12th October

Another fantastic day in the field following on from yesterday but somewhat tinged with a sense of frustration as the blazing force 8 SE wind made things extremely hard work out and about, giving us the feeling that we were only touching the surface of the big numbers of birds present across the island.   The underwhelming highlight of the day was a LITTLE EGRET seen briefly by Neven and eventually pinned down on Garso Loch – only the fourth record for the island!   Also picked out in amongst the large numbers of common migrants was a fine male Red-breasted Flycatcher at Lenswick, a Bluethroat at Howar, a Great Grey Shrike at Westness and 2 Yellow-browed Warblers.

                Migrant totals across the island comprised 2 Hen Harriers, 4 Sparrowhawks, a Kestrel, a Merlin, a Woodpigeon, a Long-eared Owl seen at Holland at dawn, a Short-eared Owl, 11 Swallows, 38 Rock Pipits, 181 Meadow Pipits, a Grey Wagtail, 86 Robins, 2 Redstarts, a Black Redstart, a Whinchat, 16 Wheatears, the first 4 Ring Ouzels of the autumn, 91 Blackbirds, 65 Fieldfares, 131 Song Thrush, 819 Redwing, a late Sedge Warbler, 26 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaffs, 5 Willow Warblers, 8 Goldcrests, a Pied Flycatcher, 76 Chaffinches, 134 Brambling, 2 Goldfinch, 7 Siskin, a Lapland Bunting, 30 Snow Bunting and 14 Reed Bunting.

                Other birds of note included 5 Whooper Swans, 37 Pink-footed Geese, 52 Barnacle Geese, 635 Golden Plover, a Jack Snipe, 411 Snipe, the first Woodcock of the autumn and some big flocks of Gulls sheltering from the rough weather comprising 290 Common, 224 Herring and 510 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Little Egret                                    George Gay

Red-breasted Flycatcher                          Simon Davies

Great Grey Shrike                              Simon Davies