The Loons

It was nice to see the little egret at The Loons as I'd missed it elsewhere. It was skulking in reeds at one point but was flushed out by a low-flying ringtail hen-harrier, which isn't something you'll see everywhere. A male hen harrier was hunting there too, and a female kestrel. At Marwick a pair of stonechat and eleven snow buntings on Marwick Head. There was easily 800 guillemot on the cliffs. I thought that unusual for this time of year but referring to past Orkney Bird Reports at home showed that it wasn't.