27th May

The day's main excitement arrived in the form of a Snow Goose that flew in and landed on Ancum Loch early in the afternoon. We can but speculate as to the bird's origins, but its heavily bleached and abraded primary feathers, possibly the result of a missed moult, do not help the case for it being a wild bird.



The Icterine Warbler remained in the surgery garden, and another was discovered near the observatory and trapped in the evening. The Rosefinch was also still present, and it, or another bird, was seen in several places during the afternoon. A Wood Warbler was at Holland House, and a Corncrake was reported singing near Hooking Loch. Other recent scarcities continued to linger on the island: the Turtle Dove remained at Holland, 2 Garganeys were seen, and the Red-necked Phalarope and Curlew Sandpiper were both still at Trollavatn.

Icterine Warbler

Comments

Morg said…
The goose looks quite small and the beak quite short - I'm sure you will have considered ross's already? Not sure if that would help re bleaching...

Keep up the great blog

Geoff
northronbirdobs said…
The picture is a bit deceptive in that respect. In real life, the bird's size, shape and bill were all much more Snow Goose-like than Ross's Goose-like. The state of the wing feathers is a bit of a mystery though.
Morg said…
Assumed that would be the case.

Enjoying the daily updates

Geoff