Scarce and rare

It's been quite wild around here of late, at least weather-wise. As the archipelago braces itself for another severe gale tonight, I thought that I would post a few photos from a blustery day last weekend. News of a Little Egret at the Loch of Sabiston sent us Birsay-wards. Parking the car at the foot of Greeny Hill, we ambled up a track to a location which would give us a distant but all-encompassing view of the loch. En route, we had a rather close encounter with a Fieldfare. This was most pleasing, they're stunning thrushes, and the contrast between it and the view of the Little Egret a bit later was chack and white.

We decamped to the RSPB hide at The Loons. Although the sunlight was fantastic, it felt as though the bracing wind was keeping birds hunkered down and out of sight. A few ducks dived or dabbled, and small groups of geese honked across the sky, some of which were Pink-footed, but were mainly Greylag, rather than the hoped-for White-fronted or even Snow.

Whilst watching the reeds sway in the stiff breeze and being mesmerised by the ripples driven by the strong wind, I was wrenched from my reverie by a large bird close at hand. A Hen Harrier had appeared from stage left, flying along the hedge by the hide, intent on flushing Pipits, Starlings or Snipe, and was now passing in front of our window. At the same instant that I became aware of the raptor, it realised there were two humans mere feet away, and with a sudden Swoosh! of its wings, the bird indignantly sculled out across the reed bed to try its luck elsewhere. We watched it in the distance for a long while, its passage marked by occasional clouds of spooked gulls, ducks or waders.

We then walked from Marwick Choin, up over the Head to Birsay, as the light constantly changed and the sea pounded the shore and cliffs.

Marwick Bay

The Old Man of Hoy and a distant Morven

Looking across Birsay Bay to the Brough

Back at home, all preparations earlier in the month for the upcoming Big Garden Bird Watch seem to be in vain. A female Sparrowhawk has begun visiting again, meaning that the resident House Sparrow flock is very wary, the finches are nary around and the copious Blackbirds we usually see have vanished, either to safer habitat or into the gullet of a raptor. I suspect that come the weekend, our list will be the wrong side of interesting, unless we manage to score the Sparrowhawk en passant. However, the feeders have been cleaned and disinfected, a buffet of seeds and fruit is available, so we live in hope. I might even clean the windows*.

* Give over, I won't be cleaning the windows🙄