November so far

On the 1 Nov Barrie found a Lesser Whitethroat in Burray village. There was also a Siberian Chiffchaff in the same area.

Up at Millfield in the space of an hour I had 15 Starlings, 13 House Sparrows, four Greenfinch, four Redwings, two Blackbirds, 1 Rock Dove, one male Chaffinch and the highlight of the morning a Black Redstart. This was a new garden tick, patch tick and Burray tick. A close second in highlight terms was a female Hen Harrier flying over my paddock.

Over a similar time period on the 2 Nov there were 42 Greylag Geese in the field around the cottage, 12 Redwings in the garden with a further 25 in the field accompanied by three Fieldfares and three Blackbirds, nine Greenfinches and 17 House Sparrows also in the garden.

On the 3 Nov Barrie was out and about and saw a Yellow-browed Warbler at Hillfield, a Chiffchaff at Westshore, two Blackcaps, two Chiffchaffs, three Goldcrests in the village and a Whimbrel in its usual location round the back of the Sands Hotel.

There were also two Velvet scoters out in Echna Bay.

A late Swallow was seen in Burray village on the afternoon of the 18 Nov 14.