RSPB Bird Reports
ORKNEY BIRD RECORDS
August 2009
Single, unseasonal Great Northern Divers were noted off North Ronaldsay on 3rd and 30th. Manx Shearwater passage was conspicuous in the last few days of the month with North Ronaldsay reporting 109 on 30th and 161 next day; up to 20 were also seen from the Brough of Birsay. The first Sooty Shearwater was seen on 7th with a peak of 37 off the Brough of Birsay on 28th and 20 off North Ronaldsay on 31st. A single Great Shearwater was off the latter locality, also on 31st. Storm Petrels were also associated with these shearwater movements and, off North Ronaldsay, peaked at 165 on 30th and 111 next day.
Single ‘resident’ Whooper Swans were noted at the Sabiston Loch and on North Ronaldsay with two on Sanday’s North Loch on 26th. A Snow Goose was in Deerness, at Barns of Ayre on 15th and at the Covenanters’ Memorial on 23rd; just to confuse the issue, an albino Greylag Goose was at Graemeshall, Holm on 13th. The Mill Dam reserve on Shapinsay provided some good duck counts with 200 Mallard and 400 Teal there on 17th and 54 Shoveler on 30th. However, it was Graemeshall Loch that provided an Orkney record count – 120 Gadwall on 8th. A Long-tailed Duck stayed in Echnaloch Bay all month and a Goldeneye similarly remained on nearby Echna Loch. The bay also provided the month’s best count of Red-breasted Mergansers, 48 on 6th.
A Red Kite was seen at Northside, Birsay and in Costa on 3rd, its wing tags telling us that it was a bird from the Black Isle, probably one of this year’s juveniles. Buzzards were reported as having bred successfully on Rousay for the first time in living memory while, away from the Mainland breeding area, birds were reported from North Ronaldsay on 21st/22nd and from Burray on 27th.
Our efforts to try to retain the Corncrake as a breeding species in Orkney continue but it is proving to be very hard work! The total of calling males in the islands this summer was 18 compared to 21 last year. Of these 18, no fewer than 10 were concentrated on Papay.
Golden Plover typically built up during the month so that North Ronaldsay had 843 by 8th, Westray 400 by 9th and Sanday, over 600 on 26th. Only one-two Grey Plovers were noted, on North Ronaldsay and Sanday. 136 Ringed Plovers was a good count on North Ronaldsay on 26th while 75 were at Widewall on 17th and 50 at Scuthvie, Sanday on 24th. The Scuthvie site again proved to be the favourite for Sanderlings with 350 on 20th, the North Ronaldsay maximum being 205 on 21st; 50 were also on Burray on 1st and a peak of 21 at Sandside Bay, Deerness on 27th. Passage of Knot was most noticeable this month. The peak count was 100 at Westray’s Swartmill Loch on 9th, North Ronaldsay recorded a peak of 66 on 26th, there were 56 at St.Peter’s Pool on 6th and 54 at the Shapinsay Ouse on 30th while many other parties of up to 40 were seen. Purple Sandpipers returned to North Ronaldsay in some numbers, reaching 53 by 31st but none were seen anywhere else. Shapinsay’s Ouse proved very attractive to Dunlin with up to 180 there during the month. On 30th, they were joined by a Little Stint, other singles having been reported at Birsay Bay on 15th and at Mill Dam, Shapinsay on 18th. The latter locality also attracted two Curlew Sandpipers on 27th, two more being at The Shunan on 29th. More unusual still were the single Pectoral Sandpipers that were seen at The Shunan on 14th and on the Stromness Golf Course on 25th.
North Ronaldsay reported a peak in Ruff numbers of 20 on 16th. Otherwise, two-seven were on that island on many dates and two-five at five Mainland sites after 15th. Shapinsay’s Mill Dam attracted up to 22 Black-tailed Godwits (peak on 30th) while 13 were at The Shunan on 15th and up to nine at three other sites. Over 100 Bar-tailed Godwits were being pushed in by the tide at Cata Sand on 26th. Up to five Whimbrels per day were reported from North Ronaldsay but the only other record was of one on Burray on 24th. Greenshank passage continued all month with up to four at nine Mainland and North Isles sites. As usual, Spotted Redshanks were scarce, the only reports being one at Peerie Water, Evie on 15th and one at Loch of Banks on 27th. One-two Green Sandpipers were noted at four Mainland localities and on North Ronaldsay while single Wood Sandpipers were on North Ronaldsay on 3rd/4th and at the Mill Sand, Tankerness on 12th. By far the highest count of Turnstones was of 405 on North Ronaldsay on 7th.
