An early start at Skaw proved disappointingly quiet and an unseasonable Long-tailed Duck and a Mealy Redpoll at Burrafirth wasn't really what I was hoping for given it's early June and a singing Sedge Warbler at NorthDale could have been so much better! But just as I was leaving Valyie I flushed a Sparrowhawk from the burn that I watched overflying the mires just in case it flushed anything of interest... a flock of Starlings took flight and there was a Rosy Starling among them! They landed on the hillside between Valyie and Holsens road. Whilst walking around Haroldswick my first Quail of the year was audible from the Heritage Centre and I then relocated the Rosy Starling in the sheep fields at Skeggie where it was showing well whilst actively feeding and seemed unconcerned by my presence.
Skaw: singing Common Whitethroat
Holsens road: Kestrel
Burrafirth: Long-tailed Duck, Swallow, Mealy Redpoll
NorthDale: singing Sedge Warbler
Norwick: Sparrowhawk, Collared Dove, 2 Swallow, Robin, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, Spotted Flycatcher, Rosy Starling, Tree Sparrow & 2 Mealy Redpoll
Haroldswick: Quail, Garden Warbler, Rose-coloured Starling & Mealy Redpoll.
Mealy Redpoll at Burrafirth
Sedge Warbler at NorthDale
Sparrowhawk mobbed by Starlings
I've been cursing the ever-present Sparrowhawks present around Valyie this Spring but this one did me a favour today...
Rosy Starling at Norwick
Rosy Starling at Skeggie
