Following breakfast we headed for the birderless Sumburgh area. Rumours of South Mainland being awash with Birders this October appear to have been unfounded and we quite literally have the whole southern end to ourselves. The fields around Sumburgh Farm were alive with Redwings and news of a White's Thrush on Fair Isle filled us with enthusiasm. Another Yellow-browed was seen briefly in the Hotel garden and a Stonechat was by the quarry along with a couple of Chiffs. We got in the car and headed up to the lighthouse. A bunting dropped in the road and caused all three of us to call Little Bunting simultaneously. It immediately flicked over the wall and disappeared, fortunately returning to the same spot shortly afterwards. This helped soften the pain of the constant barrage of American Landbirds appearing on the pager and reminded me of why I come to Shetland. Geosetter being sheltered seemed a good idea but in reality there were less birds than yesterday. Channerwick produced several Blackcaps and at least two Yellow-broweds. A call from the Nordagerdi boys informed us that they had found a Sibe Stonechat suspiciously in the area where Andy and I had earlier had a Stonechat. Calling at Mainlands on the way back produced an excellent 9 point award winning Chicken and White Sauce proving my theory that scarce pies = scarce birds and so on.
Nothing better than a big dump after a long flight
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