23rd and 24th April
The wind did die off on the 23rd but the long
spells of light rain (including pretty much all afternoon!) spoiled the effect
slightly; a two hour seawatch from first light when the weather was at its best
for the day produced 2 Manx Shearwaters, 5 Arctic Skuas, 10 Bonxies, 615
Fulmars including a smart dark Blue Fulmar, 330 Kittiwakes and a Long-tailed
Duck.
There
were other birds to see in the wet conditions with the highlights being a
juvenile Iceland Gull on Trolla and
some notable Corvid passage with the first Jackdaw
of the year along with 21 Carrion Crows while the count of 14 Hooded Crows
probably included some migrants. Other
little bits of note comprised the drake Garganey, 4 Whimbrel, a Swallow, a
steadily increasing 53 Wheatears and 10 Redwings.
Iceland Gull, photo Simon Davies
Any
vague thoughts of spring were swiftly banished the following morning with a
freezing cold northerly wind bringing with it long periods of heavy snow
forcing most folks to abandon their census routes until the afternoon which, in
fairness was very pleasant with plenty of sunshine; the Black-throated Diver reappeared in Nouster with 5 Great-northern
Divers while there was some wader passage noted including a smart flock of 39
stunning summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits along with a Grey Plover, 516
Golden Plover, 83 Sanderling, 142 Redshank and 299 Turnstone across the island.
An
increased 59 Wheatears and 495 Meadow Pipits also showed that some birds were
making it through despite the wintery conditions, while other landbirds included
6 Snow Buntings, 2 Lapland Buntings, a Chiffchaff, 9 Redwings and 3
Woodpigeons. Single Merlin and
Sparrowhawk dashed around while the 2 Whooper Swans and 24 Pink-footed Geese
with 472 Greylags were counted; meanwhile the 6 Sandwich Terns half-heartedly carried fish
around and displayed.
Black-throated Diver, photo Simon Davies
The first Lapwing chicks were noted, hence much aggression! photo Simon Davies
While the Eider boys just fought amongst themselves, photo Simon Davies
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