SWEDEN - 30th October

 Nice and calm again but poor visibility, never enough to stop any ringing but you couldn’t see across the bay at its worst, the nets were steady with Wrens and Robins without anything else thrown in while other birds included a redhead Smew on the southern pits, 2 Sparrowhawks, 10+ Bearded Tits by the hides, single Grey Wagtail and Rock Pipit overhead and 28+ Twite feeding on one of the islands.   

I cycled south in the afternoon down to Rödskär where, despite the almost constant light rain, birds included at least 11 Shorelarks in the bay, 2 Waxwings which went north, 75+ Twite, 5 Rock Pipits, 2 Red-throated Divers and a single female Pintail.

Shorelarks

This Golden Plover was injured but could still fly distances but obviously not far enough to attempt to migrate - still smart though!

NORTH RONALDSAY - 9th September

Another nice day with a moderate NW breeze which eased off slightly towards the evening; a decent spread of migrants across the island showed some small increases in numbers including the first 3 Rock Pipits of the autumn, 4 Whinchats, yesterday’s Barred Warbler still at Sandback, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Garden Warblers, 10 Willow Warblers, 3 Goldcrest and 5 Pied Flycatchers.   Other birds of note comprised 3 Herons, a Hen Harrier, 2 Kestrels, 2 Merlin, a Peregrine, a Grey Plover, 2 Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit and the Shorelark still at Trolla.

Golden Plover

Willow Warbler

Pied Flycatcher

NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th August

A decent day with moderate southerly winds and plenty of sunshine until some nasty showers moved in late afternoon; a quiet day really with some dedicated seawatching producing 35 Sooty Shearwaters and 38 Manx Shearwaters whilst elsewhere on the island, totals comprised 9 Pintail, 58 Teal, single Hen Harrier and Peregrine, 2 Ruff, a Whinchat, a Song Thrush, a Garden Warbler, 6 Willow Warblers and a Goldcrest.

Ringed Plover

Golden Plover

NORTH RONALDSAY - 19th - 21st August

A steady few days, dominated by brisk SSE winds, long spells of sunshine interspersed by showers sweeping through; waders continued to pass through as high counts through this period included 102 Knot, 242 Sanderling, 16 Black-tailed Godwit, 14 Ruff, a Green Sandpiper and 192 Turnstone.   Other birds comprised a decent seawatch on the 21st with 26 Sooty Shearwaters and 39 Manx Shearwaters past the Lighthouse in the morning while a Swift also came in off, up to 3 Peregrines, a Merlin, 2 Stonechats still, a Collared Dove and a Garden Warbler on the 20th.

Sanderling

Swift

Golden Plover

Bonxie

NORTH RONALDSAY - 6th May

We kept the cold north-westerlies but they gradually eased through the day with fewer showers becoming very pleasant by the afternoon; there were limited new arrivals though as totals included a pair of Garganey near Hooking, 6 Knot, a much improved 264 Sanderling, 294 Purple Sandpipers, 57 Dunlin, 58 Bar-tailed Godwits (the highest count of the year so far), 5 Black-tailed Godwits, at least 14 Whimbrel, a further increase to 81+ Arctic Terns with birds all over the island now, a Woodpigeon, a White Wagtail, a Dunnock, 5 Robins, a bit of an influx of 113+ Wheatears, 2 Ring Ouzels, a Song Thrush, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff and a Brambling.

Golden Plover

Lapwing chick

NORTH RONALDSAY - 9th February

Lighter winds than yesterday but still a damp and horrible day with waves and waves of heavy rain sweeping across the island throughout; not much coverage through the day but birds near the Obs included the Green-winged Teal in East Loch Park, 2 Shelduck, 7 Shoveler and a Black-headed Gull on Gretchen and 40+ Snow Buntings still in East Loch Park.

Golden Plover

Kittiwake

NORTH RONALDSAY - 18th October

A good day with a lightish SW wind and the occasional spell of drizzle which created and excellent day for some visible migration; the main feature of the day was a fantastic, rolling southerly movement of Redwings, piling through in flocks of 3-400 birds, landing in fields and feeding for a few minutes while the wave behind them moves over before flying low across the fields, I was out for five hours in the afternoon in the middle census route and 1,030+ moved through.   Other birds moving included constant flocks of Geese coming in from the north with 700+ Greylags, 56 Pink-footed Geese and 11 Barnacle Geese, a total of 48 Whooper Swans in many flocks, a Merlin which went through high up and 3 Rooks – the first of the autumn.

                Other birds in the middle census area included 2 Hen Harriers, 2 Kestrel, 2 Shelduck seen over The Links (an unusual autumn record and the first since July), 2 Snow Buntings, 6 Reed Buntings, 15 Song Thrush, 2 Yellowhammers by South Gravity, 6 Robins and 3 Blackcap.    The evening ringing was very productive as we caught many, many Redwings at both Ancum and Holland along with a Long-eared Owl at Holland and the Great Grey Shrike again at Ancum.

Whooper Swans

Golden Plover

NORTH RONALDSAY - 8th October

A decent day with much lighter winds but rain moving in late afternoon; there was a small selection of migrants throughout the Obs census area through the day including 2 Goldfinches briefly at Nouster (the first of the autumn), 4 Bramblings, 25+ Redwings, 3 Fieldfares, a Woodpigeon which came into Holland just before the rain came, 2 Wheatears, 3 Rock Pipits, 2 Blackcaps in Holland, a flock of 11 Barnacle Geese south down the west coast and 3 Pink-footed Geese with a few flocks of Greylags coming in through the day.

Kestrel

Golden Plover

NORTH RONALDSAY - 21st September

A rough day with a very strong westerly wind but largely dry throughout; it was tough going around the Brides census route but birds did include my first Snow Bunting of the autumn over East Loch Park, a Siskin in Kirbest, a Blackcap at Southness, 5 Red-throated Divers, a Jack Snipe around the loch, 9 Tufted Ducks and a Grey Plover.   A few more ducks then included 154 Wigeon and 58 Teal on Gretchen in the afternoon.

Wheatear

Siskin

Golden Plover

NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th April

A stunning day with bright sunshine and light winds but it was a quiet day in the field with just a Sparrowhawk and a Blackcap the only migrants of note around the middle census route but I did find a Teal nest near Burray with 2 eggs (in the process of laying), two Snipe nests in Ancum and the first Black-headed Gull eggs at Westness.

Lapwing

Bar-tailed Godwits

Golden Plover