10th and 11th May
A decent day on the 10th
with plenty of bright, unbroken sunshine with a moderate SW wind; the nice
conditions led to a good spread of migrants across the island highlighted by
the first Bluethroat of the year lurking around Brides
Loch. Totals today included at least 5
Sparrowhawks, a Cuckoo, a Short-eared Owl, 14 Sand Martins, 54 Swallows, 2
House Martins, 3 Tree Pipits, 121 Wheatears, a Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps, 8
Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Jackdaw, 4 Rook, 10 Hooded Crows, 6 Carrion
Crows, 2 Tree Sparrows, 6 Siskins and a Common Redpoll.
The other main feature of the day was a huge arrival
of 1,255+ Arctic Tern scattered along the coast along with some good
wader totals comprising 232 Purple Sandpipers, 45 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5
Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Whimbrel and 612 Turnstone. Also of note were 3 Garganey (a pair on
Brides and a drake on Garso) and the Kumlien’s Gull again.
Still dry and fairly bright on the 11th
but a cold and pretty strong SE wind made time spent in the field a bit of a
slog with not too much in the way of new arrivals usually associated with the
SE direction; migrants included a Sparrowhawk, an adult female Peregrine (the
first since 14th April), 5 Woodpigeons, 3 Collared Doves, an
increase to 31 Sand Martins, 33 Swallows, a House Martin, 76 Wheatears, a Sedge
Warbler, a Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Common Redpoll and a
Lesser Redpoll.
A single drake Garganey was on Ancum where there were
also 2 Pink-footed Geese and the Whooper Swan while 281 Sanderling, 33
Bar-tailed Godwits and 2 Whimbrel were counted with the Kumlien’s Gull floating
around.
Arctic Skua Simon Davies
Whimbrel Simon Davies
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