7th-10th August

 The last four days have been good, census has been interrupted the ringing of the Fulmar chicks, hense the slightly late post. For anybody interested we ringed 174 chicks. 

The 7th saw the first of a few days of sunshine and showed the perils of letting your guard down, while stopped in Ancum Willows having brief rest and waiting to see if anything popped out a distant 'blip blip blip' call characteristic of Bee-eater, despite rushing out into the open it couldn't be picked up and was heard disappearing away to the South. Another Little Gull this time a 2CY was on the Lurn and the second year tick of the day came in the shape of an Osprey as it headed North over West Beach in the evening. 

The next day would see blazing sunshine and the start of the Fulmar ringing meant coverage was limited. A Black-throated Diver went South over the Lurn in the morning while a slowly rising number of Short-eared Owl started with a lone bird around Laird's Park. A juv female Hen Harrier was also knocking around the island. The bird of the day however went to a probable juvenile Baltic Gull on the airfield, unfortunately that's how it'll probably stay, probable. 

The Baltic Gull was present albeit briefly on the airfield again and the Short-eared Owl count climbed to 4 birds, 3 of which were hunting around the loch at Brides. The Little Gull was present again in cut fields near Gerbo and 3 Ruff were in similarly cut fields near Holland. A Green Sandpiper flew over the obs in the morning while a juvenile Common Sandpiper interrupted the start of the second day of Fulmar ringing as it flushed from Sand Geo. Finally 4 Common Redpoll spent time hiding the jungle of Fuschia in the gardens at Holland and the frequently visiting juvenile male Peregrine was seen causing near pandemonium amongst the feeding wader flocks. 

With the Fulmars done it was time for some birding. The news from further South was somewhat encouraging with Spurn scoring early goodies, however by lunchtime it seemed clear we weren't quite in for the same trickle goodies. This all changed at around 13:30 when photos from Dante of an interesting Hippolais warbler at Westness soon turned into our 8th record Melodious Warbler, just the start we wanted and a much sort after island tick for some of the staff! With a Melody under our belts it only felt right that we opened nets at Holland. This proved to be profitable as in amongst the catch juvenile birds was a rather smart and maybe even expected Barred Warbler, a superb way to round off a good day. 

With winds set to the East for the next few days the middle of the week is looking quite tasty! 

Melodious Warbler                                                               GG

Short-eared Owl                                                                       GG

Osprey                                                          James Wilson (JAW)

'Probable' Baltic Gull                                   Dante Shepherd (DS)