Easterlies

A few days of easterlies promised so much but delivered very little to the patch, maximums for 7th-9th - 25 Common Tern, 2 Arctic Tern, 5 Whimbrel, 1 Arctic Skua, 2 Garganey, 2 Pintail, 2 Gadwall, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Siskin, 1 Sand Martin, 9 Swallows, 4 Willow Warblers, female Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Carrion Crows.

Garganey

Common Tern

Gadwall

Siskin

Swallow

Whimbrel

Willow Warbler

A couple of shots of Fitful Head

At Last.... Wheatear

At long last, finally got a Wheatear on the patch, after searching almost daily for the last three weeks ! On the loch, the Duck flock consisted of 22 Wigeon, 14 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye, 6 Teal, 2 Pintail and a year-tick - Gadwall.

Gadwall

Pintail

Wheatear

Wigeon

New Birds

As if yesterday's Dunnock wasn't odd enough, on the patch today - 2 male Gadwall and a Song Thrush, two species I don't normally see until March/April time. Other year-ticks today were Grey Heron, Pintail (with the hybrid) and Tufted Duck (with the Scaup). Aside from that bit of excitement, there were 6 Common Scoters in West Voe and no Iceland Gulls (apart from the remains of a dead one).

Gadwall

Mallard x Pintail hybrid

Pintail

Song Thrush

November

A few highlights from November -

Buzzard - over the patch on the 27/11, not only a year tick, but a patch tick !

The Great Tit remained in the garden until the 20/11.

Scaup, Gadwall, Pochard and Goldeneye - a nice selection for such a small Loch.

Short-eared Owl - 1-3 birds around the patch until the 19/11.



White-fronted Geese - 4 birds on the marshy bit behind the loch on 13/11 and 19/11.


















A few other highlights were - Green-winged Teal on the 19/11 and a flyby Lapland Bunting on the13/11.

Huge Improvement Alf !

Well not that huge, but two year tick will do fine - Gadwall and Lesser Black-backed Gull, also kicking around was a fine adult Glauc and a Warbler sp flitting around the garden at dusk.

Glaucous Gull.

Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Gadwall.

Into the Void.

After yesterday's excitement, it was back into the void of birdless Scatness - 3 hours checking along walls, weedy patches and sheltered cliff areas, for what ? - 4 Swallows, 2 Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a Redwing, a female Siskin, 2 Gadwall and 7 Carrion Crow ! With the winds set to go into the north for the foreseeable future, it could be a while before anything else turns up.


Gadwall.

Siskin.

Willow Warbler.

Gadwall.

Surely with the wind in the South-east for over 24 hours now, something new must be on the cards, and there was, but it was just a pair of manky Gadwall - but a year-tick none the less. Another year-tick was in the garden - a Willow Warbler, along with 2 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, the Geese are still about, the Pink-feet are now down to 34, and the Brent and the 5 Barnacles were in front of the house for most of the morning.


Gadwall.

Barnacle Geese.

Brent Goose.

Wall-lark.

September 22nd 2008. Clear out.

Big clear out of birds last night - very few migrants seen.

4 Whinchat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 12 Wigeon, 1 Gadwall, 1 Ruff and a Merlin at Scatness.

5 Robin, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 1 North-western Redpoll and a Merlin around the Sumburgh Hotel/Farm area.

Lapland Bunting flew south over the runway near Virkie Willows.


Wheatear & Gadwall at Scatness.

Cormorant off Scatness.