27th-29th April

The 27th and 28th had a distinctly wintery feel to it with a NNE wind. The 27th even had some birds you'd associate with winter birding! A Long-tailed Duck was sat in Nouster and a Woodcock was flushed from Brek. Leftover birds from the previous days still hung on including 41 Wheatear, 2 Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler. Also hanging on before disappearing was a Common Tern in Nouster.
The next day didn't provide much improvement in weather or birds but it did see an increase in Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper to 650 and 144 respectively. A lone Pink-footed Goose was near Bridesness but the stand-out birds for the day were two Tree Sparrow at the obs, a very nice addition to the ever growing year list.
The 29th saw the wind slacken off almost entirely and it also so a small influx in bird numbers. The bird of the day was a stonking summer plumage White-billed Diver off of Dennishead, the Diver was also joined by 5 or more Risso's Dolphin, the first sighting of any cetaceans this year. Elsewhere a drake Garganey was on Hooking, a Sparrowhawk was in Holland, an Arctic Skua was seen near Torness and the first Arctic Tern of the year flew South past the Lurn. The Tree Sparrows remained around the obs and other lingerers were a Dunnock, 2 Chiffchaff and a lone Willow Warbler. The North End played host to a large influx of Swallows with up to 132 birds coming in throughout the day. Finally our first House Martin of the year was flying around Nouster in the late afternoon.
The weather's looking good for the next few days so hopefully the arrival of some more Spring migrants in imminent!

Risso's Dolphin                                                                   GG

Tree Sparrow                                                                         GG

Knot                                                                                   GG