A Pine Grosbeak in Shetland!
Words & Pictures by Hugh Harrop

For the time of year, the 9th November 2000 dawned unusually calm and sunny over Shetland. A couple of migrant Woodcocks, several Bramblings, a Water Rail and good numbers of Redwings, Fieldfares, Dunnocks and Robins were my rewards for an enjoyable pre-breakfast walk and as I sipped my morning coffee back at the house, I had two options - tackle a pile of paperwork or start digging up the garden. It certainly wasn't a day to be inside so the latter option won hands down!

The sweat and toil associated with a Shetland garden was duly rewarded with a Waxwing flying south and I silently congratulated myself on adding a new species to my local patch list. About an hour or so later, Captain Paul Bentley called me with news of an odd bird in his garden. Presuming it to be the Waxwing, I drove the mile or so to Paul's house and when he greeted me with "I've had a look in the book and the only thing it matches is a Pine Grosbeak.", I was now unashamedly expecting to see a species of Crossbill.

When the bird in question popped up on to the top of a spruce about 15 metres from where we were standing, I couldn't believe my eyes - it was a first winter male Pine Grosbeak!

We watched the bird for about ten minutes and after explaining the rarity-value of the bird to Paul, I urged him to take some record shots with his camera. The bird was busy feeding and quite oblivious to our presence, so I launched myself back up the road to phone the news out and grab my camera gear. When I returned, I quickly re-found the bird and took a detailed field description. The first local birders arrived shortly afterwards and were rewarded with stunning views down to just a few metres. The bird remained faithful to a small belt of conifers and spent the remainder of the afternoon actively feeding, allowing me to take a wonderful series of photographs.

Clear and calm conditions prevailed over Shetland during the night and despite extensive searching the following morning, there was no sign of the bird. However, my own run of luck continued when I stumbled across an Olive-backed Pipit and a Woodlark - both very welcome local patch ticks and the latter much rarer than the pipit in local terms!

This bird constitutes only the 11th record of Pine Grosbeak for Britain and has been accepted by British Birds Rarities Committee. A full account of the occurrence appeared in Birding World Volume 13 pages 448-450 and the formal acceptance of the record was published in British Birds Volume 98 page 494.

DESCRIPTION

Size and shape: a large, nearly Starling-sized heavily built finch with fairly long tail.
Head: predominantly reddish orange with scattered grey blotching, densest around ear coverts and appearing almost black beneath eye. Blackish streaks at sides of throat.
Upperparts: mantle feathers centred dark greyish, fringed and tipped pale orange or grey. Scapulars predominantly light powder-grey but some feathers showing darker centres. Lower back and upper rump greyish with some orange tones but lower rump contrastingly brighter, predominantly reddish orange. Uppertail coverts blackish-grey.
Wings: outermost median coverts dark grey with broad white tips and fringes; remainder grey. Greater coverts blackish with white fringes and broad white tips. Primary coverts blackish with thin off-white fringes and tips. Primaries blackish with thin off-white fringes on outer webs and thin pale tips. Secondaries similar, forming obvious panel. Tertials black with broad white fringes (broadest on outer webs) and tips.
Underparts: throat and breast reddish orange with feint dark blotching and a thin greyish pectoral 'bracelet' running from scapulars across upper breast. Belly and flanks predominantly powder grey. Vent whitish and undertail coverts dark with thin pale tips.
Bare Parts: upper mandible blackish, the tip hooked over the lower mandible which was also blackish, but becoming horn towards the base. Legs dark. Eye dark.
Voice: the bird was very vocal on occasions and gave a fluty, almost Siskin-like, "tew"-note in quick succession.

Previous records of Pine Grosbeak in Britain

1992	Shetland	Lerwick, male, probably first-year, in song, 25th March to 25th April.
1975	Northumberland	Holy Island, male, 11th to 12th May.
1971	Kent	Cobtree, Maidstone, adult male, 15th May.
1957	Kent	East Malling, female/immature male, 2nd November.
1955	Kent	Charing, adult male, 7th April.
1954	Fife	Isle of May, adult female, trapped, 8th to 9th November.
1890	Nottinghamshire	Watnall, shot, 30th October
c.1861	Yorkshire, North	Littlebeck, near Whitby, flock, immature male, shot, winter, now at Whitby Museum.
pre-1843	Greater London	Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex, female, shot, no date.
pre-1831	Durham	Bill Quay, Pelaw, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Durham, female, shot, no date.