9th July

A totally unexpected, and totally stunning, adult White-winged Black Tern was found at Ancum Loch in the afternoon. In an island context, this is the rarest bird of the year so far: the only previous observatory record was a bird seen flying down the main road in August 1997.

Besides the tern, there was very little of interest. A seawatch in the afternoon produced just 5 Manx Shearwaters and 3 Storm Petrels, and 12 Purple Sandpipers were the only different waders.