27th April - 3rd May
It's been a profitable few days here, or at least it was until the winds turned northerly. The last couple of days have felt more like early March than early May, but it hasn't stopped a few birds forcing their way through.
The 27th didn't produce a great deal, two Jackdaw were seen heading south over Ancum, four Common Scoter passed the north end, three Rook were at Holland, while a Little Tern was on the Links and two Barnacle Geese went south over Scottsha'.
The following day started with a Brambling in the Holland Farmhouse garden. A Common Whitethroat was at Dennishill and the first Manx Shearwater passed the sea-watch hide.
The 29th was kicked-off with a Sedge Warbler trapped at Holland. A Black Redstart was seen around the Surgery, a flock of 22 Woodpigeon were flushed from the gardens at Holland and the first Lesser Whitethroat of the year was at Garso. The star bird for the day was Glossy Ibis, likely the bird that has spent the last few weeks on Sanday, but a very welcome year-list addition all the same. It was initially seen around Hooking before re-locating to Ancum.
The final day in April started with the first wader survey of the year, for lucky staff out at day-break the reward was three Short-eared Owls near Milldam, a Greenshank near Ancum and two Sedge Warblers singing at Brides and Ancum Willows respectively. A flurry of activity around just after lunch started with a Common Sandpiper at Brides, this was followed by an Osprey heading north over Bewan, the first Redstart of the year at Rue and capped off by a Little Ringed Plover on Sandsheen. There was a Ruff on Garso in the evening and a Wood Warbler trapped at Holland. A female Ring Ouzel at North Manse was merely a side note on a day that saw the year list boosted significantly.
The first day in May saw the Wood Warbler remain in Holland, a new Ruff was on Ancum, a male Whitethroat was trapped in Holland and a Tree Pipit evaded capture in T3. The bird of the day came just before tea time when islander Peter Donnelly phoned to say he'd had a Black Kite around Purtabreck, a quick dash up the road and everyone had connected with our 8th island record, the bird showed amazingly well, resting in fields and eventually going to roost in Ancum.
The weather turned on the 2nd and the Whatsapp was a very quiet place, the Black Kite re-appeared around mid-day, but vanished soon after. The 3rd was foul and pretty quiet, however a Lapland Bunting at Westness was a very welcome addition to the year list, on a non-birdy note at least I was kept happy as Bristol City reached the play-offs for the first time in 17 years, so that's something!
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