14th and 15th June
Good conditions on the 14th with light winds
and bits of sun poking through; a pod of 5 ORCAS which moved quickly down the west coast
was the day’s highlight and consisted of a bull, three females and a calf –
it’s been an excellent year for sightings so far (here, Orkney, Fair Isle and
Shetland) so hopefully we can expect more as the summer progresses.
Birdwise
there were a few bits here and there with a Kestrel, a Short-eared Owl and a
Common Redpoll new on the land while waders included a ‘grey’ Curlew Sandpiper
on Gretchen, 6 Black-tailed Godwits and a Whimbrel with the Black-throated Diver seemingly a
permanent fixture in Nouster Bay.
Curlew Sandpiper
A
breezy start on the 15th brought a few drops of rain in the morning
but this soon petered out to become a lovely, warm, sunny day with returning
waders to the fore including 130 Turnstone, 21 Bar-tailed Godwits, the Curlew
Sandpiper again and 2 Whimbrel with the first Pintail for many weeks also
probably an early ‘autumn’ wanderer. On
and over the land a few new birds included an unseasonal Redwing in Ancum
Willows, a Swift, 8+ Sand Martins, 3 House Martins and single Woodpigeon and
Collared Dove while the Black-throated
Diver was in the bay again with 4 Red-throated Divers.
Potentially
rarer still was a Dragonfly sp. seen whizzing around Scottigar which from the
description seems to fit Lesser Emperor or Vagrant Emperor rather than the more
expected (although still amazingly rare up here) Migrant Hawker.
The dark phase Arctic Skua pictured above has been returning to breed on the island for a few years now - identifiable by the distinctive missing feather in the left wing. 'Notchy' has paired with this handsome pale phase bird but unfortunately their first clutch was lost early on but they have now relaid, so fingers crossed! photos Simon Davies
Comments