The good run of rare birds continued in the morning with a female Subalpine Warbler found, as is so often the case with secretive Sylvia warblers, hanging in a mist net. Biometrics were taken in the hope of assigning it to subspecies, and it seems to have been of the western race S.c.cantillans although the measurements were not 100 percent conclusive.
The
White-tailed Eagle was still present in the morning, but departed northwards and out to sea in the afternoon. The year's first
Whitethroat made its appearance just one day later than the earliest ever arrival, and the other warblers present were a
Grasshopper Warbler, 3
Blackcaps, 7
Chiffchaffs and 4
Willow Warblers. The
Whinchat was seen again near Ancum Loch, and other small migrants included 9
Sand Martins, 12
Swallows, 2
White Wagtails, 2
Dunnocks, a
Robin, 139
Wheatears, a
Mistle Thrush, the same
Pied Flycatcher, 2
Chaffinches, a
Redpoll and 7
Lapland Buntings. There was a lot of corvid activity throughout the day and, although it was not easy to be sure how many birds were involved, minimum counts came to 13
Rooks, 30
Carrion Crows and 2
Carrion x Hooded Crow hybrids. As well as the eagle, raptors were represented by 3
Sparrowhawks, 1
Kestrel, 3
Merlins and a
Peregrine.
Subalpine Warbler
Whinchat
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