NORTH RONALDSAY - 20th June

Sunny, cloudy, breezy and showery through the day complicating efforts in breeding bird monitoring; there were actually a few new migrants scattered around the island highlighted by a tired looking Turtle Dove, sheltering under a dyke on the coast at Brides – the first one since 2016.   Other birds included a Great-northern Diver, 3 Herons (including two new juveniles from somewhere), the Whooper Swan, 3 Common Scoter past the Lighthouse, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 75 Lapwings (post-breeding flocks starting to build-up), 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a Cuckoo by Parkhouse – only the second of the year, 3 House Martins and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Turtle Dove

Arctic Tern chick

Black-headed Gull chick