Aurora borealis

Pied Wheatear gallery

Yet another top bird, and this one found around my house (to within a couple of feet at one happy point!). Yesterday found me doing more house renovation-type work, so was only too glad to see B's car coming slowly up the island, and stopping at the foot of the drive, apparently for a chat (ho ho).

Went down to speak to him, to be asked, "What do you think of that funny wheatear?". Given I'd not seen it, not much! He'd seen it alongside the road, and it had flown behind me up towards my croft. B was thinking Pied/Black-eared, given the darkness about it's face/wings, and was hoping for Black-eared (having already seen Pied on Shetland). We walked up to the house, and sure enough, there was a wheatear sitting on a fence strainer... we both looked at it... Pied Wheatear!

What a heart-racing moment. I rushed inside for the Coolpix (batteries fully charged for once), and as it perched in docks, managed a flurried series of shots...

It was calling as it flew from dock to dock, a soft of "pfft" call - or as B charmingly described it, a sound like a suppressed fart. A fairly ignoble transcription for only the fifth Pied Wheatear on Shetland! The bird then lobbed over a drystone dyke, and moved along the gravel path alongside the house - a careful flush and it could have been in the kitchen... As it vanished around the corner of the house B and I made the necessary phone calls, in my case to JL - who was in Lerwick unloading fish, and at least an hour and a half away. Photos notwithstanding, we knew we needed to take notes, so walked round the house to find... no sign of the bird.

A very anxious hour later, having split up to search, I re-found it out on the moor by the community water tank, and joined by B managed about half an hour of good views, before the wretched little sod dropped over a nearby hill-brow, and couldn't be relocated, despite there shortly being 7 birders newly arrived to help search for it. Then a tense JL arrived, at which point I felt duty called and returned to my chores.

In fading light at 6.30pm Jl and B came down the road - JL had relocated the bird in a geo on the south-east side of the island, and had had excellent close-range views. Unfortunately most of the visiting birders had given up and left the island by this stage...

So I leave you with one final shot...

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Gorgeous, but not half as nice to look at as that Yellowthroat on Foula. (See the full mouth-watering gallery of Foula Yellowthroat photos on entirely excellent Nature in Shetland site). If only...

Posted by Stercorarius at October 11, 2004 09:24 AM