The Bonaparte's Gull was again present on the beach at Norwick this evening.
Unpleasantly windy but I completed the monthly beached bird survey also seeing 2 Great Northern Divers off Burrafirth and the Bonaparte's Gull, 2 Sanderling and a Swallow at Norwick.
The albino Great Northern Diver, Bonaparte's Gull and Short-toed Lark were all present early morning and again performed to all-comers throughout the day. I then completed the wader productivity survey visits for my breeding bird survey squares during the course of which I saw 3 Great Northern Divers off Lamba Ness, the Song Thrush still at Skaw and a Chiffchaff at Valyie.
We spent most of the day off-island but on returning this evening there were 4 Great Northern Divers off Norwick including the albino individual and 3 Sanderling and the Bonaparte's Gull were on the beach.
A blustery morning but the wind dropped this afternoon. An afternoon visit to Skaw produced an elusive Marsh Warbler and a Chiffchaff. A walk around Norwick was proving quiet until I checked the beach where a second calendar year Bonaparte's Gull was present among the Black-headed Gulls - superb! Soon joined by Alister, Mike & Robbie it performed well until early evening when it started to commute to and fro the colony of Black-headed Gulls at Norwick mires but then went missing completely until reappearing along the beach at 10.20pm much to the relief of Logan, Phil & Paul.
The albino Great Northern Diver was still off Norwick and a quick visit to Skaw produced a Swallow. I commenced my survey work for the day and saw a Swallow along the cliffs of Lamba Ness. Whilst then walking past the rapidly drying pools at The Garths I flushed a small pale Lark that I quickly followed-up and was pleased to find was a Short-toed Lark - only the second that I've found on Unst and the first was whilst driving to work for the same Ecological Consultancy - a fringe benefit of working?!
The 2 Rosy Starlings were still present in our garden but there was no sign of the Common Crossbill. The albino Great Northern Diver resurfaced off Norwick and there was a Song Thrush and Blackcap at Skaw. It was good to spend the evening out with Matt and what better way than climbing the Heogs and enjoying more views of the female Snowy Owl.
... the day wasn't quite over as Mike stumbled across a female Snowy Owl whilst conducting his Whimbrel surveys. So, watch the football or search for a Snowy on a beautiful sunny evening... no contest, and fortunately we were the ones that scored!
Bright and breezy for much of the day. The 2 Rosy Starlings and the Common Crossbill spent another day in our garden. Skaw produced my first 3 Common Swifts of the year and a walk around Norwick added 2 Swallows, the singing Marsh Warbler and a Garden Warbler.
A bright, clear and virtually calm morning. The Rosy Starling and Common Crossbill were still present in our garden early this morning. Skaw was playing host to an unseasonable Robin but with no migrants evident I decided to walk the headland where I was rewarded with another Rosy Starling accompanying a small flock of Starlings. Valyie was still playing host to the singing Marsh Warbler but otherwise seemed quieter in recent days. At Haroldswick there were 4 Sandwich Terns today. On returning home it was no surprise when a Rosy Starling flew from our feeders but then a considerable surprise when it was followed by another with both then remaining in our garden on and off for the rest of the day. Brenda had been watching 3 Collared Doves feeding in our garden that were also still present and a Swallow was buzzing around. I met up with Mark Holling and revisited Valyie where we heard the Icterine Warbler singing on a couple of occasions in an hour spent there.
There was a nice feel to the early morning being calm and overcast but all too soon the cloud cleared and the wind increased. Our garden was still playing host to both the Rosy Starling and Common Crossbill. The albino Great Northern Diver was again off Skaw, 7 Sanderling were on the beach, a Redwing and there was a Grey Wagtail near the mouth of the burn. Whilst driving past Haroldswick beach I heard the raucous call of a Sandwich Tern and was pleased to see there were two present - the first time I've seen more than one on Unst! A walk around Norwick produced 2 Great Northern Divers, the singing Icterine Warbler, a Marsh Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Chiffchaff and the Red-backed Shrike.
