NORTH RONALDSAY - 31st March

Wondrously and blessedly calm through the morning but the nets were quiet first thing with a male Greenfinch briefly in the garden the highlight; the north census route was then also disappointingly quiet as birds of note just included 2 Jackdaws and a Rook heading south, 5 Long-tailed Ducks, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers, 40 Skylarks, 60 Rock Pipits, 12 Pied Wagtails, 6 Redwing and 18 Linnets.   Little bits elsewhere comprised 2 Robins and a Wheatear around the Obs, a Bonxie past the Beacon as we were ringing the three Raven chicks there and 2 Sandwich Terns and the drake Green-winged Teal on Gretchen.

Redwing - possibly an Icelandic coburnii

Ravens one week ago

Ravens today

NORTH RONALDSAY - 30th March

Bright and sunny throughout with only a couple of short-sharp showers to keep you on your toes but very windy, making it difficult in the field; a seawatch in the morning produced the first 2 Puffins of the year along with 124 Gannets in an hour.   A slog round the middle census route was quiet but did include a nice male Lapland Bunting with Skylarks at Sandar, other birds of note comprised 2 Pink-footed Geese, a Woodpigeon, an increase to 173 Skylarks, 60 Meadow Pipits, 4 Redwings and a Snow Bunting.

Oystercatcher

Black-headed Gull

NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th March

A bright and breezy start with a spell of drizzly, damp, murk late morning becoming dry again with the wind slightly dropping; a walk round the Hooking census route in the morning produced my first Wheatear of the year on the South Links (first one was yesterday), 5 Great-northern Divers, 2 Barnacle Geese, 7 Gadwall, a young female Peregrine, a Jack Snipe around Hooking (surprisingly the first of the year), a Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 30 Meadow Pipits, 14 Pied Wagtails, 6 Twite and 3 Snow Buntings.

                There were a couple more year ticks in the afternoon with a Goldfinch over the Obs (only the third March record) and a Bonxie beating up Great Black-backs off the north end.

Wheatear

Long-tailed Ducks

NORTH RONALDSAY - 28th March

Still breezy from the SW but slightly lighter than yesterday; I had an hours seawatch first thing which produced 460 Fulmars and 518 Auk sp. but the lighter winds encouraged a steady trickle of passerines coming in off the sea including small numbers of Starlings, Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Skylarks.   I then walked the Obs census route in the morning where the main feature was again the steady southward movement of birds highlighted by the first 4 Rooks of the year along with more Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Pied Wagtails heading out along with small flocks of Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Greylag Geese and a couple of Mallards out at sea.  

                Other totals comprised a Heron, an extra Mute Swan pair on Gretchen, 3 Pink-footed Geese, the drake Green-winged Teal still, a Hen Harrier, a Merlin, 360 Golden Plover, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, the Sandwich Tern again, a Song Thrush, 2 Chaffinches, 3 Linnets, 30 Twite, a Common Redpoll and 2 Snow Buntings.

Rook

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Bar-tailed Godwit

NORTH RONALDSAY - 26th March

A wet and windy day with the strong SW winds bringing long periods of drizzly rain and low cloud; the highlight was the first Sandwich Tern of the year fishing in Nouster in the afternoon.   Other birds seen around the Obs and Brides census routes included 7 Great-northern Divers, the drake Green-winged Teal still on Gretchen, 4 Pintail, 16 Tufted Ducks, 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and the usual bits in Kirbest including 30 Twite and a single Common Redpoll.

Sandwich Tern

Gannets

NORTH RONALDSAY - 23rd March

Still very windy with the blazing force 7-8 westerly bringing several intense, vicious hail showers sweeping through but like yesterday, bright sunshine dominated in between; little new was seen over the course of the day but totals included 4 Great-northern Divers, 5 Herons, 2 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Merlin (including a male in off the sea at the north end with prey), quite a few Gulls feeding in the surf comprising 141 Black-headed, 217 Common and 89 Great Black-backs, 108 Kittiwakes north past the top end in half an hour mid-afternoon, the 2 Woodpigeons, 16 Fieldfare and 2 Snow Buntings.

Long-tailed Ducks

Herring Gull in the spray

Pied Wagtail

Kittiwake

NORTH RONALDSAY - 22nd March

A rough day with a blazing strong and increasing SSW wind and some particularly nasty squalls blasting across the island but there was some good spells of sunshine in between; the day’s highlight came mid-afternoon when a brute of a first-winter WHITE-TAILED EAGLE was seen sat on the edge of Gretchen Loch briefly before it flew across Loch Park and out to sea over Nouster Bay before it was defeated by the extremely strong winds and turned back over Stromness Point to fly inland again.   Other totals in the difficult conditions included 5 Herons, a Pink-footed Goose, 2 Barnacle Geese near Claypows (the first of the year), 18 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Goldeneye, 172 Purple Sandpipers, 111 Skylarks, 52 Meadow Pipits, 18 Rock Pipits, 10 Pied Wagtails, 2 Chaffinches and 4 Linnets.

White-tailed Eagle

Displaying Ringed Plover

NORTH RONALDSAY - 21st March

A lovely day with plenty of bright sunshine and a moderate but decreasing SSW wind; walks round both the north and south end produced a notable influx of 16 Meadow Pipits (62 were put down for the day – the first double-figure count of the year), 8 Pied Wagtails, 10 Rock Pipits, single Merlin and Hen Harrier, a further increase in Black-headed Gulls with 130+ at Hooking, the 2 Woodpigeon still and 60+ Skylarks.   Opened the nets in the evening but it was very quiet with an improved 15 Linnets in to roost the only thing of note.

Merlin

Shelduck

Common Gulls

Raven

Starling