LANDGUARD - 5th July

 Light rain lingered from dawn through until around 08:00, after which it turned into a pleasant, warm day with an increasing WSW wind; the day’s highlight came just after lunch when a male Serin flew in to land in the Poplars at the back of the Obs, gave a few bars of song before disappearing again.   

A few other bits and pieces comprised a trickle of birds moving south including 19 Black-headed Gulls, a lost-looking Brent Goose, a Common Gull, 12 Curlew, 30 Swifts and 2 Whimbrel plus a dispersing juvenile Blackcap and the first spangly juvenile Peregrine of the year cruising around late morning.

Bedstraw Hawkmoth

Clancy's Rustic

Common Emerald

Clouded Border

Shore Wainscot

NORTH RONALDSAY - 2nd - 4th August

A busy few days, not really on the bird front but with the annual Sheep Festival in full swing there was hardly a spare moment, with dances, football matches, dyke building and feeding up to 40 people taking centre stage; once the fog cleared it was a lovely couple of days weather wise with light winds and plenty of warm sunshine.   This few days kicked off with 110 Storm Petrels caught overnight on the 2nd while a Leach’s Petrel was heard calling back to the tape and even better a stunning Bedstraw Hawkmoth was bashing around the moth trap just as we finished at silly o’clock in the morning.   The rest of the news consisted 2 Red-throated Diver, 365 Golden Plover, 5 Ruff, 2 Whimbrel, the first juvenile Arctic Skua and Kittiwake noted off The Lurn on the 4th, the Shorelark which reappeared at Bewan on the 3rd and a very slow trickle of returning warblers with a Reed Warbler at Ancum on the 3rd (only the second of the year), a Blackcap at Holland also on the 3rd and the Garden Warbler still around the Obs.

Bedstraw Hawkmoth

Storm Petrel

Shorelark

Juvenile Twite

Reed Warbler