Weekend Birding 16th & 17th of November 2013

Saturday the 16th of November 2013

This morning I headed down to Lerwick on the bus.
When I got to Lerwick Henry and I headed to the "street" and then to the hostel.
We stayed there a while before Mairi picked us up and we went to the house for lunch.
After lunch Henry and I checked the Clickimin.
On arrival we saw fifty-four Stirlings, eight Turnstones, fourteen Greylags, thirty Herring Gulls and twenty-two Shalders.
While I was counting the Herring Gulls I noticed a different coloured gull washing itself in the water,
we both moved closer to it and I noticed it had white wing tips, a white-winged gull! a 1st or 2nd winter Iceland or a Glaucous Gull!
My thoughts were moving towards Iceland Gull but I couldn't be sure, so since the bird didn't seem to be going anywhere we went to Helendale.
We were there a few minutes and we had seen two Goldcrests, a Collard Dove, two Brambling, a Chaffinch and four Blackbirds then the birder from the south end who we saw last weekend came up the road, we spoke to him for a few minutes before he went further up the road.
We started walking towards the loch when Henry spotted a warbler on some wire, I got my "bins" on it and it was a Chiffchaff but it was a very pale bird (possibly a Siberian).
The south end birder then arrived and we showed him the bird and he said that it was definitely an "eastern" bird, we then showed him the white-winged gull he said that it was an Iceland but it was hard to tell if it was a first or second winter.
We continued birding round the loch and we found seventeen Tufted Ducks, twelve Goldeneye, the juvenile Mute Swan and two Great Black-backed Gulls we then headed back to the house.
Tonight I sent an email asking if anyone had said where a certain Little Grebe had been seen during the week.

Sunday the 17th of November 2013

I got up early this morning so I could take a look round Clickimin and Seafield.
I checked my emails before I went out just in case I had got a reply about the Little Grebe, luckily I did and I was told that no-one had actually said where it had been but an idea was a small loch at Seafiled.
With that info I gathered my stuff and headed over to Clickimin, there I saw three Whooper Swans, sixteen Greylags, fifteen Herring Gulls, one Great Black-backed Gull (which was eating an intestine or something), two Shalders, one Turnstone, eight Mallards, a pair of Teal, seven Redshank, thirteen Tufted Duck, two Goldeneye, one Gadwall, a Blackbird and two Herring Gulls.
I headed into Helendale and I found a Robin, fifteen Blackbirds and a Wren from here I went to Seafield.
On the way I saw one Great Black-backed Gull (Swaabie), four Redshank, a Raven, two Blackbird and three Redwing.

I got relatively close to the Redwings and this one stayed close enough so I could get a photo

I got to Seafield and I saw the usually Grey Seals which lie on the rocks.

I couldn't see the name of this ship, unless anyone has any ideas

Further along the coast I found a Kittiwake, two Wren, four Rock Pipits, three Blackbird, twenty-five Stirlings, eight Turnstone, four Redshank and a few Herring Gulls.

I then spotted three Ringed Plovers standing among four larger grey waders, Knot!

It's not a time lapse but three birds

You can see the size comparison with the Ringed Plovers

I was quite happy that I found the Knot because I haven't seen any in a while

I continued out to the small loch further along at Seafield, when I got there I saw five Mallards and a very (very) small bird swimming in the water, the Little Grebe! I got out my camera and I started taking some photos.

It was a piece away but I'm glad that I got a photo

If you look carefully you can see a peerie fish in the bird's beaks!

I then headed back to the house and this was the end of my birding for today.