NORTH RONALDSAY - 23rd January

A fine day with plenty of sunshine albeit pretty chilly with a frost, some light icing and a couple of wintery showers in the afternoon; a walk round the coast from the Obs to The Links over high tide was very pleasant with some big flocks of birds in the surf and on the beaches including 205 Wigeon, 136 Teal, 184 Eider, 19 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Goldeneye, 230 Lapwing, 425 Sanderling, 145 Purple Sandpipers, 50 Snipe, 103 Redshank, 134 Turnstone, 296 Common Gulls and 127 Herring Gulls.

                Other bits and pieces included a 3cy Iceland Gull at Stromness Point, the over-wintering group of 5 Ruff hiding with the Lapwings at Hooking, 2 Pink-footed Geese, 4 Herons, a Hen Harrier, a Water Rail, a good total of 31 Skylarks, 29 Rock Pipits, 2 Fieldfares, 16 Redwing, a Chaffinch, 81+ Twite, 63 Snow Buntings and 7 Reed Buntings.

Iceland Gull (although some people think this is a Glaucous Gull)

Purple Sandpipers

Eiders

The Sanderling flocks had a few colour ringed birds in amongst them