20th and 21st April
Bright and sunny
throughout the day on the 20th but the southerly wind gradually
increased to become brisk by the evening; the day’s highlight was a very early Little Tern
seen briefly in Nouster – continuing the theme of this slightly odd
spring as the previous earliest record was 5th May! More typical were the first 2 Whimbrel of the year which flew over Stennabreck.
Other migrant totals included 2 Merlin, 2 Woodpigeon,
a Collared Dove, 7 Swallows, 7 Rock Pipits, 2 White Wagtails, 43 Pied Wagtails,
13 Dunnocks, 24 Robins, 30 Wheatears, a Ring Ouzel, 60 Blackbirds, 41
Fieldfare, 4 Song Thrush, 4 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, 4
Willow Warblers, 7 Goldcrest, 2 Chaffinches, 5 Bramblings, 3 Siskins, a Common
Redpoll and the lingering Snow Bunting.
Also of note were a single Manx Shearwater past the
seawatch hide, one remaining Barnacle Goose, 10 Long-tailed Ducks, 11
Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Arctic Skuas, 9 Great Skuas and the Kumlien’s Gull still.
A gorgeous day on the 21st with a light
southerly breeze swinging round into the SE by the evening and plenty of
warm(ish) sunshine; there were some obvious new arrivals even though it was
generally ‘too nice’ for many grounded migrants. The highlights were two drake Mandarin
which pitched down briefly on Hooking Loch (only the sixth record for the
island!) and a still largely winter plumaged Dotterel
which was found with the Golden Plover in Loch Park.
The day’s migrant totals comprised single 3
Woodpigeon, a Collared Dove, 5 Sand Martins, 4 Swallows, 186 Meadow Pipits, 7
Dunnock, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Chaffinches, 2
Bramblings, a Siskin and a couple of roving Corvid flocks totalling 15 Carrion
Crows and 5 Ravens.
Also
seen were 10 Great-northern Divers offshore, the single Barnacle Goose and
Whooper Swan, 267 Golden Plover, 174 Sanderling, 48 Dunlin, 2 Ruff, a Whimbrel
and the Kumlien’s Gull yet again.
Mandarin Simon Davies
Dotterel (honestly!) Simon Davies
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