25th and 26th June


A bright and sunny start on the 25th, it soon clouded over though but the winds remained light; it proved to be a decent day in the field with a nice selection of random scarcities across the island, in no particular order they included a summer plumaged Black-throated Diver off The Links, a female Garganey still on Hooking (but no sign of any chicks), an adult male Hen Harrier which flew north up The Links (very unusual mid-summer!), a pair of Red-necked Phalaropes on Gretchen and the Little Gull again, this time at Garso.

                Other little bits included 41 Golden Plover, 26 Dunlin, 21 Bar-tailed Godwits and at Holland a Woodpigeon, 5 Collared Doves and at least 2 Chiffchaffs.

                Light winds again on 26th but with lots more sunshine although it did cloud over in the afternoon; a single Red-necked Phalarope remained on Gretchen and a Whimbrel was at Ancum.   Promising news came from the Arctic Terns where a visit to this year’s biggest colony near Sangar produced 60 ringable chicks – almost double last year’s ringing total!



Plenty of baby Wheatears and Wrens around too

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