4th-7th May
Its been a superb few days here with plenty of migrants still lingering about and even a couple of rarer birds that would be better suited to mid-October than early May!
The 4th started with the long-staying Long-eared Owl at Holland having predated a Pied Flycatcher, the previous days Icterine Warbler was hanging around the cars at the front of the observatory. Other birds from the previous few days still hung around in various corners of the island with decent counts of Lesser Whitethroats, Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers. Smaller counts of Spotted Flycatchers, Whinchats and Common Whitethroats also remained.
The 5th saw another Wood Warbler at Scottsha' as foggy weather began to creep in it seemed the birding would tail off for the day, although a brief clearance in the weather saw a female Sparrowhawk appear in Holland and two Barnacle Geese flew south from Ancum. Otherwise it was it very much the same story with plenty of 'common' migrants, which isn't a bad thing!
The following day we awoke to an island totally shrouded in fog with visibility down to less than 30 meters in some places. This didn't stop the birds however, a Wryneck spent the day skulking around the pier although it did show well for short periods. An unseasonal Little Bunting was then discovered on the dykes between Garso and Lochend. A Nightingale was seen briefly around the Beacon in the early afternoon but frustratingly couldn't be relocated. The now seemingly resident Mediterranean Gull was still lingering around Gretchen and an un-ringed Wood Warbler was around T1 and a Ruff was seen briefly on Ancum.
The 7th was kicked off by a Curlew Sandpiper at the Sea-watch hide and another followed shortly after on the links. The Wryneck remained around Nouster now showing superbly in the sunshine. It was a quieter day as birds had seemingly departed there was still a generous smattering of commoner migrants. However this all changed in the evening as a very smart Red-throated Pipit was found at Westness.
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