Day Four

 A nice full day out in the field today (apart from a fortuitously-timed late lunch back at the hostel), very much needed after yesterday!

I was out early to hit the far east of the island for first proper light and do another North Loch loop. Flushed a few Redwings from the roadside on the way over, and while I'd perhaps expected a few more after this good start the final tally for the whole day of 34+ was respectable enough, likewise the 8 Song Thrushes.

A Brambling heard overhead as I got out of the car was an encouraging start, and although there weren't masses of migrants, there was plenty to keep occupied with.

Did the loop clockwise again, picking up a Lesser Whitethroat at Strandblikk. Then at Tofts, for a change, I checked out the dykes to the north, cutting back to the road at Gleat. The detour got me the trip's first Whinchat, an especially nervous individual, and the day's only Wheatear. Then once at Gleat a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew by, my third sighting in four days, although probably this was the first one having moved north a little.

Wildfowl numbers on North Loch were well down on Thursday, but included 6 Whooper Swans.

Once back at the car I headed down to Neuks to give a seawatch a go, but SW is clearly not a helpful wind. Not much was moving, and that which was was distant, but it did include 4 Sooty Shearwaters . It seems criminal to call a 20-minute seawatch with four Sooties quiet!

On the way back to have lunch at the hostel I gave the Cleat road a try. The wetland along here had quite a few birds on it, including a wader which through bins had vague Pec potential (but if I'm honest was almost certainly just a Dunlin). But I'll never know, because I was part way through erecting my tripod when a cracking Hen Harrier went through, flushing 75% of what was there.

Two minutes later a Raven saw most of the rest off.

These four were later

And then immediately after that a Peregrine came through and tried (but failed) to catch the solitary Redshank that remained!

Finally back at the hostel, I'd just put the kettle on and buttered some bread when an all-too-familiar call through the kitchen window had me dashing outside to see the 3rd Yellow-browed Warbler of the trip. A very skittish individual, a devil to photograph, but the first of the three to call.

After lunch I drove between a few sites, giving each half hour to an hour or so, to fill the rest of the day. There's always something to see here, and it's nice to alternate between long walks and popping in to interesting places.

A ringtail Hen Harrier over Broughtown was nice, with a Kestrel  there too.

Spent a fair while in the Little Sea area, including checking roosting gulls for the Med that was here last week. No luck, but 10 Sandwich Terns  was an excellent count for October.

A few waders present too, including quite a few Bar-tailed Godwits

And a handful of Knot

Also still at least 26 Swallows in the area, out of a pretty good tally for the day of 36.

Gardens in the area held the day's, and trip's, second Brambling and a Goldcrest .

And with the light fading there was one last bit of excitement, when as I got to Kettletoft to pick up my fish supper a single Barnacle Goose flew over to take the trip total up to 97, and the day list to a very respectable 72.