Tuesday, 31 July 2018

NORTH RONALDSAY - 30th July


After early morning rain had moved through (with plenty overnight) it was a great day with much calmer winds and plenty of bright sunshine; an early morning seawatch was very quiet with two Manx Shearwaters the only birds of note, I then opened the nets at Holland for a couple of hours which produced two fresh juvenile Sedge Warblers as the highlight with another Hummingbird Hawkmoth along the road there also noteworthy.

                I then walked round the northern census route with high numbers of birds seen, although not much could be picked out in amongst them; a Kestrel at Senness was the land migrant highlight while there were notable influxes of waders with 160 Dunlin, 71 Knot (including a Norwegian flagged bird), 23 Purple Sandpipers, 350 Golden Plovers (1,350+ for the whole island), 61 Curlews, 24 Bar-tailed Godwits and 30 Ringed Plovers and big numbers of Arctic Terns with at least 1,700 around the north end – 5,050 for the whole island (just short of the island record count!).

                Other little bits included two more dispersing juvenile Sedge Warblers at Senness along with four fledgling Reed Buntings, three juvenile Shoveler on Garso and my first North Ron Peacock of the year at Vincoin.












Arctic Terns of various ages

Shoveler


Knot, with the Norwegian colour ringed bird

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