Finders-in-the-field: Yellow-breasted Bunting on Housay, Out Skerries
BOU/IRBC Status: A
RBA status: Extremely Rare Vagrant
Accepted British records: 237
Accepted Irish records: 5
Most recent accepted record:
5 to 7 Sept 2013 - Farne Islands, N'berland
Prime month(s) to occur: September
Having had a successful week long trip to Out Skerries in 2016, finding Short-toed Lark & seeing Brown Shrike plus many common migrants, myself, Dave Bywater & Micky McNaghten headed to Out Skerries on the ferry from mainland Shetland on Sunday 17th September with high hopes of ‘a good find or two’.
The next few days proved to be steady going with the primarily north-east & north-west winds turning up very little. There were a few migrant warblers scattered between the gardens, but little apparently arriving. As we went out into the field early on the 20th it was clear that at least the winds had switched overnight, and they were now a light southerly. Myself & Micky birded the island of Housay and at found a new migrant, a Yellow-browned Warbler. Also overhead a few snipe & pipits were moving, so optimism improved. We moved to the island of a Bruray and quickly found another YBW & a vocal and obliging Little Bunting – birds were clearly in! Joining Dave Bywater we found 3 more YBW’s in our guest house garden, one of which was seen to drop in from height. We were now getting a little excited at the day’s prospects and optimism was definitely high.
We headed back over the bridge to the island of Housay, and started our regular route, up the iris bed. Half way up, a calling passerine flew south across us and Micky shouted “ticking bunting”!! It was obvious to all the bird was larger than a Little Bunting and having just heard that species over on Bruray all agreed the sharp ‘tick’call from different too. Frustratingly it carried on flying, but did eventually land on wires, although too far to make anything out. I saw it drop off the wires and disappear behind a house. It was time for running and as we dashed over towards where we had seen the bunting go we suggested we may be onto ‘a Rustic’ or maybe even better!!!
We split up and for what seemed like an eternity failed to relocate the bird, until eventually Dave heard a bird ticking and moving towards the call relocated the bird. He said over the radio “it looks like a Yellow-breasted Bunting!!” but views had been very brief and it certainly hadn’t been clinched. The three of us now together we moved towards the bird and flushed it but again the views were poor, only adding the outer tail feathers were white and intriguingly it appeared to show a yellowish wash to the underparts. Eventually, we had it sat on the ground at close range – clearly a pale bunting and as It then flew up onto overhead wires and settled in full view we could see the distinctive two white wing bars, streaked breast and flanks, pale supercilium and surprisingly bright yellowish wash to the underparts. As it moved the very obvious pale mantle stripes could be seen. We had finally clinched it as a Yellow-breasted Bunting, and as SLR’s clicked we had the proof too!
We soon had news out & photographs circulated on social media, and later in the day had more prolonged views of it as it fed in the gardens and road verges, often in the company of a new Little Bunting that we discovered. It then disappeared for several hours,, before fresh in off the ferry, the fourth member of ‘Team Scarborough’ Nick Addey rediscovered it feeding near the small cemetery.
All happy with our day, we retired at dusk and enjoyed a bottle of bubbly and a boozy evening followed! A great day and we couldn’t wait to get out in the field the next day!
Steve Wignill
25 September 2017
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