6th and 7th July
A pleasant couple of days, largely warm with the wind
switching from the SE to the W; the biggest surprise on the 6th was
the appearance of 2 fresh juvenile Stonechats
at Holland, we’re as sure as you possibly can be that they were not from here
and with the nearest breeding birds on Eday, it seems that that is the most
likely source. Another slightly
unseasonal mid-summer Sparrowhawk was also seen at Holland along with 5
Collared Doves completed the other landbird highlights.
Two Red-necked Phalaropes remained on
Gretchen with the Black-throated Diver
still in Nouster with a Great-northern Diver while other wader counts included
278 Golden Plover, 17 Sanderling, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and 45 Curlew with a few
small flocks seen heading south.
Stonechat
Slightly
wider coverage across the island on the 7th coupled with some
obvious influxes produced some much-improved wader counts including 588 Golden
Plover, 217 Oystercatchers, 59 Ringed Plover, 154 Lapwing, 6 Knot, 19
Sanderling, 47 Dunlin, 143 Redshank (including a big flock of 95 at Hooking and
some obvious flocks heading south) and 51 Turnstone while a single male Red-necked Phalarope lingered on
Gretchen.
Other
highlights through the day included a Quail
flushed from Sandar and the Black-throated
Diver still while other little bits comprised a Heron, 15 Teal, a Pintail,
2 Wigeon, 7 Gadwall and 38 Sand Martins.
With many of the Arctic Tern colonies struggling on the island, birds
are starting to gather on their traditional rocks near Bewan and with an island
count of 1,216 today (including hundreds of 1st summer birds) it’s
definitely a place to check daily through July and August for that rare one…
Red-necked Phalarope
Swallow fledgling
Many of the Ringed Plovers have nested in the Arctic Tern colonies; this tiny chick was at Trinley
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