9th-10th May

 With that perfect storm of weather finally hitting the island we got some much sought after migrants and year ticks after a rather baron patch. Easterly winds and early morning showers on the 9th meant there would surely be migrants around and this proved to be the case.

The bulk of the new arrivals were Willow Warblers posting 73 individuals on the 9th before increasing to 111 the next day. New arrivals onto the year list included 2 Pied Flycatchers in Sand Geo, a Spotted Flycatcher in Gairsna Geo, 5 Lesser Whitethroats and 3 Sedge Warblers in various locations, 7 Common Redstarts the of which was a rather soggy female on Torness followed by 6 much dryer males and a Green Sandpiper at Kirbest. Commoner migrants were also abundant with good totals of Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Wheatear and Robin. The bird of the day went to a Wryneck found at Seaside in the morning downpour before it relocated along the coast to Lenswick. 

The next day became about uncovering anything we'd perhaps missed, but it seems we'd done a pretty thorough job all round, this didn't prevent us adding new species to the year list however, 4 Whinchats were present the first of which occupied the fences on the road towards Holland. The second year tick of the day was a fantastic Hobby seen hanging around Holland House in the afternoon. Other migrant numbers were similar to the previous however one of the standout counts was of 41 Carrion Crow, 34 of which formed a flock in the obs crop fields. 

With things looking promising for the week ahead and me being eager to get back into the field I've possibly missed some bits off, but I'm sure you'll forgive us with it being so busy! 

                                   Pied Flycatcher

                                   Willow Warbler