it has been overlooked.

Shetland is famous at migration time for its rare birds and this find shows that it should be famous for its rare marine life too!

Colour-ringed Whimbrel and Rock Pipit

During 1986-88, Murray Grant colour-ringed 97 Whimbrels to monitor brood survival and return rates of adults. Although sightings of these birds were reported from Fetlar until the 1990s, there had been none since. This summer, Allan Perkins was working in Unst and Fetlar studying the breeding success of Whimbrels, due to the worrying decline in thier numbers in the last few years. On 9th May he was rather surprised to spot a colour-ringed bird on Fetlar, although it was 31st May before he could confirm the colour-ring combination. It had originally been ringed as a breeding adult on Fetlar on 1st June 1986. At 24 years, this is easily the longevity record for this species and, as Whimbrels don't normally breed until they are two or three years old, this bird may well be over 26 years old.

More detail, and photos, are on the BTO Demog Blog.

A colour-ringed Rock Pipit which was breeding on Whalsay this spring is now known to have been ringed in at New Aberdour in North-east Scotland in February. It is the first proof of a Shetland breeding bird emigrating for the winter, although there is a a previous record of a Shetland-bred chick being found in Scotland. There are also several other records of full-grown birds ringed in Shetland and found in Scotland in winter. Although these could be migrants, the evidence would seem to suggest that a proportion of Shetand Rock Pipits leave the islands in winter.

In addition, a colour-ringed Starling seen on Out Skerries recently does not appear to be a Fair Isle bird - although it's origins are still being tracked down.

Our Eiders are Faroese

The latest edition of the BTO's journal Bird Study includes the following paper: Subspecies status of Common Eiders Somateria mollissima in Shetland based on morphology and DNA by Robert W. Furness, Barbara Mable, Fiona Savory, Kate Griffiths, Stephen R. Baillie and Martin Heubeck.

Using DNA from specimens of Eider found dead in Shetland, and biometric data collected from a cannon-netted sample ringed in the 1980s, it is concluded that Shetland Eiders are closely similar to birds from the Faroe Islands,  subspecies faeroeensis , and distinct from the nominate mollissima to which all Scottish Eiders
have been conventionally assigned.

Interestingly, Eiders from southern Iceland are more similar to faeroeensis according to DNA, despite differing in plumage and being assigned to a different subspecies borealis. As has been suspected for a while, they conclude that the taxonomy of the Common Eider group may be in need of revision.

The allocation of the Shetland Eider population to a new taxon, found nowhere else in the UK, has clear implications in conservation terms, especially as the population is in long-term decline.

Wandering Orcas

We received the following e-mail from Andy Foote recently, telling us about the wandering of one pod of Killer Whales which are regular visitors to Shetland, although as you can see they are now known to wander from at least Caithness to Faroe.


I thought the mammal watchers that check out the sea mammal sightings web page might be interested to know that one of our regular Shetland groups (27, 34, 73, 74 and 27's new calf 151) made it on to Faeroese TV this week, see below for the link. Hans Eli Sivertsen who sent me the link also took some great shots, and he also photographed the same group off the Faeroes last year. They were last seen in Scottish waters off Wick back in June.
cheers,
Andy

The link to Faroese TV is here, with the Orcas appearing towards the end (at about 19:20).

http://www.kringvarp.fo/click.asp?i=dov4293.wmv&f=k&t=m

Wandering Wildfowl

There is no single auditor of the ‘official’ Shetland List, it is something that has been developed by consensus over the years. Many people will remember that Dennis Coutts compiled a small checklist more than 20 years ago (it had a King Eider vignette on the cover). More recently, the authors of The Birds of Shetland, in conjunction with the local records committee, and the task of deciding what was in the main body of the book. Official national decisions were followed with one major exception, Category D species were included in the main list, in line with the policy of Shetland listers, who have always included Category D species on their lists. (For those who are unsure, Category D, which does not form part of the British List, is intended as a holding category for potential vagrants, until their true status is clearer).

Since the publication of The Birds of Shetland there have been no contentious issues, until recently. Compiling the Shetland Bird Report 2009 was trickier than usual, as a decision had to be made on what to do with two contentious species. At first, I admit, I took a hard line and was all for putting them in the appendix, but in the end I relented, partly because another contentious species turned up earlier this year. So here are some thoughts on three controversial wildfowl.

Wood Duck

The male found by Rob Fray on Loch of Brow on 16th April 2009 initially elicited some excitement (photo by Rob Fray). It was very wary and so there were hopes that it might be a candidate for Category A of the full British List. Its long stay did it no favours though, and when it was still around in early June it was being dismissed by several observers. Nevertheless, there are spring records from Iceland, so maybe it still has a chance of being wild, and while it probably doesn’t overcome the ‘credibility barrier’ it is another reminder that this species is a potential vagrant (which is what Category D is for). In The Birds of Shetland, Wood Duck was one of two species included in the main list despite not even being in Category D - it was termed a Category D candidate (the other category D candidate was Yellow-headed Blackbird, since moved to D). So, with two Category D candidates already on the Shetland List, another one is not a problem.

