Icky

Still a lot of yesterdays birds around the patch - Wood Sand and Red-backed Shrike still present, new birds were Icterine Warbler by the turning circle and 2 Reed Buntings at the back of the Loch. Other birds present today were a Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Linnets, female Redstart, 6 Willow Warbler, a Whitethroat, a House Martin, Chiffchaff and 6 Shelduck.

Linnet

Red-backed Shrike

Reed Bunting

Wood Sandpiper

Hard Work

Bloody hard work looking for migrants in a force 6 north-easterly, but checking the sheltered bits paid off eventually. The first bird of the day was another Wood Sandpiper at the back of the Loch, feeding with the Dunlin flock, a small geo on the south side of Scatness held 11 Swallows, 2 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins, a Garden Warbler and 3 Whimbrel, a female Red-backed Shrike was in the top garden, being battered all over the place by the wind and my own garden had a Garden Warbler, female Redstart, male Black Redstart, a Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, male Blackcap and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Garden Warbler

Sand Martin

Shelduck

Wood Sandpiper

Last Week

Sporadic visits to the patch over the last week, highlights include a Wood Sandpiper on the Loch on the 11th along with around 250 Arctic Terns and 40 Purple Sandpipers, a Lesser Whitethroat in the garden all week, 6 Willow Warbler on the 11th, 4 Carrion Crows and 13 Great Northern Divers on the 12th,  Tree Pipit in the garden on the 14th and 2 Garden Warblers and another Tree Pipit on the 17th.

Arctic Terns

Great Northern Diver

Purple Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wagger

Still south-easterly, and still 3 Goldfinches in the garden. On the rest of the patch - 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Whitethroats, 3 Linnets, a Carrion Crow, 18 Swallow, 2 Sand Martin, a House Martin, male Reed Bunting, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Song Thrush. But the star bird of the day was a cracking male Grey-headed Wagtail.

Grey-headed Wagtail

House Martin

Whitethroat

Day of Pigs

The south-easterly continues with, weirdly, an influx of Pigeons ! aside from the usual bird table raiding Rock Doves there were one each of Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove and Turtle Dove. Elsewhere the 3 Goldfinch were still in the garden along with 2 Blackcaps and 2 Willow Warblers, a male Pied Flycatcher was out on the cliffs, an Arctic Skua and 3 Golden Plover on the headland and a Song Thrush, a Chiffchaff and 5 Swallows were around the loch.

Pied Flycatcher

Song Thrush

New Birds

The first hint of a south-easterly and new birds on the patch - 2 Willow Warblers, a Siskin, 6 Swallows, a Sparrowhawk, 1 Arctic and 2 Common Terns and 3 Goldfinch ( in the garden, no less ).

Goldfinch

Sparrowhawk

Willow Warbler

Photogenic Turnstones on the Loch

Shortie

A quick hour on the patch this morning after work - 2 Blackcaps, a Brambling, 7 Swallows and  a Short-eared Owl.

Gargle Blaster

Out on the patch, and things seem to be picking up a bit - 5 Common Terns in front of the house in the morning, a cracking male Garganey on the loch, a rather tame Sanderling at Scord, 2 White Wags and a Whimbrel on Moast Beach and a Willow Warbler on the cliffs.

White Wagtail

Garganey

Sanderling

Winter, Summer.... who knows ?

A few summer migrants on the patch today - 4 Whimbrel, 4 Swallows, a Sedge Warbler and a Greenshank, but, even with the wind coming from the south, the temperature was still only about 3 degrees ! On the sea it still seems like winter with 80 Long-tailed Ducks and 40 Eiders in West Voe and a first year Iceland Gull knocking about.

Eiders

Iceland Gull

At last.....

.....a true migrant ! 4 Wheatears on the patch, plus a Robin, 5 Bonxies and a Sandwich Tern.

A few confiding Eiders from West Voe

Bonxie

Sandwich Tern

Wheatear