11:36 Monday, 10 October 2016 |
Written by Hans J Marter
BIRD WATCHERS from across the
country are on their way to Shetland to catch a rare glimpse of a Siberian
accentor, the first ever recorded in Britain.
The tiny bird was discovered at
Mossy Hill, near Scousburgh, on Sunday afternoon by
Shetland Wildlife guides Judd Hunt and Hugh Harrop.
"We were just checking the
quarry at Mossy Hill, which is good for migrants now and then, when Judd set
eyes on this bird and got very excited," Harrop described the moment they
realised the "magnitude" of their discovery.
"Judd said 'I think I got a
Siberian accentor'," Harrop continued. "It was total euphoria; we
were both physically shaking."
The news soon made its way around
the bird-watching community and by Monday morning around 100 twitchers were
flocking to the site.
Among them was Britain's top bird
watcher Steve Gantlett, from Norfolk, who arrived in Shetland on Monday morning
after driving overnight to Aberdeen to catch the first flight north.
Harrop said the recent calm
weather with steady easterly winds has been "producing lots of good
birds".
"With any rare bird there is
always an element of luck and pure chance," he said, "however the
Siberian accentor is one of those birds that is on your radar as a bird watcher
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