Highlight of the last week for me was this colour-ringed Oystercatcher on the beach on 30th (Friday):
NG-Gr(UY) was ringed in SW Iceland as a pullus on 2/6/2020, was still there on 15/6 and this is the first sighting since:
Graham Appleton has put me on to this fascinating blog post he wrote on Wader Tales in February - Oystercatcher Migration: the Dad Effect. A highly recommended read!
The Irish ringed Oystercatcher (yellow X4) was also still here on Friday. The wader passage this week has been great, Dunlin (200) and Ringed Plover (43) peaked on Tuesday and Monday respectively, down to just a handful this morning. Similarly Bar-tailed Godwit peaked on Monday (20) but just 3 this morning.
We had a lovely walk from Kete to St.Ann's Head via West Blockhouse, a dozen or more each of singing Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler, and a strong but short passage of hirundines ahead of some rainclouds moving in from the north.
This morning a singing Lesser Whitethroat at Mullock whilst undertaking our first Breeding Bird Survey visit.