MOSTLY ORKNEY BIRDS by Keith Hague

What's about?

Sightings - Week commencing Sun., 16th March 2008

16th Mar.
Three Iceland Gulls (two first-winters and a second-winter) were seen in Kirkwall.

17th Mar.
13 Whooper Swans were seen in Toab.
A pair of Pintails and a flock of 68 Snow Buntings were seen in Tankerness.
212 Oystercatchers were counted in Deerness.

18th Mar.
Another Green-winged Teal was found in Holm, with a flock of 29 Eurasian Teals.

19th Mar.
In Kirkwall a third-winter Iceland Gull was seen along with a second-winter Glaucous Gull.
The Tankerness Green-winged Teal was seen again.

20th Mar.
An unusually marked Larus gull probably (L. argentatus argenteus x L. fuscus graellsii) was seen in Holm. Nearby a Purple Sandpiper with Turnstones by fresh water in a flooded field was a first for me (I have never seen this species away from a beach in Orkney, before).
A Water Rail was also heard calling at a favoured site in Holm.

21st Mar.
A Red-throated Diver was seen on fresh water in Holm.
In Kirkwall the Mediterranean Gull had re-appeared, along with a second-winter Iceland Gull.

22nd Mar.
A new Red-necked Grebe was seen off Holm. A Short-eared Owl and three Meadow Pipits were observed nearby.