11th-17th January
The last week has had the full spectrum of weather with
wind, rain, sun, sleet, hail and snow!
It’s also provided some fairly good birds, the 11th
was very quiet and the only real noteworthy birds were the first Skylark of
2018 flushed from the ploughed field South of the camping field and a Merlin
that cruised into the bay a Westness.
A bird I thought we weren’t going to get on the year
finally made appearance, the drake Smew that had graced the island in the final
days of 2017 was seen briefly on Bewan and hasn’t been since!
Other birds of interest for the 12th a Hen
Harrier at Sandar and a lone Pink-footed Goose.
The 13th and 14th were quiet also.
The 1st Winter Glaucous Gull was still on the Links, a good count of
18 Goldeneye were spread out between Bewan, the Links and Brides. An early
Mistle Thrush was feeding at the bottom of the fields near the shooting gallery
on the 14th, the final bird of the day was a very smart drake
Pochard on Bewan.
A pair of Glaucous Gulls were present on the 15th
in near un-birdable winds, Black-headed Gull added itself to the year list and
the Pochard remained on Bewan.
The 16th was much calmer but a hell of a lot
colder! A Woodcock in off the sea at Westness was another addition to the year
list closely followed by a Red-throated Diver and 2 Great Northern Divers off
the Links.
Snow on the 17th gave the island an even
colder feel! Appropriately a large flock of 58 Snow Buntings were feeding round
the cattle feeders in East Loch Park. The Hen Harrier was still present around
the Westness area and the Pochard was still present on Bewan, finally an
impressive 32 Fieldfares were dotted around the island.
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| A Common Gull Mosh Pit in the Snow |
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| "Whatever this white stuff is, I don't like it" - Hooded Crow Jan '18 |
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| Pochard |
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| The ever camera shy drake Smew |
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| Whooper Swan in heavy snow, probably wishing it wasn't |
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