After fog at dawn very quickly cleared it was a beautiful sunny morning to be out birding albeit the wind picked up and the cloud rolled-in by lunchtime. Along the road to Skaw I saw what is only my second Merlin of the year and there was a single Fieldfare, single Redwing and 5 Blackbirds around the farm. I ventured south, but a little disappointingly, just displaying 30 Long-tailed Ducks were at Belmont and 10 displaying Goldeneye at Snarravoe. I then made another visit to Uyeasound where 4 Whooper Swans were seen flying low over the sea calling, there 3 juvenile Iceland Gulls around the offshore salmon cages and a flock of 10 Fieldfares. At Clingera, 4 Skylarks in flight together are the first small flock I've seen this year. A Blackbird singing at Millfield this evening certainly made it sound like Spring!
Whooper Swans over the sea off Uyeasound
