20th September 2021 Unst S4 Clear

Clear at dawn but with a breeze soon picking up and by midday the forecast cloud arrived as did the strong southwesterly wind. The Little Stint was still on the beach and that set the scene for me seeing little in the way of new arrivals at Norwick with the exception of Duncan, Iain and friends that it was good to catch-up with. I saw pretty much exactly the same selection of species as in recent days too at Skaw and Lamba Ness albeit also my first Snow Bunting of the autumn. It was great to see the familiar face of Dave P among the gathering watching the Pectoral Sandpiper and enjoyable having a thought-provoking Gallinago discussion with him. During the afternoon the weather deteriorated so much that I had to abandon my attempt at mowing the lawn!

Norwick: Sparrowhawk, juvenile Little Stint, 2 Robins, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Chiffchaffs, 4 Willow Warblers, c.6 Siskins, Brambling & c.50 Chaffinch

Skaw: 2 Kestrels, Dunnock, Whinchat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat & 3 Siskin.

Lamba Ness: juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Willow Warbler, 5 Siskin & Snow Bunting.

Little Stint at Norwick

Waders at Norwick

Having been counting the Sanderling daily for over a month for Jeroen Reneerkens today produced my maximum daily count.

Kestrels at Skaw

Checking the wing formula of Kestrels always seems so much easier from photos than in the field and needless to say these two conformed to expectations. Whilst watching them, Dave Haigh enjoyed gripping me off with a Hobby that he'd seen sat around on telegraph poles at Skaw yesterday... I've seen more Sibe Thrushes than subbuteos on Unst, so gripping it was! But as my friend F said, it would have been so much more gripping had it been showing a pale cap...!

Willow Warbler at Lamba Ness

checking out the Sulphur-bellied Warbler habbo, or at least, as close to the habbo I've seen SbW in Rajasthan!

Snow Bunting at Lamba Ness