NORTH RONALDSAY - 3rd October

Not a bad day with the wind easing off significantly and slowly moving into the ENE and plenty of bright spells; the land was fairly quiet but with the wind dying back and moving round the sea was very profitable as totals included 3,650+ Fulmars, 43 Sooty Shearwaters, 15 Manx Shearwaters, the first Scaup of the year, the first Long-tailed Duck of the autumn, a juvenile Pomarine Skua, 14 Bonxies, 2,450+ Kittiwakes, 2 Little Auks, an excellent total of 85 Puffins (good for this late in the year) and 400+ large Auk sp.   As mentioned the land was quieter but a trickle of new things to give us some hope for the coming days with 2 Hen Harriers, single Kestrel and Merlin, a Jack Snipe, a Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Robins, 3 Redstarts, 5 Fieldfares, 42 Redwing, 3 Lesser Whitethroats (including an eastern bird trapped in Ancum Willows), 2 Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest, 6 Ravens (the first immigrants of the autumn), 4 Chaffinches, the Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll still at the back of Nouster, 2 Lapland Buntings and 4 Snow Buntings.

and again