9th and 10th March
Another cracking day on
the 9th with hardly a breath of wind and plenty of sunshine; there
was no sign of the Walrus despite searching but it eventually turned up on a
beach across the water on Sanday, out of view no matter how hard we scoped
it! There was a trickle of new
landbirds which arrived in the fine weather including a Woodcock, single
Peregrine and Hen Harrier, the first Woodpigeon of the year
at Holland, the first Rook of the year over
Westness, 87 Skylarks, 27 Rock Pipits, 5 Robins, the Black Redstart, 78
Fieldfares, 76 Redwings, a Mistle Thrush which turned up in a net at Holland, 3
new Ravens which were soon seen off by the Beacon pair, 2 Linnets, 8 Twite and
27 Snow Buntings.
Other bits included some increased totals on calmer
seas with 9 Red-throated Divers, 17 Great-northern Divers and 29 Long-tailed
Ducks while the Green-winged Teal was still on Gretchen, 3 Pink-footed Geese came
in from the south, the Kumlien’s Gull was again on Brides and the
highly unusual March Ruff flock was now up to 4!
A decent day again on the 10th but with a
bit more cloud and a stronger easterly wind; a few more landbirds made it in to
the island through the day including 2 Hen Harriers, a female Sparrowhawk in
off the sea chasing a Mistle Thrush, 2 Merlins (including an adult male), a
Woodcock, the Woodpigeon again, the Stock Dove which re-appeared in Loch Park
and 2 Pied Wagtails.
Wildfowl totals included 17 Gadwall, the Green-winged Teal, 60 Mallard, 19 Pintail, 11 Shoveler, 8
Goldeneye and the drake Smew still.
Raven Simon Davies
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