So my second tick of the year was
also, like the Pechora, a bird earned. This year was seeing a flood of Siberian
Accentor records across northern Europe and it was only a matter of time before
one reached the UK. This was a bird that was long been predicted and one that,
possibly for that reason, was high on my most wanted birds to see: anywhere. I
was at North Light when I got a text from Lee Gregory saying the was a SibeAcc
on Shetland and both elation and annoyance followed. Elation that one was so close,
I could actually see pretty much the site from north Fair Isle across the water
in South Shetland. The annoyance was that it should have been on Fair Isle and
I would have to wait till the next day to get off island to see it.
With that bird still present next
day I got myself on the first flight off to go and get it but that's when it
all started to go wrong. We arrived at the airstrip only to learn the plane was
broken and there was not likely to be any flights till mid afternoon the next
day. This is why I hate twitching, you get all worked up to go and then
something happens to break it.
The rest of the day was spent
deflated back at the Obs. With news that the flight could be going at 2.45pm I
started to feel optimistic again but as 2.45 came and went with updates being
'in an hour' time was ticking by. The plane had been fixed but needed sign off
my a second engineer to be able to fly and he was delayed in Inverness by fog
there !!!.
Eventually news came the plane
was on its way but with an expected time of leaving Fair Isle at around 5.20pm
this would mean it would be extremely difficult to get to the site before the
bird went to roost so I bailed on the flight. I wanted to see SibeAcc but not
in near darkness for a few minutes, and that's what it would be if I was lucky.
Those that went managed to get the bird about 10minutes before it went to
roost. Good on them for going but in a way I was glad I didn't get a most
wanted bird like that. I was on the flight for next day so if it was there I would
get it anyway. Suffice to say it was NOT there the next day. It took a few days
to get back into the birding again on the isle and this was only to be deflated
by another bird turning up at Spurn which seemed to stay an age, this was
followed by another at Holy Island and then another in Sunderland.
I had well and truly thrown my
toys out of the pram by this time as it seemed now unlikely, despite the
continuing hope, that one would grace Shetland again. And that Direct Flight
had cost me a once in a lifetime experience of that World Tick experience.
So to the 20th October. I had
come across a very late Icterine Warbler at Chalet, a very pale grey bird that
had only a faint wash on the throat, which for a time could have been an
Eastern Olivaceous, until I got better views that is. This bird meant that Lee
came to see it, coming off Census. He resumed his census the wrong way around
and as it turned out the Icterine Warbler provided a helping hand to what came
next; if hadn't been for that bird Lee wouldn't have come off census to then go
the wrong way around to complete it.
I was at the Shirva Thistles
looking for an Olive-backed Pipit for someone who had just arrived the day
before when I got a call from Lee "I've got a SibeAcc at Troila....".
Oh F*cking Shit. I abandoned the search for the pipit and legged to the west
cliffs. From Shirva it is a long way but as with such a bird as this it was
going to be everyone for themselves and didn't really expect a van run around
to pick people up.
By the time I got past the
airfield and up the steep embankment I was absolutely shagged, all on news that
the bird was seen to fly out of Troila Geo and head towards Navisgill. It had
gone in there it would never get seen again. I approached the small group of birders
gathered at the top of the Geo, around 3 people, sweeting and breathing heavily
with not life in my legs when Ceiran appeared over the top and announced,
"Its back in there now". F8ck again, life returned to my struggling
legs and I rushed the last few metres and then a minutes later I could see the
bird at the bottom of the geo. Not great views but done and done.
Over the next couple of hours the
bird made its way further up the Geo cliffs until, at one point, it appeared on
the top on the grass. This was great but it was directly into the sun so my
photos of it at that time were a little hazy. Still some of the shots of it
down the geo, whilst distant and on a high ISO, were not to bad and I was vindicated
in staying on the isle and not going off to try for the Spurn bird.
I guess all trouble with the
plane and the anguish that and the other birds turn up caused made this bird
event the more sweet, Lee got a big kiss for this one.
So what follows are the best pics
I could get; pretty pleased with some of the results.
So like buses you don't get any,
you throw your toys out your pram, you get one, pick up your toys and then
another comes along. A mere two days later David found a second Siberian
Accentor in the north of the island. I was down at Skadan, about as far away
that is physically possible on Fair Isle. However unlike the Troila bird this
was next to the road and I got a lift up there.
The bird was initially elusive
right down the Kirn O Scroo and was never very close; the following images are
very heavy crops but it shows a richer breast colour, less distinct wing bars
and lack of grey tram lines on the upper-parts compared with the Troila bird a
couple of days ago.
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