NORTH RONALDSAY - 7th May

Cold and overcast with a strong NE wind with the nets at Holland first thing yielding nothing at all before a walk round the Brides census route produced 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Willow Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs, a Song Thrush, a Siskin, 4 Great-northern Divers and still good numbers of waders including 140 Turnstone, 55 Purple Sandpipers and 36 Sanderling.

                A female Redstart was round the Obs and the Red-winged Blackbird was still present but not showing very well in the cold, blustery conditions.

Golden Plover

Backlit Curlew

Siskin (and Chiffchaff)

Lesser Whitethroat

Great-northern Diver

Arctic Tern

and another Red-winged Blackbird picture - a rare one with no gas bottles or walls!

NORTH RONALDSAY - 6th May

A foggy start with a brisk NE wind meant that Holland was quiet first thing with only three new birds caught; the fog cleared by 10:00 leaving a glorious sunny day but my morning was predictably spent ferrying plane and boat loads of twitchers up to Garso where the Red-winged Blackbird showed amazingly well as it totally changed its behaviour by now flycatching from the wires and walls, often landing within a few metres of us standing on the road!

                I walked the Obs census route in the afternoon where birds included my first Ring Ouzel of the year – a fine male in a field by Lurand, 2 Whitethroats, a Blackcap, a Brambling, a Great-northern Diver, 29 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin (including one displaying over Loch Park), yesterday’s Redpoll sp. by the Obs and a selection of Phyloscs.

Better pictures of the Red-winged Blackbird

Dunlin having a bit of a sing

NORTH RONALDSAY - 1st May

Still great conditions with a strong easterly wind and plenty of sunshine but unfortunately the wind direction meant that the Brides census route was pretty exposed and therefore quiet as birds included single Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, 8 Swallows, 3 Carrion Crows, a Knot, 25 Sanderling, 4 Arctic Terns and a Great-northern Diver.

                I was dashing around all over the place in the afternoon, showing people the Red-winged Blackbird which was still present and following her favoured routine but I did manage to catch up with a good mix of migrants which were arriving throughout the day with the highlight certainly being an always awesome HOOPOE which was pretty mobile but I caught up with it near Nether Linney (a North Ronaldsay tick!)   Other birds included my first 2 Tree Pipits of the year at Trebb and Garso, my long overdue first Sand Martin of the year at Garso with 15+ Swallows, 3 Fieldfares, a Collared Dove, a few each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, a Kestrel and my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year which I trapped at dusk.

Sanderling

Wheatear

Blackcap on the doorstep

Swallow

Great-northern Diver

and a better flight shot of the Red-winged Blackbird

NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th April

Great conditions with a brisk easterly wind and a few spots of rain here and there; carried out a breeding wader survey on Ancum first thing, not ideal conditions but OK but besides the displaying Redshank, Lapwing and Snipe there wasn’t a lot to mention apart from a single Barnacle Goose with the Greylags.

                I then had a decent northern census route as birds included my first 2 Arctic Terns of the year already flying round with fish and displaying, a smart 1^st year male Black Redstart by the lighthouse, 10 Snow Buntings (with many stunning males), a pair of Common Scoter offshore (always scarce on here) along with 3 Great-northern Divers and 10 Bonxies, 10 Barnacle Geese over, 3 Knot, 105+ Turnstone, a Merlin which caught a Starling and 14 Wheatears.

                The world then went slightly mad as I heard, then saw a bird land on some gas canisters at Garso, got it in my bins and…..for the first time in many years in the UK I didn’t have a clue what I was looking at!  After a bit of head scratching I made a tentative ID in my head and took loads of pictures before the bird flew off up to some wires then dropped down into the Irises, I then phoned it out; looking at the photos and talking to other people firmed up my initial conclusions that it was a female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD – a first for the UK!!!

                After a seemingly long period of time when we had lost it before we realised it was still in the thickest area of Irises, it then settled into a predictable routine of feeding unseen in the nearby Irises then, after being flushed flying back to Garso, straight back to land on the gas canisters, wait a few minutes, then fly back to exactly the same spot in the Iris bed to feed again.

Red-winged Blackbird - a first for Britain!