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We've got a first for Britain on our hands! A superb find by John Lowrie Irvine here on Whalsay, Britain's first ever Western Olivaceous Warbler. Huge thanks to Phil Harris, Paul Harvey & Roger Riddington for trapping and establishing ID in hand. What a bird!

One of many highlights of recent days in Shetland: Shetland's third Pallid Swift (and my second) in Lerwick, terrific garden bird for Shetland Seabird Tours • The Noss Boat & Rebecca Nason - Nature in Shetland

Western Olivaceous Warbler: new to Whalsay and Britain, thanks to John Lowrie Irvine. Dismal light on 21 Oct, but the bird did its best to shine. Tail and tarsus length beyond the range of Eastern, dna sample en route to Martin Collinson #BLM Full write-up in British Birds in due course

It has been a brilliant autumn for irruptive species in Shetland. Exceptional numbers of continental Coal Tits and Treecreepers (these two, and Firecrest, were Shetland find ticks for me this year); also lots of Waxwings and, loveliest of all, Northern Bullfinches Nature in Shetland

News from Martin Collinson #BLM that DNA from the Whalsay warbler confirms it as Western Olivaceous. Top work by the incredible Aberdeen Bird Lab. Nature in Shetland BirdGuides RareBirdAlertUK

This 1cy male Coues's Arctic Redpoll at Brake on 1 Nov kept PVH and me entertained for hours. Textbook undertail, rear flanks, mantle, bill; the rump is less 'perfect', with some fine streaks and underlying dark marks, but the reality is they're not all snowballs. Nature in Shetland

January in Shetland - slim pickings, and light is hard to come by. Little Gulls always look lovely though, even in a bitter northwesterly. As of course do Canada Geese... Nature in Shetland

Wintry conditions in Shetland today, tough for most birds. This Glaucous Gull at Virkie was at least having a decent lunch - Greylag tartare. Nature in Shetland BirdGuides RareBirdAlertUK

The Shetland Beluga, accessible to the masses this afternoon now the thaw has set in (Red-throated Diver for scale in one shot). Nature in Shetland The animal seems healthy, I'm desperately hoping I won't be walking round it all summer on my Sand Wick beached bird survey for SOTEAG

More Glaucous Gull gore at Virkie - this is the third individual I've seen in the past ten days, tidying up the Greylag corpses that litter the fields after the recent cold snap. Nature in Shetland

The wintering Black-bellied Dipper at Burn of Lunklet, late yesterday afternoon. Migrant Dippers are rare but probably somewhat overlooked in Shetland; the hills are not alive with birds in the winter. Nature in Shetland

Red-necked Grebe - decent Shetland bird nowadays; this one in Quendale late this afternoon was a find tick. It looks sufficiently long-billed to be a candidate holbollii (American) but definite ID would need biometrics. Comments welcome. Nature in Shetland RareBirdAlertUK BirdGuides

Red-necked Grebe update - Andrew Harrop found the corpse on Quendale beach this morning and we measured it in our garage - wing 198, bill 56.0, tarsus 63.9 - which makes it a male holbollii Nature in Shetland RareBirdAlertUK BirdGuides

Female Northern Bullfinches, with those sensational icy, grey-mauve underparts, are hard to beat. This one was at an unphotogenic drinking pool at Kergord earlier in the week. Yellowhammer at Quendale yesterday to continue the theme. Nature in Shetland

A sparkling drake Blue-winged Teal at Scatness this evening (found earlier by the legendary Pete Ellis); nice end to a day of beached bird surveys and still worrying numbers of dead guillemots on Shetland's beaches SOTEAG Nature in Shetland

One of the highlights of Skerries last w/e was the count of seven Wrynecks. Bluethroat, Icterine Warbler, plenty of common migrants too. A few Lesser Whitethroats this week giving churring calls, showing that blythi occur in spring as well as autumn. Nature in Shetland

Migrants in the Ness in the past week Nature in Shetland, including two of my favourite chats and an Eastern Subalpine Warbler at Quendale found by Hugh Harrop Wildlife

Breathtaking views of this Pacific Swift found by Roger Riddington at Virkie, Shetland today. At times it hawked low over the ground only a few metres away from us. Less than 15 British records of this Asiatic species, but the third consecutive year since 2022 that Pacific Swift

Pacific Swift! In the field behind our house! Oooft... Presumably the returning bird from June22 & July23. Where else does it go? And why is it in wing moult this year? So many questions. Thanks to @Vicount_Biscuit for souvenir mugshot. Nature in Shetland BirdGuides RareBirdAlertUK

Compare and contrast - Lesser Grey Shrike at Channerwick, in August 2004 (first pic) and yesterday - found by Ewen Thomson and @Vicount_Biscuit The Coolpix 4500/scope combo seems a lifetime ago. Nature in Shetland RareBirdAlertUK BirdGuides