St Kilda World Heritage Site NTS

A 1st winter Iceland Gull was in among the seals on the rocks at Dùn today. Always nice to see those white wings 🙂
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Presumably the same Corncrake that we found a few days ago is still scurrying around near the cemetery on #StKilda.
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The first pulse of Redwing are back on #StKilda, with 50+ flitting between cottages, cleitean and dykes over the last few days.

Delighted that our visiting European White-fronted Goose from Netherlands has found some Pink-footed friends to graze with in the Village over the last couple of days.

Our second Pectoral Sandpiper of season was much more obliging than the first, even coming to the helipad to say farewell to Will after another great autumn with him here!
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This collar-ringed European White-fronted Goose (T7Z) was ringed in Netherlands in Nov 2024 and had previously been reported at 2 other sites in Netherlands before turning up on #SKilda today. Reported to cr-birding.org. Incredible what we can learn about birds' movements from ringing projects!

This makes you wonder how many times we actually miss Short-eared Owls on the scree slope on Conachair. There were two tucked away in there today.
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This morning's Corncrake was eclipsed by the Brown Shrike today, but they're always a smart bird to see out here. Pretty good start to October!
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Thanks Bruce! Yeah, here's hoping for a few goodies all round this weekend 🤞

Brown Shrike today! 1st for #StKilda and only the 4th for the Outer Hebs! Flighty and elusive, but combination of features confirmed ID, including uniform dark brown head and mantle, very dark mask, short wings, and very long, slim, reddish tail.
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There's always a chance that a flock of Pink-footed Geese might pick up a straggler of another species. This Greenland White-fronted Goose was with a small flock in Gleann Mor a couple of days ago.
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It's not often that you sit down for a cuppa on #StKilda and a Turtle Dove lands in front of a rainy window! Disappeared on us as soon as we got to the door too. A second record of the year for this irregular visitor, after a single spring record.
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Tree Pipits are occasional visitors to #StKilda, but picking one out in among the hundreds of breeding and migrant Meadow Pipits can be challenging! Fortunately this one has given us some fantastic views over the last couple of days.
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Just the one Baird's Sandpiper today on #StKilda, but the first Pectoral Sandpiper (second pic) of the year was also up on the hills this evening. Usually the much more expected of these two Nearctic waders.
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The last of the 4 previous #StKilda Baird's Sandpiper records was in 1999, and finding a 2nd bird on 16th was a surprise in itself. That 2nd bird was neither of these two though, meaning that Will found a 3rd of the year this morning. Madness! @birdguides.bsky.social
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This week we've seen many hundreds of Pink-footed Geese flying in over #StKilda from their breeding grounds in Iceland as they return to their UK wintering grounds. Some will no doubt rest a while before continuing their journey. A lone Whooper Swan joined them in the Village on Thursday.

LESSER KESTREL on #StKilda! Retrospectively identified from Will Miles' excellent images on 16th Sept. We'd recorded a Kestrel from 12th, possibly the same bird, but sadly not relocated today.
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The @n-t-s.bsky.social team is down to one now, as we said goodbye to Sue and Clare yesterday at the end of our fifth season together. It's been a busy, but fantastic year on the island and we're already looking forward to 2026! 🙂

After finding St Kilda's fifth Baird's Sandpiper on 5th Sept, we were astonished to confirm a second Baird's on island yesterday too! Will's pics here clearly show two different birds.
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An excellent day birding on #StKilda yesterday, with this Arctic Warbler probably the highlight. This is the second island record after finally being added to the Kilda list last year.
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This very smart looking partially leucistic Snipe has been here on #StKilda for at least 2 weeks now. Got us very excited initially!
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A Fulmar glides through the sunset with Carn Mor beyond. A quiet night up there, with many of our nocturnal seabirds now departed.
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Yesterday's juvenile Red-backed Shrike was the 10th #StKilda record and first since 2014. A third classic Shetland migrant of the month that is far less regular this far west, following the Wryneck and a Barred Warbler.
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Another #SuperSeabirdSunday from #StKilda, and another tern! This time it's an Arctic Tern, moulting into winter plumage on slipway yesterday. Sandwich Tern next Sunday perhaps?!? 😅

A reality check yesterday: as exciting as it is to find unusual birds in remote locations, some species, like this Wryneck on #StKilda, will struggle to find food on islands with no familiar habitat. A sad end for a beautiful bird.

From the edge of the world 2025 – part 3 We take a look at a ‘day in the life’ of people living on St Kilda on the 95th anniversary of the evacuation.

The latest blog takes a look at how the @n-t-s.bsky.social Ranger Team spent the anniversary of the evacuation on #stkilda

www.nts.org.uk/stories/from...

I was more focused on the Baird's Marcus, but it was good to see it alongside Dunlin and Sanderling.

Baird's Sandpiper on #StKilda today! Following Britain's first record here in 1911, there had been just 3 further sightings of this Nearctic vagrant before today, with the most recent involving 2 birds in 1999.
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After a quiet start to autumn migration on #StKilda, this morning felt like the beginning- Wryneck and Rosefinch within 30 mins of each other in the Village! Wryneck is 10th island record, but first since 2003! Rosefinch is always a delightful bird to find.
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Terns are not part of the extensive #StKilda breeding seabird assemblage of 16 species, and Friday's Common Tern (lower bird) was just the second record in the last 5 years, following last season's Arctic Tern (upper bird).
#SuperSeabirdSunday
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