What a week!
A flurry of new migrants and one of the best wildlife moments I have ever had. The weather forecast looked promising, so I took a few days holiday to try and spend more time in the field and go out with the family, now that we can make short drives for exercise.
A flurry of new migrants and one of the best wildlife moments I have ever had. The weather forecast looked promising, so I took a few days holiday to try and spend more time in the field and go out with the family, now that we can make short drives for exercise.
The end of the weekend had a nice scattering of birds, and this continued into the start of the week, and locally some scarce migrants started to arrive. A Common rosefinch at Sumburgh hotel was a nice start to Sunday morning (thanks Gary), feeding amongst the dandelions in the horse paddock.
Common rosefinch- Sumburgh hotel
Finally some commoner migrants were also arriving with spotted flycatchers in multiple locations, and my first lesser whitethroat of the spring too. On the rarer side of things, a Blyth's reed warbler was trapped and ringed locally, and an Icterine warbler was present at Quendale.
June began in style with the first real rarity for a while, a singing Booted warbler found by Rob Fray in his garden. Watching this bird. singing away, brought back memories of Kazakhastan, the only place I have seen this eastern vagrant before. It put on a fine performance, and was a clear arrival along with a nice pulse of other birds.
Booted warbler- Bakkasetter
Whilst heading out with the family, we got good views of a male Hen harrier, being harassed by hooded crows. Add to that some more spotted flycatchers, another common rosefinch and my first yellow wagtail of the spring- a blue-headed flava at Quendale.
The following day saw some more new birds, but the real excitement was a Humpback whale seen close to our section of coast, although we had no joy looking for it in wild conditions that evening. Other good local birds included, great crested grebe and a female bluethroat found by Andrew Harrop at Grutness.
3rd June- I had only just woken up and about to have breakfast, when news of the Humpback whale 300 metres behind my house came through. Off I went, and was soon enjoying superb views of my first ever Humpback. It fed circling for around twenty minutes, before finishing with an unbelievable full breach! A moment that will stay with me forever! The rest of the day was rather slow, but a trickle of migrants were still evidently arriving, my first common whitethroat of the spring testament to this.
The following day I finally managed to see my first Red-backed shrike of the spring after missing 2 others that day. But a male Red-backed shrike is always worth the wait.
Other migrants had arrived in the evening, including a singing marsh warbler just around the bay from home in Boddam, but the weather wasn't great that evening.
Spotted flycatcher- Durigarth
Over the next few days, some new species for the year list were added, with Blyth's reed warbler, singing briefly from dense cover, but giving good views in between showers. A frustrating visit to Geosetter, with a garden warbler and lesser whitethroat present, but a small warbler (chiffchaff or willow warbler) flew into deep cover, along with a very probable Icterine warbler, but despite walking the area for 30 minutes, there was no further sign
This morning the likely Icterine warbler from yesterday gave itself up, and Rob Fray, had good views as it popped up on the fence. I went down to enjoy brief views again.
So back to work, this week. With updates to come on what we have planned for the next few months, as well as any other sightings to tell you about too.
No comments:
Post a Comment