Ruddy Shelduck

A female found by Mick Mellor and seen briefly at Spiggie and elsewhere late on 30th April and early on 1st May 2009 was, perhaps surprisingly, the first ever seen in Shetland. Ruddy Shelduck is controversial among British birders as records are regular, but the only ones accepted as being wild are from the 19th century, and so in Category B of the British List. There are three possible origins for the Shetland bird – it could be wild, it could be from feral populations in Europe, or it could be an escape. It is difficult to say which is more likely in Shetland. Strictly speaking, to be an acceptable record this bird would need to be accepted into Category A of the British List, and this record does not have the credentials to overcome the problems that the species has in being accepted. But it is surely a potential vagrant in Shetland. Species can’t be in Category A/B and Category D in a British context, but is surely a Category D candidate in a Shetland sense.

Egyptian Goose

An Egyptian Goose was seen at various locations from 24th February 2010 (photo by Roger Riddington). Egyptian Geese breed in Africa, but there are feral populations in Europe, especially in East Anglia, so it is on Category C of the British List (for naturalised species). It is not in any category of the Scottish List, however, with all sightings believed to relate to escapes. Nevertheless, we soon had contact from regular Foula visitor Kevin Shepherd, who lives in Norfolk, who informed us that late winter and early spring was the time to see Egyptian Goose on ‘vis-mig’ past the Norfolk coast, while we also discovered that populations in Denmark and the Netherlands were larger than we thought. Bearing in mind the snowy weather at the time, surely this bird was a vagrant from a naturalised population.

Cetacean survey update

An update from Jane Evans concerning the Honestas charter.

On Tuesday the team worked off Fetlar, and had a successful day searching for Risso's dolphins, with a possible resident population being identified - further work will be needed over the coming months in order to confirm this, but the signs are good so far. 

On Wednesday they headed back north to look for Orcas but to no avail. However, a Minke Whale was spotted at the mouth of Yell Sound.  Thursday was better with some good sightings of Risso's again off Fetlar. With the weather blowing hard from the north on Friday we walked up to the point of Fethaland to do some monitoring from the shore.
 

Again if anyone has any sightings of killer whales or other cetaceans in the area please can they get in touch.  

With this in mind, we will report that on Shetland Nature's Midsummer Cruise on board one of the Yell Sound ferries on Sunday, single Minke Whales were sighted twice at the south end of Colgrave Sound, and 2 White-sided Dolphins were seen in the same area.

Surveying cetaceans

Jane Evans and Ben Wilcock of Highland Sea Charters have been in touch to let us know that this week the MFV Honestas (owned and run by Highland Sea Charters) has been chartered by Volker Deecke and a team from the Scottish Oceans Institute, to look for Killer Whales north of Shetland between Muckle Flugga and the Ramna Stacks. During the week they will also be working around Fetlar monitoring Risso's Dolphins.

It is a time to remind anyone that if they have any sightings of Orcas or dolphins then please pass the information on, as the more information we have the better.

Shetland’s first Iberian Chiffchaff

Brothers Stef and Ash McElwee have been annual visitors in recent years, coming to Unst during the English spring half-term holiday. They have found a good many records during the previous years, but this year they managed to add a species to the Shetland List. Here is their account of the find.

 Photo by Stef McElwee

Sometimes in birding, lightning can and does strike twice. This was certainly the case in the finding of Britain’s most northerly record of Iberian Chiffchaff at Halligarth plantation, Unst. Both of the finders of this bird have previously found or been in on the find of an Iberian Chiffchaff in the UK, at Stiffkey Norfolk this year (AIM) and at Newbiggin Northumberland in 2004 (SJM). When a strange yet familiar song burst from the plantation on the morning of Friday 5th June it is fair to say that both observers were primed for the event!

Birding on Unst in the preceeding week had been hard work due to very small numbers of common migrants, yet rewarding due to quality birds being found such as Bluethroat and Shetland’s third Black Stork. With this in mind, we continued to work the sites on north Unst on Friday.

At mid-day, we arrived at Halligarth plantation to be greeted by a Willow Warbler in full song. Ash also detected another bird singing more distantly in the plantation.  On arriving level with the derelict house both observers heard a snatch of the song again, “wheet wheet, tif tif, tif".  Although jumbled and not classic in phrase, both observers looked at one another and said “ I know what this is going to be” and calmly walked into the wood with Ash’s Remembird sound recorder at the ready. 

