Arctic Skua (Light Phase)
I met Kev Bryant coming down the hill who said he had not seen it in his 1.5 hour visit and went off to Sumburgh.
LT Skua
Ray Johnston and his wife stayed on and within 15 mins the LT Skua flew in from the west very low and sat on a rock just below the brow of the hill.
Several Gt Skua flew over without a response and three Arctic Skua sat near by.
On previous visits the LT Skua would come down the hill to mount and attack on the Arctic's but this time it flew in and sat with the Arctic's, not what I expected.
There was a bit of calling but no aggression as such. The LT Skua flew around a few times and came in the middle of the others.
It finally flew off east and flew over the cliffs when another pair of Arctic Skua started to chase it and it came back to the three again.
Meanwhile a young Arctic Skua seemed content to sit near a rock and only flew off when an adult called to it. A Pair of Red Throated Diver, Greylag, Curlew, Dunlin, wheatear ,Rock Dove and a few Arctic tern with fish flew over.
With another 3 LT Skuas on Orkney it makes you wonder if they have had a poor breeding season and are heading south earlier than normal.
Its a class bird and made the trip from a visiting birder worth while.
Present again today, although did spend some time down at Boddam
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