11th January

Had a few hours at a very windy Rutland Water where highlights included 2 Black-necked Grebes, a Slavonian Grebe and 2 female Scaup (plus another on one of the lagoons) in the North Arm and a drake Smew on one of the lagoons.   Other birds comprised the usual Egyptian Geese, a Marsh Harrier, several Great White Egrets and Little Egrets, a smart looking, very white leucistic Lapwing, a few Buzzards, Ravens and Red Kites floating around in the breeze, c80 Golden Plover with the big Lapwing flocks and as usual, load of duck with high numbers of Tufted Ducks and Pochards sheltering on the lagoons, away from the very rough main lake.

Smew record shot

These Great-crested Grebes were starting to display a bit

NORTH RONALDSAY - 8th December

The wind had switched to a brisk NW bringing regular, nasty showers sweeping across the island; little look around Brides and the north end produced 7 Great-northern Divers, a Heron, 3 Mute Swans, a Whooper Swan, a different adult Eurasian White-fronted Goose opposite Rue, 12 Shoveler, 6 Goldeneye (highest count since the spring), the drake Smew still at Bewan, 6 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Hen Harrier, 4 Ruff still, 29 Bar-tailed Godwits and a total of 98 Snow Buntings with several flocks roaming around.

Eurasian White-fronted Goose

Red-breasted Merganser

Smew

Snow Buntings

NORTH RONALDSAY - 9th March

Another cracking day with hardly a breath of wind and plenty of sunshine; there was no sign of the Walrus despite searching but it eventually turned up on a beach across the water on Sanday, out of view no matter how hard we scoped it!   Walked up the west coast to Westness and again, it felt very spring-like with singing Skylarks, singing Wrens and displaying Lapwings and Ringed Plovers, other birds included 2 Linnets at the Obs, 2 Twite south down the coast, the first Rook of the year south over Westness, a Peregrine over the middle of the island, 9 Pintail, the Whooper Swan, 60+ Fieldfares and the Green-winged Teal still on Gretchen.

                Opened the nets at Holland late afternoon but it was really quiet until dusk when I caught a Mistle Thrush, there was the first Woodpigeon of the year around the garden and a Woodcock flushed out.

Smew and Goldeneye

Pintail

Purple Sandpipers

NORTH RONALDSAY - 12th March

Thick fog that kept coming and going through most of the day was thankfully much lighter at the north end of the island allowing me to see the day’s highlight of a Sooty Shearwater passing the seawatch hide – a fantastically early record, possibly the first ever in March (maybe the same bird that was seen at Spurn last week leaving the North Sea!).

                Other birds seen in the murk included the drake Smew with 9 Goldeneye, a Jack Snipe flushed from behind a wall, 3 Snow Buntings, 4 Fieldfares, 120+ Purple Sandpipers and a Pied Wagtail.

Smew

Snow Bunting

Purple Sandpipers

Skylark

Jack Snipe