22nd - 24th June
Mixed conditions again
over these past three days with a bright and breezy 22nd seeing the
first really obvious returning wader flocks which included 44 Golden Plover, a
Whimbrel, 7 Knot and 17 Bar-tailed Godwits.
The
23rd however, was a horrible day with a blasting westerly wind
bringing nasty showers whipping in through the morning and then persistent and
heavy, misty, murky, drizzly, foggy awfulness through the afternoon; all of the
days interest came up at the north end where thousands of seabirds gathered on
and offshore with conservative totals including 2,197 Kittiwakes (huge flocks came ashore
when the worst weather came in during the afternoon), 800 Arctic Terns, 1,167+
Puffins (in 1.5 hrs), 1,700 large Auks (also in 1.5 hrs), 20 Arctic Skuas, 340
Gannets, 2 Storm Petrels, 11 Manx Shearwaters and 3 Red-throated Divers.
It
changed again on the 24th but this time for the better as it was a
lovely day with acres of bright sunshine and an easing wind; the previous days
rough weather took its toll though as three out of the four Swallow broods we
were due to ring today were unfortunately dead in the nest and the Raven chicks
didn’t survive the westerly gales – although their nest was only a couple of
metres above the high tide mark on the west coast ☹
Out
and about though a first summer Little Gull was bobbing around on
Hooking Loch with 40+ Black-headed Gull fledglings, a Willow Warbler that was re-trapped
at the Obs had originally been ringed on the 8th and good numbers of
previously failed Arctic Terns re-laying at a number of sites.
Kittiwakes at the foghorn
First summer Arctic Tern being photobombed by a Fulmar
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