On 29th October we found a Steller’s Eider on Swartmill Loch on Westray, only the 14th individual of this species to have been seen in the UK. It is extremely rare and breeds in northern Siberia and Alaska. The first record was of a bird shot in Norfolk in 1830. Amazingly, one of the previous records was of a long staying individual which frequented Westray and Papay in the 1970’s and ’80’s. The last British bird was in 2000 at the Moray Firth. A handful of birders came from south to see it, but unfortunately it went missing for a while. It is currently being seen most days on Papay.
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