A visit to Loch of Bosquoy this morning found a bit of interest with breeding birds. The small Arctic Tern colony of about 8-10 pairs has certainly got two young close to fledging. These birds do not seem to go to sea to feed, they seem to stay fishing over the loch or on nearby Loch Harray, near the Merkister is a favoured spot. I must check in BWP if this is especially unusual, I thought that Arctic Terns were marine dependent, unlike Common Tern. There may be more than two pairs iwth young but they are very hard to see in the long vegetation. There was also a first summer bird present.
A further two broods of Tufted Duck chicks were located, very small, certainly less than a week old. Three Pochard will not have bredd there though. Despite all the Shoveler and Pintail activity earlier in the year I can't seem to locate any of these two species, let alone indications of breeding success.
A Common Sandpiper near the east end behaved as if it had chicks and a brood of Pheasant were flushed. Just one pair of Mute Swans have chicks, with four in tow still.
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