White-billed diver fly past at the Brough of Birsay

I arrived at the Brough of Birsay car park at about 7pm this evening. The sky to the north was black as a rain shower passed by, but thankfully it was dry and sunny where I was standing. Almost immediately I saw it, a large diver flying from east to west. I expected it to be the 1st summer great northern which I have seen here on several occasions recently, but on raising my binoculars it took an instant to realise that I was wrong! The birds ivory bill glowed in the bright sunlight and against the dark background and it's jizz was just so different to great northern, more like a giant red-throated diver with bill held slightly upwards. It was clearly a white-billed diver in full breeding plumage! It powered it's way past me and around the brough before veering southerly as it passed the island. What a sight! It looked like it might be dropping into the bay between here and Marwick head,  but I couldn't be certain and the bright setting sun in that direction made searching for it virtually impossible. Edit: two days later it was reported again in this bay.

The Brough of Birsay is on the north west tip of mainland Orkney and is about 7 miles from our accommodation. It's a tidal island which is accessible for about two hours either side of low tide. We had a gentle walk over at low tide on the 12th and everything seemed good, lots of seabirds, lots of flowers and a bright sunny day. Three days later it was a different story...

I've been going to the car park for the Brough most evenings hoping to see a dolphin or two, or even a whale. They are seen from here pretty regularly but not during my time on the islands. However on the 15th the tide was out and despite it being an evening of moderate winds and squally showers, I decided that I'd walk over to the island and have a look from there. I had a quiet amble around, splitting my time between looking out for cetaceans and watching the breeding seabirds. Puffins had been noticeably absent during our previous visit but tonight I noticed that there were plenty flying around the island and they seemed to be landing on the north side. I made my way over and saw a few on the grassy slopes. It was 8pm and I decided to stay here for a bit and watch them. Over to my right I could see that the causeway was already covered by water, the wind had dropped a bit and it was a beautiful evening..... shit! The causeway was already covered! I was now facing the possibility of spending the night on the island. By my reckoning the earliest I would be able to get off would be about 5am tomorrow! Forget the puffins, I legged it down to the causeway. The sea was rushing in fast but I reckoned I could make it. For about 10m I was ankle deep in fast flowing sea water but then the causeway raised a bit and I was one the otherside. It was a close shave. Fifteen minutes later would have been too late and I would have spent a very uncomfortable night on the island. Far too close for comfort.