With rain in the forecast I decided to head straight to Burrafirth to complete the monthly beached bird survey. It was immediately obvious that there was a steady stream of Gulls arriving in off the sea from the north, over Burrafirth and south across Loch of Cliff. From 9.15am to 11am, among the many Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls I saw 66 Glaucous Gulls arrive! I returned at 11.45am but in the next 30 minutes only added one more to the tally. At Skaw I saw a single Glaucous Gull arriving and at Lamba Ness the roost held 2 more and my only Iceland Gull of the day.
Burrafirth; 4 Goldeneye, c.2,500 Herring Gulls, 67 Glaucous Gulls (ageing wasn't precise but my best effort was 29 adults, 4 fourth-winters, 3 third-winters, 12 second-winters and 19 juveniles), c.2,500 Great Black-backed Gulls
Skaw; juv. Glaucous Gull
Lamba Ness; juv Iceland Gull, 2 Glaucous Gulls (ad & 2w)
Steady stream of Gulls arriving from the north at Burrafirth
Second-winter Glaucous Gull at Burrafirth
Whilst 100 were seen on Unst on 23/1/1981 my previous highest day total was 24 on 10/1/17.
