Saturday 17 February 2018

17th February 2018 Unst SW4 Clear

A nice Spring-like day to do the WeBS counts that produced a juvenile Glaucous Gull and a 3w Iceland Gull at Skaw, the two Mealy Redpolls still lingering at Norwick, only my second Song Thrush of the year at Westing, a Whooper Swan and a Pintail at Dam Loch. In recent days I've seen the drake Surf Scoter now alone from the ferry between Unst and Yell, c.30 Long-tailed Ducks off Belmont, a pair of Goosander on Yell, a juvenile Iceland Gull at Mid Yell, my first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the year and Freda very kindly told us about a Blue Tit in her garden that we subsequently saw.

Iceland Gull at Skaw
Adult-like it shows a dark subterminal band to its bill and a slightly greyish tail suggesting it's a 3w.

Mealy Redpolls at Norwick