2nd November

A dry and sunny day with some interest on the sea making up for another relatively static 24 hours on the land. A total of 8 Little Auks passed the island (3 south down the west coast in the morning and 5 west past the north end during an afternoon seawatch) and there were also 7 Sooty Shearwaters, 6 Red-throated and 8 Great Northern Divers, a Great Skua, 159 Kittiwakes and 71 Auk sp. recorded off either the west or north coasts at various times of the day. Both Great Grey Shrikes appear to have moved on but the male Northern Harrier continues to delight the team - it really is a fantastic looking bird in the sunshine! Most passerines were recorded in similar numbers to yesterday but a Lesser Redpoll was new, being trapped and ringed at Holland gardens in the evening where what looks like the Senness Yellowhammer was also processed. Also seen were 17 Whooper Swans (at least 14 newcommers), the Smew, a Sparrowhawk, a Grey Plover, the juvenile Glaucous Gull around Nouster beach and 2 Short-eared Owls.



Yellowhammer (photo Samuel Perfect)