NORTH RONALDSAY - 29th July

A nice day with light winds and some cloud cover coming and going throughout; opened the nets at Holland first thing with the first juvenile Willow Warbler of the autumn the highlight along with a juvenile Reed Bunting and 3 juvenile Swallows (two re-traps and a new one).

                Birds around the Obs census route then included the single remaining Red-necked Phalarope on Gretchen (amazing, close views allowed me to see that it actually had an orange geolocator on its right tibia, it was impossible to get a look at though as it bobbed around a couple of metres away!), the Black-throated Diver still in Nouster, a Green Sandpiper still on Gretchen, 19 Sanderling, a Whimbrel, 440 Golden Plover, 5 Purple Sandpipers and at least 7 Herons – including a flock of four which went south.

Red-necked Phalarope

which had an orange geolocator on its right tibia - which remains a mystery where it came from

Tysties are bringing in bigger and bigger fish to feed their bigger and bigger chicks

Heron vis mig