‘Holy grail moment’ as rare Siberian blue robin touches down in birdwatcher’s garden

THE UK birding scene was set alight last Thursday morning when local birdwatcher Hugh Harrop discovered Britain’s fifth-ever sighting of a Siberian blue robin in his garden.

It was also only the seventh ever sighting recorded in Europe.

Harrop, who runs the Shetland Wildlife business and lives near Quendale, described seeing it in his own garden in Shetland as a “holy grail moment, if there ever was one”.

The Siberian blue robin is said to have almost mythical status among birdwatchers in the UK given its rarity.

Harrop was able to open up access to the garden, giving both local and visiting birdwatchers the opportunity to see what “could well be one of the birds of the year for them, if not a lifetime”.

There is one previous record in Shetland, back in Foula in 2011, but the bird was found dead.

Coincidentally that bird was discovered on the same day of the year as last week’s sighting – 1 October.

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The bird breeds in dense forests in Siberia and spends the winter in south east and eastern Asia.

Speaking on Monday, Harrop said he was “just about coming down off cloud nine after finding this incredible long distance vagrant”.

It comes after an Egyptian Nightjar was spotted in Virkie in September in what was the first ever record of the bird in Scotland.

Photo: Hugh Harrop/Shetland Wildlife

Photo: Hugh Harrop/Shetland Wildlife