We had a few hours on Mainland, Orkney before our ferry sailing to the
mainland and initially went to Peedie Sea where we found around 100 Long-tailed
Ducks. We then headed east looking for
Short-eared Owl but drew a blank, but we did see four Pink-footed Geese, a
Common Goldeneye, ten European Golden Plover, several Eurasian Curlew, Common
Snipe and Common Redshank, six Arctic Tern and an Arctic Skua.
We then headed south towards St Margret’s Hope and our ferry
crossing. On route we had a Whooper Swan
at Graemshall before stopping at the Italian Chapel, which was built by Italian
prisoners of war for their own worship.
It was constructed from a Nissen hut and the final result is quite
remarkable.
Italian Chapel
Italian Chapel
Italian Chapel
Italian Chapel
From the chapel car park, we had a Red-throated Diver, two Great Northern
Divers seven Common Eider, fifteen Long-tailed Ducks and eight Arctic
Terns. We then made a stop at Echnaloch
Bay where we saw another five Great Northern Divers, five Common Eider, eight
Long-tailed Ducks and three Red-breasted Mergansers.
Great Northern Diver
Red-breasted Merganser
Our next stop was at the north side of the forth Churchill Barrier where
we had stopped last Saturday. The
purpose of the stop was to see if any Little Terns had returned to their
breeding colony. Initially it appeared
deserted but then Mark picked one up in the bay and we eventually had four
birds. There were also twenty-five
Common Eiders, fifteen Long-tailed Ducks, fourteen Common Ringed Plovers, ten
Ruddy Turnstones, a Knot, fifteen Dunlin, a Great Skua and two Northern
Wheatears and there was a Sandwich Tern calling but we were unable to locate
it.
Northern Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
Between the barrier and the ferry we had five Whimbrel and arrived in
time to have a coffee break before boarding the ferry.
The ferry crossing was again quite productive in terms of birds with the
following being recorded: Common Eider [18]; a Long-tailed Duck [1];
Red-throated Diver [1]; Great Northern Diver [7]; Gannet [2]; Shag [56];
Black-legged Kittiwake [1]; Arctic Tern [60]; Great Skua [2]; Arctic Skua [1];
Guillemot [140]; Razorbill [3]; Black Guillemot [13] and Puffin [4].
Northern Fulmar
Once back on the Mainland we headed west to St, John’s Loch and Pools and
took lunch in one of the hides. There
was a sizeable colony of Black-headed Gull and Sandwich Terns on the pools but
other than a few wildfowl and a Eurasian Oystercatcher there wasn’t a great
deal else, although the site is excellent for passage waders in the
autumn. A first-winter Glaucous Gull was
observed over the loch and Mark picked up a Slavonian Grebe that was on the far
side of the loch. I managed to get a
brief view before it dived and then we had trouble relocating it but I did
eventually manage to find it and everyone then got views of a dot on the far
side of the lake.
Common Gull
Common Gull
Sandwich Tern
Sandwich Tern
Sandwich Tern
Sandwich Tern
After lunch we headed south to Thurso and then south to join the A9 at
Latheron and then onto Bora, where we stopped for a coffee break. The tide was high at Bora, but we did see seventy-plus
Common Eider, twenty-one Long-tailed Ducks and a couple of Black-legged
Kittiwakes.
We then headed south seeing a circa 500 Pink-footed Geese on route but
not stopping again until we were close to Nethy Bridge when a roadside stop
produced two Common Sandpipers, two White-throated Dippers and two Grey Wagtails.
Roger and I had a quick look around the river in Nethy Bridge before
dinner and found a single Eurasian Siskin on some feeders and a Red Squirrel
alongside the river. At dinner, we agreed
that the four of us would try for Red and Black Grouse and Crested Tit before
breakfast and then setting off for home.
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