NORTH RONALDSAY - 27th August

A stunning day, very calm, bright, warm sunshine, a light easterly breeze and amazingly…no fog!   Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were fewer grounded migrants than yesterday in the fine conditions but still a decent spread across the island as highlights included catching up with the Greenish Warbler at Senness (which was found yesterday), the Wood Warbler still in Holland.   Other birds comprised 2 Sooty Shearwaters off the Lighthouse, the Hen Harrier, single Merlin and Peregrine, 3 Ruff, a Short-eared Owl, 2 Swifts, 170+ Swallows, 2 Whinchats, 124+ Wheatears, 6 Willow Warblers, a Goldcrest and a Pied Flycatcher.

Greenish Warbler

Hen Harrier

Little Stint

NORTH RONALDSAY - 7th September

Heavy rain overnight finally petered out by mid-morning with a Barred Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher around the Obs.   I finally went out around the northern census route at midday and literally the first bird I saw was a cracking GREENISH WARBLER in Bewan House garden, flitting around and feeding actively but it disappeared just before anyone else arrived and it took some time but I eventually re-found it in front of Rue.   There was a nice range of migrants elsewhere but it was really heaving as totals included a Spotted Flycatcher at Rue and a Whinchat at Scottigar (both firsts for the autumn), 5 Willow Warblers, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Kestrels, 9 Black-tailed Godwits and a Heron which came in off the sea from the north.

                I then went out and opened the nets at Ancum Willows early evening and had just finished opening when I saw another Phyllosc near the road which was clearly an awesome ARCTIC WARBLER!   I soon caught it along with a Common Rosefinch and a Reed Warbler but had to close the nets soon after as more rain moved in – a brilliant afternoon!

Greenish Warbler

Arctic Warbler

Common Rosefinch

Whinchat

Willow Warbler

INDIA Day 14 - 22nd January

Our last half morning at Ramnagar before heading back to the ridiculous Delhi allowed us to pick up a few new little bits but it started with more excellent views of the White’s Thrush in the garden, bobbing like a Jack Snipe and fanning its tail as it fed in the leaf litter; there was also Taiga Flycatcher, a little flock of Olive-backed Pipits, Greenish Warbler and Hume’s Warbler in the garden creating great wintering bird scenes!

                New birds comprised good views of a WESTERN CROWNED WARBLER feeding with a mixed species flock down by the river where there were also 3 Grey-winged Blackbirds (a male and two females), a smart Brown Shrike (only the second of the trip), a nice male Eastern Black Redstart, a couple of flyover Pallas’s Fish Eagles and the usual good array of Wagtails and waders on the river.    When we were kicking around the garden after a little walk around there was a distinctive BLYTH’S LEAF WARBLER with another mixed species flock and a small group of SCARLET MINIVETS which moved through the canopy.

White's Thrush

Eastern Black Redstart

Brown Shrike

Greenish Warbler

Grey-winged Blackbird

Little Ringed Plover and Citrine Wagtail

INDIA Day 11 - 19th January

A final morning game drive in Corbett NP was again unsuccessful for Tigers but once again, we saw tracks and shite and for a while the guides seemed confident and expectations were high and exciting but it soon fizzled out and we had to make do with a big bull Indian Elephant instead; it was also very quiet for birds.

                We spent the rest of the day birding from the accommodation where new birds included a pair of ORIENTAL PIED HORNBILLS (which I missed in the Corbett), a lovely VERDITER FLYCATCHER, finally tickable views of SPANGLED DRONGO, a couple of BLACK-CRESTED BULBULS, a female LITTLE PIED FLYCATCHER, a pair of smart CHESTNUT-BELLIED NUTHATCHES and a cracking VELVET-FRONTED NUTHATCH along with plenty of birds along the river with many Wagtails, Kingfishers and Water Redstarts, great views of another Crested Serpent Eagle.

                Overhead the sky was also full of birds including big, mixed flocks of Swifts and Swallows which included HIMALAYAN SWIFTLETS, WHITE-RUMPED SPINETAILS, Crested Treeswifts and Red-rumped Swallows.   We then drove down the road to our next hotel in nearby Ramnagar where DUSKY CRAG MARTIN and Lineated Barbet were added from the hotel roof.

We were close....

Wild Indian Elephant

Plum-headed Parakeet

Brown-headed Barbet

Female Pied Bushchat

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Black Bulbul

Cinereous Tit

Red-headed Vulture

Greenish Warbler (with no wing bar)

Common Tailorbird

NORTH RONALDSAY - 7th September

A decent morning with a light southerly breeze and birds around the middle census route included a/the Marsh Harrier quartering Ancum, 2 Whinchats, a Willow Warbler, 9 Herons, 62 Teal, 3 Gadwall, 21 Wigeon and 4 Black-tailed Godwits.   Rain moved in by lunchtime and lingered on and off for the rest of the afternoon which brought the day’s highlight as a cracking ARCTIC WARBLER was trapped in T1 early evening – an awesome ringing tick!

Arctic Warbler

and to compare, the Greenish Warbler from last month

NORTH RONALDSAY - 24th August

After a wild, wet and windy night it was oddly calm and dry at dawn, so I took advantage of the weather window and had about two hours at Holland where I caught a cracking GREENISH WARBLER on the first round while other birds there included 2 Tree Pipits over (the first of the autumn), 7+ Willow Warblers, a Garden Warbler and a Kestrel.

                Several hours of solid rain then moved in during which I walked round the Hooking census route where birds included another Tree Pipit at The Mill, a single Pintail on the loch, 19 Teal, a Grey Plover on The Links, 15 Black-tailed Godwits, 9 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Ruff and 20 Sand Martins   The afternoon was drier but there was little else in the rest of the Hooking census route but we all went up to Torness to get great views of a smart juvenile Dotterel running around (thought we’d missed out on that this year!) while a Short-eared Owl floated around Nether Linnay.

Greenish Warbler

This Garden Warbler had a hard life in the nest!

Tree Pipit

Dotterel

Short-eared Owl