NORTH RONALDSAY - 11th February

Not a bad morning, dry with a light but cold NW wind; a look around the north end produced the day’s highlight of a monster HUMPBACK WHALE seen briefly a couple of times off Bewan, I only saw it blow twice and caught a quick glimpse of the animal itself before it disappeared into the sun and rougher water round the point.   Birdwise it was much quieter as totals just included 8 Red-throated Divers, 9 Great-northern Divers, 3 Shelduck, 4 Gadwall, 6 Pintail, 17 Long-tailed Ducks, 6 Goldeneye, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers (highest count of the year so far) and 355 Golden Plover.

                It was nice and calm in the afternoon so I managed to open the nets at Holland for the first time this year and managed to catch 25 birds – an excellent total for February, including the three over-wintering Common Redpolls and a bunch of Redwings, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds as they came into roost.   A Woodcock was flushed out of the garden, a Merlin flashed past and a Kestrel came into roost as well – the wintering one was last seen at the start of January, surely it would have been spotted between then and now if it had lingered, did it leave and come back, is it a new one, have I missed it all this time?

The three over-wintering Common Redpolls

Raven

Shag