The sea passage witnessed during the last few days of the month included a juvenile Long-tailed Skua off the Brough of Birsay on 29th and a Pomarine Skua at the same site on 30th. A Little Gull in Deerness on 12th was the only unusual gull species reported. As noted last month, our seabirds have had an improved breeding season this summer and Puffins seem to have been one of the species that have fared better. A ringing expedition to Sule Skerry handled over 13000 birds with 8000 new birds ringed and 5000 others retrapped! North Ronaldsay witnessed a strong Puffin movement on 1st with 1771 counted passing the island.
Juvenile Cuckoos were seen on North Ronaldsay on 18th and 23rd/24th and the same island reported a peak of nine Swifts on 9th; one-two were noted at six other sites. Many folk have commented on just how many Swallows there have been this summer and this was reflected in a count of 3000 birds going in to roost in the reed-bed at the Birsay Loons on 24th. House Martins are also beginning to slowly increase in numbers and this year, nested for the first time on North Ronaldsay; sadly, all four attempts by the pair to nest under the pier there came to grief due to the nest collapsing. Sand Martins also nested for the first time on North Ronaldsay and reared a single chick. Elsewhere, away from their two West Mainland breeding sites, up to six were seen in Stenness and there is a prize of a bottle of wine for anyone who can discover where these ones are nesting!
Conspicuous Meadow Pipit passage was under way during the third week of the month; 176 came in off the sea at Marwick in two hours on 23rd and next day North Ronaldsay recorded a peak of 307. Also probably originating in Iceland, were the White Wagtails that swelled the local Pied Wagtail numbers, especially after 22nd; up to five occurred on North Ronaldsay, up to seven in Stenness and Finstown and, on 30th, there were 16 at Burwick. A north-westerly origin was also most likely for the Wheatears that arrived at the same time; 150 were on North Ronaldsay and 20-30 on Sanday and in Deerness; a bird near Ness Point, Stromness on 22nd was of the very large Greenland race.
A typical early Fieldfare was on North Ronaldsay on 24th, one-two Whinchats also being seen there over the next few days. An Icterine Warbler was on North Ronaldsay on 3rd while a Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed at Graemeshall Loch on 30th. Barred Warbler is a regular but scarce migrant in August and an early one was in Firth on6th followed by three singles on North Ronaldsay after 24th. One-two Garden Warblers occurred on the latter island on 4th and from 24th while the only Wood Warbler was one on Stronsay on 26th. Three Willow Warblers were on North Ronaldsay on 8th then, after 23rd, up to five were noted with two-three at three other sites in the East Mainland and South Ronaldsay. The only Chiffchaffs were one-two on North Ronaldsay on many dates. Single Pied Flycatchers were found on Stronsay on 26th and on North Ronaldsay on 26th and 30th.
The month’s largest House Sparrow flock was one of 150 in a bird crop at The Bu, Orphir on 23rd although up to 100 were on North Ronaldsay for much of the month. The Stenness Village sparrow flock again included a leucistic bird while another leucistic individual, this time a Reed Bunting, was seen amongst a flock of 30 at Dale, Costa after 25th. 100 Twite were at Littlequoy, Burray on 8th while single redpolls were seen at Durkadale on 18th and at Burwick on 25th, the latter being identified as a Lesser Redpoll. 60 Greenfinches were in the Bu, Orphir bird crop on 23rd.
Towards the end of the month, attention turned once again to Crossbills as a second major influx got under way. There had been three on Shapinsay on 10th but then none were reported until two on North Ronaldsay on 21st/22nd, 29 arriving there on 24th. From 27th on, up to 22 were seen in Finstown and 35 in Stromness with reports of up to seven coming from five other sites.
Eric Meek
Back to RSPB Bird Reports Menu