29th March - 9th April
It seems as spring is very slowly making it's way to the island and so are a few migrant birds, although in typical early spring style it hasn't really got going yet. It's been a predictable mixed bag of weather but that's barely a big surprise given the gap between blog posts! The last two or three days have been flat calm and sometimes even a little bit sunny.
The 29th, 30th and 31st March ended the month with very little of note, the Snow Goose remained, now seemingly field hopping and was a little more skittish, Wheatears became a daily sighting and a steady passage of Rook and Carrion Crow continued. April started in style with a Buzzard, initially seen by Maddy while on a run, it was eventually seen well over Cruesbreck before it settled on the fence posts around Howar. Interestingly we failed to record a Buzzard in 2024 so it's a welcome edition to the year list. Two Sand Martin were at Ancum and a female Black Redstart was at Westness, a Dunnock at Holland was also a notable migrant. The 2nd saw seven Barnacle near Hooking, a Grey Wagtail go south by the airfield and Great Skuas at Gretchen and Bridesness. A late night addition on 2nd was a flyover Common Scoter, picked up on the observatories BirdWeather PUC, I'm sure having something recording 24/7 won't cause undue pandemonium before the years out...
A much anticipated day for Craig on 3rd as he was left to bird the island alone for the day (George and Maddy were off with the dog at the vets). Despite this increasing the likelihood of him finding an early mega he had to settle for a Blackcap in Holland. With only a Grey Plover of note on 4th the 5th was always likely to be better, this proved correct Blackcaps were at Rue and around the obs, a Peregrine was also around the obs and the Holland Farmhouse feeders produced a Tree Sparrow. The 6th was a day to be in the SE corner of the island, two Sand Martin were over Brides, nine Barnacle Geese were at Greenwall and the star of the show was an immature White-tailed Eagle seen going high north over Southness. The following day saw both Goldfinch and Greenfinch added to the year list, a big increase in Sand Martins saw 21 at the north end and a further 20 around Brides. A Black Redstart was at Sandback, Redpolls were seen at Cavan and Ancum, a Siberian Chiffchaff was also in Ancum and the first Willow Warblers of the year were in Holland and Ancum Willows. The 8th saw us complete the annual Tystie count, posting an impressive 1213 birds around the islands coast, I will have to check if thats record count or not! It also saw a mass influx of Wheatears with over 100 birds for the day. The 9th was quieter but a lovely settled day, a handful of Willow Warblers were around the island, while a Chiffchaff was by T3.
A busy few days await us as the island plays host to Tim and Heather's wedding on Friday, so that will likely keep our hands full. Although I'm sure we'll squeeze in some birding somewhere!
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