Last night a local birder suggested for anyone that was interested, to charter a plane from Tingwall to go and see the Varied Thrush on Papa Westray – I crazily said I was interested! But, we wouldn't know if this was possible until the office at the airport opened in the morning (today). So, in anticipation and excitement that this may happen, I had packed up my camera bag accordingly for the day and was totally ready to fly to Papa Westray!!! I also wanted to be fairly close to Tingwall in case this happened quickly, you can't mess about on a serious twitch and this was a serious bird!
My thumb/hand is much better now, still not back to full strength/grip at all, but ok to drive, so should be fine for my long drive back to Norfolk on Monday. Arrived at the Burn of Sound in the rain, fairly early. Had lovely views of the Redpolls and a few Siskins feeding on alder on the north side of the road and also a Chiffchaff diving into a bush, but I couldn't see any Redpolls that looked like a good candidate for the recently found (by Paul Bloomer) Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll. There were three other birders here looking also.
Sadly, the Tingwall pilots were not flying anywhere other than Fair Isle today as they were 'training'!!! It was also said that low cloud was forecast for Friday. So that option was out of the window! Another plan was suggested by someone else to charter a plane from Sumburgh (Loganair) but, cutting a very long story short, we couldn't get 8 people to go (maximum number of people), it would have been far too expensive for any less than that, for me anyway sadly. Even though it wasn't cheap, I still can't believe that we couldn't get 8 people together for a return flight, with no messing about with boats etc. I really hope that some of the local birders get to see the Varied Thrush on Papa Westray, who wanted to go on this trip and I appreciate hugely all their efforts in trying to organise this – thank you all.
I decided to head to Lower Voe to see the recent Red-flanked Bluetail, which was also seen yesterday. No sign of it today, when I stood there for well over an hour, if not longer! Had a nice view of a male Blackcap and a Chiffchaff in the rain, along with several Bramblings, Blackbirds and Redwings. Headed to Swining for bluetail number two attempt – one was found here yesterday in the gardens at the end of the road. Even though I didn't see the Red-flanked Bluetail, I'm so glad I went to Swining – what a stunning spot! Paradise at the end of the road by a huge loch. As you near the end of the very pretty houses, a burn runs either side of the road, lots of trees here and bushes, shrubs, plants etc – a perfect and idyillic spot! A very nice lady who lived in the last house was walking her dog and kindly said I could look in her garden, but I didn't feel happy doing that, but did walk a short distance along her driveway. The gardens around here, reminded me of my late mother's garden at Holme, random planting, wild, rugged and beautiful – it made me feel a little emotional to be honest, my mother would have loved this little spot. A field close by was jam packed full of Redwings and Blackbirds – I checked every Redwing very carefully! There were some Ringed Plovers on a small grassy island in the loch, which I hadn't expected here and also several Mallards. I also a saw a male Blackcap briefly. I reluctantly left this magical place and was intending to go to Lea Gardens, to see the Western Bonelli's Warbler, but sensibly I realised there would not be enough light left in the day, so headed back south via South Nesting.
The sunset tonight was spectacular and I did get a couple of pictures on route, but when the skies had climaxed to an incredible array of colours, I was unable to stop along the very busy A970 to capture any photos. Diverted to Lerwick for fish 'n' chips and returned to Levenwick.
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