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Shetland autumn rarity thread (1 Viewer)

Stephen Dunstan

Stephen Dunstan

Registered User
Ok, as at least one person is interested I am doing this again. It's from 1 July to 31 October, and a reminder of the scoring:-

BBRC - Gold
Scottish rarity - Silver
Shetland rarity - Bronze

And this is how 2017 finished:-

Mainland 22, 19, 15
Fair Isle 16, 11, 8
Unst 15, 4, 6
Foula 10, 2, 1
Out Skerries 3, 1, 3
Whalsay 3, 0, 2
Bressay 3, 0, 1
Fetlar 2, 5, 1
Yell 1, 0, 1
Papa Stour 0, 0, 0

This doesn't include the Parrot Crossbills on Unst and Mainland, but they didn't affect the final standings. As predicted Mainland 'won', and Fair Isle then Unst and Foula was arguably predictable. A late rally from Skerries took it into fifth ahead of some larger neighbours.
 
Autumn? I thought you were being a bit previous there Stephen, but if the rare birds start turning up, I guess I have to live with it. Mind you this heat wave has started the trees in the reserve I look after to lose their leaves already.

Bring on the rarities then!
 
Jon Turner said:
Autumn? I thought you were being a bit previous there Stephen, but if the rare birds start turning up, I guess I have to live with it. Mind you this heat wave has started the trees in the reserve I look after to lose their leaves already.

Bring on the rarities then!
Click to expand...

I guess the Rosy Starlings were post-breeding dispersal and they were on Shetland from late May, but I take your point Jon.
 
Update

A catch-up as I have been away surveying in Biscay.

Yell

Rosy Starling - Shetland rarity
Hobby - Shetland Rarity

A couple of points about the Rosy Starling - for anyone who didn't know this wasn't a Shetland description bird for a while, but was put back on in 2015. As someone said to me when I was up in the spring (possibly Paul Harvey) it feels like it should be a description bird.

The other point is that although it is the first one in this 'competition' there have been records on six Shetland islands during this year's influx so far - Fair Isle, Unst, Skerries, Mainland and Fetlar already having had them. Obviously there may have been movement between isles and some duplication.

Yell off to a flier this year...
 
27 July

Mainland

Rosy Starling - Shetland rarity

Possibly one of the ones which arrived before the period covered by this thread. Today (28th) the first Icterine Warbler of the autumn was on Unst.
 
July totals

A bit late, but makes it a bit easier to do running totals:-

Fair Isle 1 0 0
Mainland 0 0 2
Yell 0 0 2
Whalsay 0 0 1

Bressay and Unst have since registered description birds, leaving Fetlar, Foula, Out Skerries and Papa Stour still to score.

I might try and summarise coverage on each island if that's of interest to anyone.
 
8 August

Fair Isle

Gyrfalcon - national rarity


There was a Rosy Starling reported yesterday on Mainland but I am assuming this is the bird from last month.
 
9 August

Fair Isle

Rosy Starling - Shetland rarity


There were three seen on Fair Isle before the period of this comparison, but this is the first since 1 July.
 
Stephen Dunstan said:
Fair Isle

Rosy Starling - Shetland rarity


There were three seen on Fair Isle before the period of this comparison, but this is the first since 1 July.
Click to expand...

There seem to be two Rosy Starlings on Fair Isle, with a juvenile and an adult reported.

A probable Gyr was on Unst yesterday. Clearly this may be the bird seen on Fair Isle but not confirmed as yet.
 
Gyr update

The bird on Unst is now confirmed to be a Gyr, but also confirmed to be an escape. Presumably the Fair Isle bird so that needs to be discounted from the scores.
 
Papa Stour

Whilst it's quiet I thought I would start the summaries of islands I mentioned a while back. I welcome any amendments to the content below:-

Papa Stour is off the west coast of mainland Shetland, but far closer to the rest of Shetland than Foula which is a major factor in it having less interest for seekers of migrant birds. The population is only circa 15, and perhaps unsurprisingly doesn't include any resident birders at present.

In recent years it has barely had any coverage, with a limited ferry service for day tripping and a lack of a rarity track record to entice any visiting birders to base themselves on the isles. There have, for example, been no records submitted to Nature In Shetland this year. In the past records from residents have included Subalpine Warbler.

Recent coverage of the west of mainland Shetland has produced a number of rarities from east and west, so there presumably are good birds to be found on Papa Stour for anyone wanting a Shetland island to cover themselves in autumn prepared to put up with lean spells. If nothing else the seven areas of freshwater give the possibility of wildfowl and waders. There is guest accommodation available, though there are no shops on the island so you would need to take provisions with you.
 
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