NORTH RONALDSAY - 13th October

Another lovely, calm day, largely bright and dry but with a few spots of rain to give us some hope of something dropping in but unfortunately, we couldn’t compete with next door!   Birds unearthed included the regularly returning drake Green-winged Teal back on Gretchen (or rather he has finally moulted enough for us to be sure its him, its probably been here for a while already), a big influx of 82+ Tufted Ducks on Brides in amongst which was a single Scaup, 2 Hen Harriers, a Merlin, a Ruff, an arrival of 14+ Black-tailed Godwits, a Short-eared Owl, a Grey Wagtail, 17 Robins, 7 Fieldfare, 110 Redwing, the Eastern Lesser Whitethroat still at Holland, 4 Blackcap, a Yellow-browed Warbler on the coast by Gretchen (first one since the 6th), 5 Chiffchaff, 5 Goldcrest, a/the Red-backed Shrike at Barrenha – it’s unclear whether it was a new bird or the long-staying individual last seen in that area on the 6th, 3 Chaffinches, 3 Brambling, the first 2 Greenfinches of the autumn, 3 Common Redpolls, the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll re-trapped in Holland, a Lapland Bunting and 22 Snow Buntings.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Short-eared Owl