BOOTED IT FOR THE BOOTED BUT NO SIGN!

After leaving Shetland yesterday afternoon with news that the Booted Eagle was still in the area, Dan Pointon and I headed south and picked up Owen Parsons from Cheshire on our way down. We drove through the night and arrived at the site just before 8:00 AM, managing to find a good vantage point to observe the bird if it was still around.

We waited all day, but there was no sign of the bird. We did see plenty of buzzards, along with a red kite, a marsh harrier, and a merlin. There were also good numbers of large shearwaters passing by, with Cory's and Manx shearwaters observed at Pendeen before dusk.

This was the third sighting in Cornwall this year, but none of the birds have stayed for long. The booted eagle has a controversial history in Britain and Ireland. A pale-morph immature bird that toured both regions from 1999 to 2000 is currently placed in Category D—a classification for species where there is reasonable doubt that they have occurred in Britain naturally. This is due to anomalies like the arrival date, duration of stay, and plumage condition, as well as the largely unfounded claim that the species is not prone to crossing large bodies of water.

We decided to stay in Penzance overnight and wait to see if the bird would return the next day. However, by lunchtime, we gave up and headed to the Lizard, where we were fortunate to get good views of a juvenile rose-colored starling.

Back down the road at Helston, two Firecrests were seen, and a Mediterranean gull was on the boating lake..

With no news yet on the Booted Eagle, we began our long journey back north and stopped at Dawlish Warren. There, we spotted a male, a female, and two juvenile Cirl Buntings. I hadn’t seen one of these birds in years, and we ended up getting great views of them as they fed on the golf course..

Dan and Owen photographing the Cirl's

As dusk fell upon us again, we headed home. No boots, but there will be another!

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 7

Waking up this morning, a pale-morph juvenile Booted Eagle was seen over Nanquidno in Cornwall yesterday.

Botted Eagle (Jim Waterman)

After the dark morphs were observed over Cape Cornwall on May 20th and Nanquidno on September 2nd, both birds were not seen again. Dan Pointon and I were prepared to leave Shetland if the bird was spotted again, so we continued with our day. During the morning, we saw a Cattle Egret along with two Purple Sandpipers, both of which showed well.

Cattle Egret

News broke late in the morning that the Botted Eagle had been relocated by some local birders. It had been seen intermittently around Land's End, with the last sighting recorded at 1:45 PM. We had booked our flights for a late afternoon departure back to the mainland, and we decided we had to give it a try, even though there had been no sightings after 1:45 PM. 

We returned to our accommodation to pack, and just as we were leaving, we received news that a White-Winged Scoter had been spotted north of Lerwick. We quickly drove north and soon found the bird, which was showing well with a group of Eiders.

White Winged Scoter

After enjoying good views of the bird, we headed to the airport and left after another great week of birding on Shetland!

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 6

The weather was dreadful today with a strong northerly wind and torrential rain. News broke that a Bluethroat had been found at Channerwick, so we headed there and had good views.

The afternoon was spent birdwatching from the car due to the weather, but we did manage to see a Lapland Bunting by the side of the road, which showed really well.

The weather finally cleared up by evening, offering stunning views of the Northern Lights.

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 5

I spent the morning in the accommodation because I had a Microsoft Teams interview online, while the others headed out. During my interview, news broke that a Common Nighthawk had been spotted by the side of the road on the island of Yell. Panic set in because I needed this bird for my British list. After my interview, I quickly went to the airport to rent a car for the day and headed north. When I arrived at the ferry terminal in Toft, I learnt that the bird was actually a Nightjar! Unbelievable! Earlier in the day, a Pallas's Warbler had also been found, so I decided to go there and was rewarded with great views of the bird.

Pallas's Leaf Warbler

Late afternoon was spent at the Loch of Spiggie, where I connected with a Scaup and a Slavonian grebe.

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 4

This morning was spent on the west side of the mainland. A few migrant birds were seen after a full day's birding: 6 blackcaps, 8 yellow-browed warblers, and a Siberian chiffchaff.

Siberian Chiffchaff

The wind has really picked up this afternoon, making it challenging to find birds. However, before dusk, we connected with a returning juvenile White-fronted Goose and observed Pink-footed Geese at Loch of Spiggie.

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 3

This morning was once again spent in the southern part of the mainland, around Sumburgh and Grutness. It was very quiet, with only two Blackcaps and four Yellow-browed Warblers seen. Late in the morning, we received news that a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler had been spotted at Garth, further north, so we headed in that direction. The bird eventually showed itself very well, marking my third sighting of this species in Britain. It didn't disappoint and performed nicely for the crowd, occasionally perching up in the low vegetation.

After cracking views of the bird, we made our way to Kergord, where we connected with an olive-backed pipit, which showed really well. The bird was foraging in low vegetation and then it flew up into a tree.

The wind had clearly changed by late afternoon and gone from a southeasterly to a westerly. News came out just before dusk that an Arctic Warbler was showing well south of Lerwick, so we headed there and got great views.

Another great day birding on Shetland!

SHETLAND 2024 DAY 2

Today was spent at the south end of the mainland, where we connected with eleven yellow-browed warblers and a red-breasted flycatcher. A quiet day really but we put the miles and steps in.

Red-breasted flycatcher

Migrants were scarce, but we did have sightings of Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat.

2 Great Northern Divers were also seen at Scousburgh.