Monday 8 April 2019

8th April 2019 Unst ENE7 Scattered clouds

We awoke to a very windy morning but at least it was dry and the wind started to subside late this afternoon. A walk around Norwick this morning produced just 2 Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest. A look at Haroldswick this afternoon added another Chiffchaff. We then toured a few of the sites around Baltasound where we'd only seen a few Chaffinches when we tried the School clump where we found a surprise in the form of a very early Common Rosefinch! Whilst in the process of trying to photograph it, we then also saw our first Brambling of the year.

Common Rosefinch at Baltasound
Shirahai & Svensson (2018) states that an individual at this time of year showing a moult contrast in its wing coverts will be in its 2CY