22nd-25th April
The past few days have seen the seemingly endless south easterlies and calm weather finally relent, giving way to bitter northerlies and plunging us back into winter (it's snowing while I write this...). 22nd saw the wind switch to the north east, increasing in speed throughout the day, although it was still bird-able and allowed us to notch up a small selection of passerine migrants. These included 7 Robins, 55 Wheatears, a Fieldfare, 2 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 3 Bramblings, 2 Chaffinches and a Redpoll. The Goosander remained on Hooking and one of the long-staying Stonechats reappeared near the Post Office. 23rd, however, was a write-off, causing census to be cancelled due to the 50mph northerly gusts and snow/hail showers. We did manage a brief outing to check we weren't missing anything, which was surprisingly successful, producing a male Ring Ouzel (first of the year), a Dunnock and 3 Robins.
24th was slightly less foul than the day before, allowing census to resume, although it was largely slim pickings. 5 Barnacle Geese dropped into Brides (presumably seeking shelter) and 4 Pink-footed Geese remained around the Kirk. Other notable sightings included 4 Chiffchaffs, a Sparrowhawk, a Song Thrush, 1 Chaffinch, 2 Bramblings and another of the Stonechats that has been hanging around. 25th was much the same, although saw an increased number of Robins, with 18 scattered around the island. 24 Great Northern Divers were seen in Nouster in the late evening, along with the long-staying moulting Black-throated Diver.
Elsewhere, Tysties (Black Guillemots) have started returning to the coast over the past week, although probably haven't been too impressed by the weather. On the migrant front, the following few days' forecast looks promising, so we're hoping another pulse of spring migration can squeeze itself in before what seems like another bout of northerlies... The return to calmer weather should also hopefully allow us to begin this year's wader monitoring.
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