Storms and not a storm - February 2020 roundup

February continued the January windy lack of birds theme. Apart from the first weekend which was just windy every other weekend had storm force winds. On the 8/9th we had Storm Ciara, then on the 15/16th we had Storm Dennis and on the 28/29th/1st March we had the Spanish named Storm Jorge. According to the Met Office web didn't have a storm the weekend of the 22nd/23rd, however in Orkney I recorded gusts of up to 83.9mph with average speeds in the 60mph range. So it looks like storms are only named if they are on UK mainland!!

Max gust recorded on the 22 Feb 2020

For good measure we also had light snow on the 26/27th.

The garden bird activity was pretty much the same as January but with out any House Sparrows until the last week of the month when eight appeared. The highlight in the garden was a Sparrowhawk on the 22nd.

There were daily sightings of Meadow Pipits along the track between the cottage and the road and in the surrounding fields.

Elsewhere on Burray the only report of note was two male Scaup on Echna Loch on the 29th. Yes it is a Leap Year this year.