9th and 10th August
A bit more cloud on the 9th with a brisk
westerly breeze and a few little spells of drizzle; there was single Sooty and
Manx Shearwater, 2 Storm Petrels and 2 Tufted Ducks offshore in the morning,
although the seawatch was more notable for a big bull Orca which surfaced once before
disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared and yet another pod of 6 Risso’s Dolphins which came in close to the seawatch hide.
The
rest of the day was fairly quiet with 3 Herons, an increase to 18 Mallard,
single Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 82 Curlew and only
46 Arctic Terns which have all but moved on now.
and let the lion lay down with the lamb..
Overcast
through the day with a much stronger westerly wind than we have been used to of
late on the 10th; there was some good signs of wader passage through
the day as 1,364 Golden Plover was a much larger total - the first time they have passed a thousand birds this year and several
flocks of Black-tailed Godwits were seen to fly straight through the island,
perhaps totalling 45 birds.
Other
birds included 5 Ruff, 3 Whimbrel, a little influx of ducks with 30 Mallard, 7
Gadwall and 6 Shoveler on Ancum, a Red-throated Diver, 2 Sooty Shearwaters and
a Manx Shearwater offshore and at least 9 Arctic Skuas and 11 Bonxies were
obvious across the island terrorising anything that crossed their path!
Black-tailed Godwits passing through Gretchen
Just had the details of this colour ringed Turnstone that was in Nouster in May. It was ringed in December 2012 in Mauritania, NW Africa, was re-sighted there the following winter but it hadn't been seen again until our sighting (although the letters on the flag had faded away to nothing, leaving just indentations that could only be read at very close range)
Photos Simon Davies
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