May 15, 2006
White-throated Sparrow
Was busy being a domestic goddess (well, hoovering anyway) on Saturday morning when P interrupted me with the phone - DC had kindly called to let me know there was a White-throated Sparrow at Sumburgh Farm. He's an absolute gem for letting me know when good stuff arrives, and has already provided me with one new bird this year, the splendid Hooded Merganser. This sparrow was not a new species for me, as I'd seen the Lincolnshire bird in '92, but given the circumstances, this was as good as a lifer.
Lincolnshire, way back then - an overnight drive in an asthmatic Mini Metro with two virtual strangers, with a constant barrage of snarling techno on the pathetic tinny stereo. A grey dawn found us picking our way through a dense wood and cabbage field ensemble, in driving rain, water pouring off the branches and mud engulfing my feeble and inadequate trainers. A couple of freezing and miserable hours later we got shite views of a waterlogged White-throated Sparrow huddled in a hawthorn bush.
Shetland, now - after taking E swimming in town, we drove down to Sumburgh, ate lunch up at Sumburgh Head, and then drifted back down the headland to the farm. HH arrived at the same time, and as we walked to where he'd been photographing the bird earlier in the day, we were joined by RR and JR. JR I'd not seen for some 12 years since my last stay on North Ron, so it'd been a while. Obligingly, the White-throated Sparrow appeared at the foot of a drystone wall just in front of us, and fed actively in the bright sunlight. An absolutely stunning looking bird, and very different circumstance to my first. Strikingly long-tailed, with proportions reminiscent of a Bearded Tit, it even did that North American sparrow thing of back-shuffling as it foraged.
Some more excellent photos of this bird available on Hugh Harrop's website >here<
Thanks once again to DC for letting me know about this - not quite a lifer, but frankly an honourary one. The Lincs ghost is laid to rest.
Follow the Weather Starling for a forecast, or see Shetland live on the NAFC webcam… 
Today's North Atlantic chart
An Icelandic Birding Diary (Iceland, funnily enough)
Nature in Shetland website - all the up-to-date bird, insect, cetacean etc news for Shetland, plus photos... indispensable.
>
>
Come back soon!
Posted by Stercorarius at May 15, 2006 02:37 PM