Another late start found us forcing ourselves out of the house at 10:15 in the general direction of Toab. Whilst walking past the Virkie Willows Andy spotted a roosting Long-eared Owl which we duly took lots of pictures of (remember the fact I own a camera does not make me a photographer). 
Rob appeared in a panic. Great I thought a 'rare' to twitch. This was true in that there was a Long-tailed Tit at the lighthouse. Now this might seem trivia but it was infact Shetlands 4th record. Ironically the rarest bird on the islands during our 12 day stay! Sadly however it was not seen again, so leaving Rob at the lighthouse Andy and I set off for Levenwick. On route we called at Mainlands where the hot pie selection included Steak Bridies (6 points awarded by Andy) and Cheeseburger Puffs. I awarded the latter 7 points though two of these were for the shear ingenuity of the product i.e a burger topped with cheese and relish and covered in puff pastry whatever next?
Cheeseburger Puff
Rob appeared in a panic. Great I thought a 'rare' to twitch. This was true in that there was a Long-tailed Tit at the lighthouse. Now this might seem trivia but it was infact Shetlands 4th record. Ironically the rarest bird on the islands during our 12 day stay! Sadly however it was not seen again, so leaving Rob at the lighthouse Andy and I set off for Levenwick. On route we called at Mainlands where the hot pie selection included Steak Bridies (6 points awarded by Andy) and Cheeseburger Puffs. I awarded the latter 7 points though two of these were for the shear ingenuity of the product i.e a burger topped with cheese and relish and covered in puff pastry whatever next?
Cheeseburger Puff We were a bit unfamiliar with the Levenwick area but headed for a spot where Andy had previously found a Firecrest. The initial walk around this garden produced just a couple of Goldcrests, but on the way back I noticed a small bird flit out and back in. This proved to be a spanking male Red Breasted Flycatcher my first such male. Also at Levenwick was a Whinchat.
It occured to us that new birds were in so we decided on heading back to the Sumburgh area. A call from Rob informed us that he and Helen had just had a Coal Tit near the Christian Youth Centre - hallelujah. Again another Shetland mega! We tried to show enthusiasm for it but unfortunately it, like its cousin, had buggered off probably towards Scatness/Toab. With this in mind we headed for the gardens of Toab. The lure of the Toab shop proved too much, I just had to check the pie situation. Amazingly they had been a massive fall of 'rare' and 'scarce' Chicken in White Sauce, Egg and Bacon and my all time favourite Cheese, Bean and Tattie. Despite not being the slightest bit hungry I bought the latter and consumed it immediately (10 points).
The pie distracted me somewhat from checking the gardens and we suggested rechecking the lighthouse and farm areas, which we did and saw nothing.
Note Mackay sneaking up for a look at mi pieThe day finished with the Long-eared Owl hunting the grassy edges of the POV.
5 comments:
Love the combover!
AndyD
LOL Yes quite fetching isn't it.
Rare pies don't always equal rare birds then either? What with the hair situation then?
I think you'll find that the L T Tit and the Coal Tit are exceptionally rare and thus my theory stands. My best syrup was in the wash so I had to make do with the fluff out of Rob's bath. This was the best I could manage.
Gotta say that the Leo, the RBF and, of course, the pie look pretty sweet. Good work!
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