I was out early again today and as usual walked down to the Nouster Bay
where there was a notable increase in waders that included a Common Ringed
Plover, thirty Ruddy Turnstone, sixty-five Sanderling and three Purple Sandpiper. There was also two Common Shelduck, nine
Common Eider and fifteen Black Guillemots.
There was a Gannet and a Great Skua observed as I waited to leave for
Holland House and as we made our way to the ringing area we saw twenty-two
European Golden Plover. Again, it was
quiet in the ringing area with just a Common Chiffchaff being seen and a walk
down the road produced four Snipe and a couple of distant Twite.
After breakfast we headed to Linklet Bay but stopped briefly to view
Nouster Bay where there were four Long-tailed Ducks three Red-throated Divers
and two Razorbills. As we drove along
the road to the bay we found a Common Ringed Plover, eleven Bar-tailed Godwits
and a couple of Black-tailed Godwits.
When we reached the shore, there were clearly plenty of waders present
that included 100+ Ruddy Turnstone, thirty-five Knot, circa thirty Sanderling
and six Purple Sandpiper. There was a
single Great Northern Diver on the sea and a Great Skua flew over. As we continued to scan the wades a Ruff put
in an appearance but refused to settle and possibly went to Hooking Loch. We also had nice views of an Arctic Tern and
a more distant Arctic Skua.
Red Knot
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
We eventually left the waders and walked north through the golf course,
although I suspect that it hasn’t been used in a long time. There were at least five Wheatear on the
course and again we had frustrating and distant views of two Twite. There were two Great Skuas near a pond along
with several Great Black-backed Gull but when the gulls took to flight the
skuas held their ground and we were able to get quite close before they flew
around providing some excellent photo opportunities. As we walked back along the shore I was
surprised to find Sand Martins nesting in the sand banks at the edge of the
course as one rough sea would almost certainly wipe the nests out, but they
were apparently successful last year.
There was also six Dunlin and a couple of Common Ringed Plover and a
Whimbrel flew over.
Northern Fulmar
Great Skua
Great Skua
Great Skua
Great Skua
Common Ringed Plover
Dunlin
A message from Simon regarding a Lapland Bunting had us moving off hoping
to see it. We had to walk through a
field to reach the sandy field it was feeding in and Mark soon found it and as
he got it in his scope it flew and quite some distance. I picked it up and heard it called but
unfortunately it went far enough for us all to lose sight of it before it came
down.
With not much about we went to look at the museum, which had numerous
photos covering island life and afterwards we checked Ancum Loch where we found
forty-two Bar-tailed Godwit. Mark then
had another call from George saying that there was a Lapland Bunting near the
old school house.
We were soon on our way and found George waiting for us and the bird was
still in the field but at the far side.
We walked down the road to get a better view and were able to see it
quite well but it was just a female, although we were all quite happy following
our earlier experience.
After a brief visit back to the observatory we went back to the northern
part of the island to finish the day.
There was a small gathering of waders at our first stop that included a
Common Ringed Plover, a Ruddy Turnstone, twenty-two Sanderling, ten Purple
Sandpiper and two Dunlin. As we moved
out to view the sea to the north we found eleven Common Eider, a Great Northern
Diver, two European Shags and a Black Guillemot. Two Whimbrel were found on the rocks a seven
Arctic Tern flew over. After walking
more walls and several old crofts we found just a single Common Chiffchaff and
eventually headed back for dinner seeing a Whooper Swan near Ancum Loch.
Hooded Crow
Eurasain Skylark
North Ronaldsay lambs
North Ronaldsay Lighthouse
After dinner Mark appeared saying that George had trapped a Eurasian
Sparrowhawk and asked if we would be interested in seeing it and so we returned
to Holland House for the last time to see a magnificent male Eurasian
Sparrowhawk in the hand, which was a fitting end to our time on the island.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
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