26th January

After yesterdays gales it wasn't surprising to find large numbers of birds feeding on the storm driven seaweed on the east coast of the Island. Bridesness in particular was a busy place, with hundreds of Gulls, Wildfowl and Waders making the most of the newly available food. 4 Iceland Gulls (3 adults and a 2nd winter) were seen and at least 2 immature Glaucous Gulls roamed the coastline. The 6 Tundra Bean Geese reappeared again, and at least 43 European White-fronted Geese were counted. A Pochard was on Ancum, and there were 26 Tufted Ducks and 12 Goldeneyes on various Lochs. 15 Rock Pipits were at Bridesness, a single Linnet in the north and Twite at the Observatory increased yet again to 48 birds.

Of the 22 Twite trapped today, 5 were colour ringed birds. Two colour combinations were noted-The first on left leg ORANGE over LIGHT BLUE and on right leg WHITE over BTO metal ring (as in the bird above), the second similar combination was on left leg LIGHT BLUE over ORANGE and on right leg WHITE over BTO metal ring. Any details as to the origins of these birds would be welcome.