An extremely rare and confused visitor has ended up in one of the Shetland islands instead of sunnier climes in southern Europe
A calandra lark, which normally breeds in warm countries around the Mediterranean, has turned up in Fair Isle after overshooting its breeding grounds by several hundred miles.
The lark is also found through Turkey into northern Iran and southern Russia and is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
There are only a handful of recent records for the bird in the UK, and is officially listed by twitchers as “mega rare.”
According to Bird Guides this is the first report of the species in the UK for two years.
It was spotted by keen birders on Thursday.
The lark is one of four rare visitors the tiny island between Orkney and Shetland has seen recently.
A Caspian stonechat and western subalpine warbler remain on Fair Isle
The male stonechat normally breeds around the Caspian Sea, and the warbler should have migrated from Africa to Spain or southern France.
And another vagrant on Fair Isle is a hermit thrush which should be on the other side of the Atlantic.
Josh Jones of Bird Guides said: “This is a great series of rare visitors for Fair Isle.
“It looks like the hermit thrush and the others have overshot their intended breeding grounds by a few thousand miles.
“They are way off course and were probably brought here by the recent atmospheric conditions.”
Fair Isle because of its remote position, gets many confused and exhausted birds seeking somewhere to land.