A strong northeasterly wind hampered birding today but a highlight came in finding two of the miniature Lesser Twayblades in flower on Yell being a new species of Orchid for me.
Great Skua on Yell
Pale individuals are well-described by Olsen & Larsson (1997) and there's certainly a few here on Shetland. As most Bonxies on territory have become aggressive in the last week or so, but this one ignored me, I suspected it was likely to be a non-breeder and that would appear to be borne out by having commenced its primary moult on its left wing as the above-named authors note that failed breeders and non-breeders may start primary moult as early as July.
Golden Plover and Dunlin 'the Plover's Page'
Virtually every time a Golden Plover is encountered either on the ground or in flight it is accompanied by a Dunlin but this was documented as early as 1892 as detailed in British Birds Vol 41 No 8 here
It has a circumpolar distribution being found in Europe, Asia, Greenland and large parts of North America.
