A Yellow-breasted Bunting - before they're all eaten!

At this time of year my smallholding activities fall by the wayside and visitors to this blog are instead regaled with tales of my unpredictable dashes to see rare birds in far-flung corners of Britain.

And if the birding goes really well, big gaps appear in the blog.

And so we go back to Wednesday 20th September which tells you that things have been rather hectic between then and now (7th October). News of a Yellow-breasted Bunting on Out Skerries, a small group of islands which form part of the Shetland Isles.

News broke at lunch time  and I went into sulk mode as, unusually, it was going to be very hard to switch work around and go before the weekend.
When I started birding Yellow-breasted Buntings were fairly regular, several appearing each year. Most were on the Northern Isles but occasionally one would appear in an easier location to reach. But then the population plummeted (the Chinese decided to eat them all) and records in Britain dried up.
Younger birders (I include myself!!!) were beginning to think that we might not get another chance to catch up with this species.
So the prospect of having to wait till the weekend threw me into a decidedly confused and panicky state of mind.
This became significantly worse when, an hour later, news of a Siberian Thrush on the same group of islands came through too. I need that one too!

But that all changed as my fairy godmother came to the rescue and it transpired I would not need to be at work on the Thursday. By now others had made their plans and I thought my options for getting to Out Skerries would be closed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that flights to Shetland have considerably reduced in price over the past year (due to renewed competition between Loganair and Flybe). In fact quoted prices were ridiculously cheap and it would be rude not to book at least one way. If prices stay so low it will be a game changer in terms of twitching Shetland.
Meanwhile friends were doing their best to track down a boat to get us across the final stretch of water to Out Skerries.

By late evening I was on the road along with a very old friend who had seen Yellow-breasted Buntings back in the day but who still needed Siberian Thrush. My priority, by virtue of plummeting records, was the bunting.
The drive was long but one with which I am familiar and by 6am we were negotiating security in Aberdeen airport. Others had come from different points and so five of us all crammed into the smallest hire car you could possibly imagine. Sardines would have felt cramped!

We did a little token birding in South Mainland before parking up at Laxo ferry terminal. Dan had managed to charter the whole vehicle ferry for us as there were no scheduled crossings today.
The crossing was not too bad and we all trooped off the ferry and were led in a yomp across the island by one of the locals.

We all stopped on one of the narrow lanes where we parked our gear against a wall. The bird, we were told, would soon show on the stone walls or on the road verge about 50 yards ahead of us.The weather had now turned drizzly and everything was gradually getting wetter and wetter. The wait was tense. However safe a bird feels, things can always go disastrously wrong at the last stage.
After about 20 minutes I saw the bird hop up onto a wall - not the best view through damp optics, but enough for the tick. Relief.
I gave directions to the other birders but had to stop when a few of them inconsiderately moved right in front of me. I muttered my frustration and shifted my position.

Over the next half hour or so everybody got views but they were always quite distant and typically brief. It was decided to venture forward towards the bird's favoured area, a couple of weedy compounds surrounded by semi-derelict stone walls.
Eventually we secured fantastic views, even if the bird was rather bedraggled.

Thnks to Graham Jepson for this wonderful image of the Yellow-breasted Bunting

(taken the next day, when it was a bit drier!

Thanks must go to the small team of birders who had put themselves in such a remote location in hope of such a find. Well done lads!

After a couple of hours it was time to be heading off the island and back to Lerwick to seek accommodation. A clash with Wool Week (I was more interested in this than my mates) meant that we were lucky to get a dorm for the six of us.

I nearly forgot. The Siberian Thrush had been a no-show (aren't they always) so Neil (the old one) was enjoying a dip. For the rest of us we had scored the more important bird so a celebration curry in Lerwick was the order of the evening. Neil got his revenge by raising the roof of the youth hostel that evening with his snoring!
Our plans were open, with no return flight yet booked, so we decided to spend Thursday on Fetlar, an island I last visited over thirty years ago when I was just discovering the joys of birding and the delights of the Northern Isles.

Not one but two Common Rosefinches

It was a nostalgic visit for me. Birding wise, the island was full of promise. We failed to turn up any major rarities but did unearth a couple of Common Rosefinches, a Barred Warbler and we amassed a haul of over 30 Yellow-browed Warblers during the day (absolutely astonishing how this species has pioneered a new migration route in recent years).

Another night in the youth hostel to recuperate properly before the journey back south to Fenland. A little birding in the morning was more difficult going than yesterday but we still managed to unearth a new Barred Warbler and a handful of Yellow-broweds.

Getting ready for the return journey

in Sumburgh Airport

The return journey was long but eased by the warm glow of knowing that, had we waited till the weekend, we would not have seen the Yellow-breasted Bunting, for it disappeared overnight on Friday to the chagrin of all those on the Saturday morning flights.

And so in the middle of the night I arrived back on the farm with Yellow-breasted Bunting in the bag (not literally - we are competitive but not to that extent). In less than a week I would be driving back up to Aberdeen for our annual week on Shetland. This was just the prelude.
I have a busy week ahead of me before then, for I am working every day in order to accrue time should I need to shoot off again.

I was back in time for the Fenland Smallholders Annual Produce Show (having missed it for the last three years - all birding related).
I loaded the car with my prized vegetables. I scooped five prizes in total and was very pleased to take Wonkiest Veg.
It was nice to check everything on the smallholding too.

Sue does a fantastic job looking after everything when I dash off.