Rain

A bit of rain in the morning and the patch was covered with migrants by late afternoon - 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 12 Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler, 8 Swallow, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Brent Goose, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Garden Warbler, 4 House Martin, 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 White Wagtail, 1 Short-eared Owl and, bird of the day, a female Bluethroat - not showing very well at all as it was on the cliffs.

Lesser Whitethroat

Short-eared Owl

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sand

The first Arctic Terns of the year appeared on the patch today with 12 in West Voe and 18 off Moast Beach. Elsewhere there was a Kestrel over the house, 3 Reed Buntings by the Loch, 5 Swallow and 4 willow Warbler by Moast Beach and 5 Whimbrel and 4 Black-tailed Godwit headed North in the evening, and a Wood Sandpiper was on the marsh at the back of the Loch.

Arctic Terns

Reed Bunting

Wood Sandpiper

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

Wood Sands

Out on the patch again, in pretty horrid conditions - flat calm and very muggy, after about 2 hours, all I could manage to find was 1 Willow Warbler and 2 Swallows - pretty crap really ! And then it started to rain, and thunder, and lightning - not the best time to be on the clifftops ! A quick dash to the back of the Loch for some shelter and within 20 minutes 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Black-tailed Godwit and 5 Ruff had dropped in, plus a Grey Plover flew over and landed on Little Holm. Now soaked and no sign of the weather letting up it was time to head home, just as I walked through the gate a Spotted Redshank flew over - house tick !

Probably the worst Wood Sand photo ever !

3 More

3 patch year-ticks today, first was a Greenshank flying about and calling in the fog while I was emptying the moth trap, followed by a Bar-tailed Godwit on Moast Beach and finally a cracking Wood Sand at the back of the Loch. There are now 4 Ruff on the patch.

Sporting a Woody.

After two days of solid rain, it was time to get back onto the patch again during a brief spell of dryness. A text from Dougie S Preston Esq about 2 Green Sands that he'd just kicked up from
Garth's Ness and were heading towards Scatness, with this in mind started off with the pools (rather than the gardens), no Green Sands, but a rather fine looking Wood Sand ! Year tick ! Elswhere around the patch there was 20 Knot and 4 Sanderling on the beaches, 32 Dunlin scattered about the place, a fly-over Whimbrel, 2 Grey Heron on the Loch and 2 Willow Warblers and a Whitethroat in the garden.

Wood Sandpiper.

Willow Warbler.