NORTH RONALDSAY - 26th August

A real mixed bag of weather with the light easterly breeze the only constant – it started off damp, drizzly and autumnal before thick fog moved in until mid-afternoon when the sun broke through to produce a couple of hours of very warm, sunny loveliness with the fog returning in the evening.   It was perhaps the first day of the autumn when birds were popping up throughout with a fine spread of migrants across the island; highlights included the Melodious Warbler still in the crop field near the Obs, yesterday’s Barred Warbler re-trapped at Holland and a Wood Warbler caught at Holland in the evening.   Other birds included a Red-throated Diver, the Hen Harrier, a Kestrel (first of the autumn), a Merlin, the ringed Little Stint still, 2 Whimbrel, 3 Swifts, 90+ alba Wagtails, 3 Whinchats, 175+ Wheatear, a Song Thrush, single Blackcap and Garden Warbler, 5 Willow Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher (first of the autumn) and the juvenile Common Crossbill still.

Wood Warbler