6th-8th May
An interesting few days that have produced some good birds and a few surprises on the way. The weather has gone from horrible squalls and wind to glorious sunshine and even warmed up enough to see some members of staff out birding in shorts and t-shirts!
For all intense purposes the 6th looked as though it wasn’t up to much, however the first Sedge Warbler of the year singing in the Willows at Ancum gave a feeling that stuff may have arrived despite less-than-ideal conditions. The Sedge Warbler was followed by a male Ring Ouzel in the Shooting Gallery near Lenswick but was quickly forgotten about after the discovery of six Dotterel feeding the short grass around Sandar in the late afternoon, having been largely absent in Spring in recent years it’s a very welcome year list addition at this early stage.
The following day was one of warm weather and pleasant birding conditions, there wasn’t a great deal going on in the morning apart from a Lesser Whitethroat trapped in Holland, but the afternoon certainly produced. In a bit of a twist a phone call about another Red-rumped Swallow at Westness quickly turned into two Red-rumped Swallows! As photos revealed two individuals one most likely the bird seen a few days previously just dried out and looking a little bit less knackered and a smart bird that must have been new in. This doesn’t constitute a huge surprise as hirundine movement had been constant throughout the afternoon with over 120 birds moving through the island. The day wasn’t finished there A Grey Wagtail was seen flying over Ancum towards Verracott and the Dotterels made a late evening re-appearance.
The 8th was a much less appealing day than the previous and was dominated by a stiff South-westerly breeze. The Dotterels remained in place and were even buzzed in the evening by our second Osprey of the year as it tracked North up the island. Two Sedge Warblers were heard singing in Holland and at Hooking but otherwise the day remained quiet, overnight moth trapping was poor species wise, yet again the only moths caught were 94 Hebrew Characters!
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