 

True to form, the bird began to sing loudly, and in prolonged bursts from the canopy. “Tif, Tif, Wheet, Wheet, Wheet, De De De, De De De" is an attempt to transcribe the persistent and ringing song flowing out of the canopy above our heads! It is difficult to describe the surreal experience of recognizing a Shetland first without seeing the bird. Stef looked at Ash and said “come on bird, please call”, to which it duly did, a piercing downward carrying "peeoo", similar in pitch to a Siberian Chiffchaff but with an obvious downward carrying note at the end.  Knowing this call note is pretty much diagnostic of Iberian Chiffchaff we were faced with the bizarre dilemma of needing to phone out a Shetland first without having seen the bird! Knowing the importance of the record we decided we had better see it to check it actually looked like an Iberian Chiffchaff!

Thankfully it did! Ash had good views of the characteristic spikey bill with an orangey pale lower mandible, the whitish underparts with yellowy wash to the fore supercilium, throat and upper breast and the mossy green upperparts and longish looking primary projection. Enough was enough and the news was phoned out to the Unst birding population and Roger Riddington. Paul Harvey and Rory Tallack arrived soon after (Paul was working on Unst that day) and they were able to confirm and enjoy the bird already described. The bird continued to show well for periods for the rest of the day and could easily be located in the plantation by the clear ringing call already described. The bird sang strongly for the remainder of the morning but was much less vocal on a cloudy afternoon. There was no sign of the bird the following day.

Description

A very distinctive Phyllosc with a bit of Wood, Bonelli's and Willow Warbler thrown into a Chiffchaff’s clothing.  This bird was on plumage and structure quite similar to a Willow Warbler and I wonder if not singing or calling how many birders would simply misidentify one as such! Certainly the strongish supercilium and longer-looking primary projection would hint at this species. The pattern and combination of white, yellow and green is not dis-similar to a poorly marked female Wood Warbler.

Head: this bird showed a strongish supercilium, notably yellowish in the fore area, with the super extending to the rear of the ear coverts. Supercilium aside, this species has a very characteristic open faced appearance due to the relatively plain and unmarked ear coverts. The bird showed a weak eye ring most notable around the lower half of the eye. This bird showed the bill structure that appears quite distinctive of this species. Best described as longish / spikey with an obvious pale orangey lower mandible.

Upperparts:  the crown, mantle, scaps and coverts were a warmish green colour with notable greenish fringes to the secondaries and the tail feathers. The primary projection was longer than a typical Chiffchaff, approaching Willow Warbler in projection. This long winged appearance was very noticeable in the field and added to its particular jizz.

Underparts:  bird had quite cleanish white underparts with a subtle yellowish wash to the throat and upper breast. The undertail coverts appeared to have a yellowish wash but this may have been a trick of the light as the bird was viewed above observers heads.

Bare Parts: bill already described. There was much debate as to the leg colour. I thought that the bird had quite pale orangey pink legs but other observers described them as much darker than this. It will be interesting to analyse images to assess this.

Song:  Ash has recorded and assessed the sonograms of this bird and has described both the song and calls as classic.  I have already described the typical song above but it should be noted that this bird, particularly in strong bursts would produce a variety of different versions. It would sometimes sing “tif tif wheet wheet wheet tif” and would miss the characteristic third part rattle from the end of the song.  This is fairly typical of British vagrants, the Newbiggin bird certainly did this throughout its stay.  The gap between the "De De De" notes also varied, sometimes issued as a rapid trill, other times with bigger gaps between notes.

 Sonagrams of song (upper) and call (lower) by Ash McElwee

Call of the Halligarth bird

Song of the Halligarth bird

(both go to external links - click 'back' to return to this page)

In conclusion, the subtle plumage features, structural differences, characteristic song and diagnostic call make Iberian Chiffchaff a relatively straight forward identification if care is taken with the exact components of the song and the diagnostic call is noted. We expect it will not be too long before Shetland birders can look forward to another of these superb leaf warblers.

The wanderings of a Hungarian Black Stork

When a Black Stork turned up on Unst on 2nd June 2010 this was exceptional enough, as it was only the third Shetland record. The bird was, however, carrying a colour-ring. This immediately told us that this was the same Black Stork that had been in the Outer Hebrides earlier in the spring, as this was also carrying a white plastic ring. A quick e-mail to friends there soon confirmed that they had seen the ring but not read it, so getting the code was a priority.

On the stork's second day on Unst it went to roost on the cliffs in the late afternoon, and this gave us the opportunity to get close enough to read the ring. After a little effort we had it - 50P9.

It was then off to the internet to track down the bird's origins, and within 24 hours we had an answer. The bird had been ringed in northern Hungary, close to the Slovakian border, in June 2007. Even more interestingly, it had already been sighted on two previous occasions - in SE Hungary, close to the Romanian border, in September 2008, and in the NE of the Netherlands in March 2009.

It was probably first seen in Scotland on 8th May this year, when a Black Stork was seen flying over the Findhorn valley. All the sightings in Scotland are shown on the following Google map.


View Black Stork 50P9 in a larger map