NORTH RONALDSAY - 7th May

Despite the seemingly good conditions with a brisk SE wind and hints of drizzle in the air it was still desperate stuff around the Obs census route with the only birds of note being offshore with 18 Great-northern Divers and 62+ Arctic Terns.   The days highlight came later on as I nipped up to the top end for a seawatch and the first bird I saw was a cracking, full summer White-billed Diver sat on the sea not too far out, from where it drifted off towards the beacon; there were good numbers of birds blogging offshore (not moving anywhere) with 100+ Arctic Terns and a few Kittiwakes floating around with plenty of Auks including some Puffins relatively close in.

NORTH RONALDSAY - 3rd March

Still very cold with lying snow and frozen ground / lochs but the easterly wind had dropped off with some good spells of sunshine; walked along the coast from the Obs to Hooking but there was little change apart from a Black-throated Diver in Nouster.   Other birds included the Kumlien’s Gull again at Brides, the single Whooper Swan trapped in the tiny bit of open water on the loch along with 5 Little Grebes, 5 Pintail and 5 Gadwall, 8 Snow Buntings, 22 Skylarks, 20 Long-tailed Ducks, 165 Teal (mainly on Hooking) and the ringtail Hen Harrier again.

                Also of note was a dead White-billed Diver picked up along the coast just north of Stennabreck.

White-billed Diver

Black-throated Diver record shot

Whooper Swan

Little Grebes

Turnstone

Purple Sandpipers

Wigeon

NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th November

Still a very strong, very cold northerly wind but it was ever so slightly lighter than yesterday and an hour’s seawatch first thing produced the highlights of an adult White-billed Diver which flew north close inshore and 2 Glaucous Gulls (adult and juvenile) which flew along the shore with a trickle of Herrings and Great Black-backs.   Also in the north were 7 Pintail, 2 Goldeneye, a Merlin which appeared to come in off the sea and 35 Snow Buntings while there were still two adult Whooper Swans at Lenswick and 4 Herons at Westness.

                A walk round the Obs census route produced the Black Redstart again by the pier, 6 Great-northern Divers offshore, 3 Robins, 7 Redwings, a Chaffinch, 2 Common Redpolls and 4 more Snow Buntings.

The worst ever pictures of a White-billed Diver

Pintail

Common Redpoll

8th November

After a crazy, rough night with severe gale force winds and lashing rain it was a surprisingly nice day; a little look at the sea until the wind died down enough to open some nets produced single Great-northern Diver and Black Guillemot in amongst the usual Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Little Auks etc. while a ringtail Hen Harrier also went south out at sea.   There was pretty much nothing else through the morning with a few hours of netting drawing a blank even in the now sunny, pleasant conditions.

                The coast itself was very quiet but there was a trickle of birds passing Steinodden including a White-billed Diver, a Great-northern Diver (plus another at the entrance to Verevågen), 35+ Little Auks and a juvenile Puffin which appeared in the surf briefly but soon disappeared; a few birds also headed NW overhead with 3 Waxwings, a Sparrowhawk, 40+ Siskins and a couple of Redpolls and Bramblings.

                Three Black Woodpeckers showed very well in Lebeltet Nord where there was also 3 Bullfinches and a Great-spotted Woodpecker but there was little else inland.

 

 

Kittiwake

White-billed Diver

Razorbills and Guillemots

Sparrowhawk

 

19th March

Another lovely, sunny, calm morning produced a few birds in nets including 4 Robins (which were very light indicating newly arrived migrants) and 3 Goldcrests; there was also some light passage overhead in the fine conditions as birds moving north included 43 Rock Pipits, a Yellowhammer, a Goldfinch, 5 Greenfinches, 5 Siskin, a Grey Wagtail, 4 Skylarks and a good total of 246 Greylag Geese.

                Birds offshore included the White-billed Diver again close in, 3 Great-northern Divers, 12 Wigeon, 20 Teal, a drake Goosander south, 40+ Oystercatchers and 2 Curlew.   Unfortunately fog rolled in late morning and the wind (now NW) picked up through the afternoon which meant the only things I saw were a female Goosander and another 4 Curlew in Vågsvollvika.

A slightly better picture of the White-billed Diver

Long-tailed Duck

15th March

Managed to get most of the nets open for the first day of the ringing campaign and ended up with two Robins and four Great Tits – actually better than expected with hardly any birds around in the bushes!   The White-billed Diver was again close in to the shore and a 1^st year Iceland Gull flew north quite far out – another Norwegian tick; there was little else of note with a flyover Snow Bunting and a few ducks flying backwards and forwards offshore including Long-tailed Ducks, Common Scoter and Eider.

                Had a drive along the coast to Lindesnes Fyr in the afternoon to try for a Gyr Falcon which has been wintering in the area but had no joy in increasingly windy conditions.

 

Record shots of the White-billed Diver

The first bird of the ringing campaign