SIBERIAN ACCENTOR!” spotted in Britain

The White Rose County was about to enjoy a red letter day. I pressed the delete button.

Seconds before, I had been penning a paean to Shetland, where the birdwatching is as dramatic as the plots of the eponymous BBC police series. 

In TV’s Shetland, detective Jimmy Perez deals with cases more intricate than the patterns on the islands’ knitwear. Its birdwatchers often have to unravel identification puzzles that would stretch even the formidable DI. Rarities come here from all over the world every autumn. Warblers and chats, thrushes and buntings arrive, hide and provide tantalising glimpses to locals and visitors.

Then the bird popped up. It was an OMG moment. We were both shaking

Hugh Harrop, Shetland Wildlife

This month an unprecedented, super-inflated anticyclone over Scandinavia has not only been blocking westerlies and their Atlantic fronts but also allowed an airflow with a strong, eastern bias. 

And the wave of birds with a Siberian provenance sent Shetland birders into a state of ecstasy.-read more