19 June 2012

This flipping trip I'm on - days 1-3

Day 1
Murcur Golf Course: No flipping Black Scoter, 1 King Eider, 2 Surf Scoter, 1 Great Northern Diver heading N, 10+ Red-throated Diver, 1 Arctic Skua, 25+ Velvet Scoter, blah, blah, blah,...

At sea off NE Scottish coast: 1 Minke Whale and 1 Whimbrel heading south.

Day 2
Fairly Vile: dead, 10 Greylag Goose heading north, 1 White Wagtail, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler, 3 Siskin and 'Fair Isle Wren'. Of course, the River Warbler was still present but nobody knew.

Dark phase Arctic Skua, not rare on this trip,... not rare.

Mousa: 23 Greylag Goose, 'Shetland Wren', Storm Petrels heard and smelled, etc., etc.

 Mousa Broch/Broch of Mousa, some say the hand rail at the top is nearly 20 years old.

At sea off Shetland: 50+ Storm Petrel and 1 Minke Whale.

Day 3
At sea Shetland to Jan Mayen: 1 'Blue Fulmar', 1 Storm Petrel, 3 Pomarine Skua and 1 large rorqual (Fin/Blue).

 Arctic Tern

The first 'blue' Fulmar of the trip, not too far north of Shetland and way south of any significant numbers of these beauties. Presumably a non-breeder given the state of moult.

 Fulmar, we have had everything from 'normal' to 'dark blue' and all manner of intermediates.

 Ooh look! One of them. Look at that pointy front end.

A fair number of the offshore Kittiwake were first-summers,... I know what you're thinking,... how bloody interesting is that!

No comments: