I was heading for Lamba Ness when I saw the ghostly vision of the albino Great Northern Diver close off Norwick beach where the Bonaparte's Gull was also still present and 2 Sanderling and 9 Turnstone. Phil H scored two species of Shearwater from Esha Ness so I again headed for Lamba Ness where I sea-watched from 8.45am to 9.45am seeing plenty of the usual suspects including plenty of Auks carrying prey but a single blue Fulmar flying north was all that was really noteworthy. The visibility closed-in so I called it a day and a quick check of Skaw proved unproductive in the windy conditions.
Albino 2cy Great Northern Diver off Norwick
As GND's take two years to reach maturity and this individual has seemed content to spend the Summer off Unst it's been widely assumed to be a 2cy bird. The state of its flight feathers now confirm its age as adults undergo a pre-breeding simultaneous moult of their primaries in February to April whereas first-summers simultaneously moult their juvenile flight-feathers in the summer of the second calendar year (BWP).
