RSPB Bird Reports
ORKNEY BIRD RECORDS
August 2011
North Ronaldsay continued its run of summer Great Northern Diver records with six on 2nd and one – two on three other dates. A Slavonian Grebe had returned to the Harray Loch on 30th. A heavy passage of Fulmars was noted off the Brough of Birsay on 15th with 2000 per hour while a ‘blue’ bird was seen off the Muckle Green Holm early in the month. Those wonderful ocean wanderers, Sooty Shearwaters, were seen in some numbers; North Ronaldsay had double-figure counts on five dates with a peak of 53 on 29th; the biggest count off the Brough of Birsay was 18 on 8th while 16 were seen off Papay’s Mull Head on 29th. Manx Shearwaters were somewhat scarcer with peaks off North Ronaldsay of 23 on 8th and 29 on 31st while, off Birsay the best counts were 12 on 15th and 17 on 21st. A Great Shearwater was a rare visitor to North Ronaldsay on 27th. Storm Petrels were much in evidence off North Ronaldsay from 8th-10th with a peak of 94 on 8th, 35 were caught on Papay on 18th then the storm on 28th resulted in small numbers being seen in lots of less usual localities including a most unusual sighting of one inland on the Harray Loch. The same storm also stirred up lots of Gannets with up to 200 in Hoy Sound, some of them venturing right into Stromness Harbour to fish!
202 Mute Swans were gathered in Rango Bay on the Harray Loch on 8th while single, presumable injured, Whooper Swans were noted on North Ronaldsay, on Sanday and at the Loch of Skaill. A Pink-footed Goose was at The Shunan for a few days mid-month while a Canada Goose was on Papay on 27th. Three Goldeneyes were on the Loch of Skaill on the unusual date of 10th while the usual gathering of Red-breasted Mergansers in Echnaloch Bay numbered 41 on 21st.
Unusual raptors included a Red Kite over Scows, Orphir on 13th and a Marsh Harrier at The Shunan on 14th. The alarm calls of Swallows alerted one observer at Hestily, South Ronaldsay to the presence of two Hobbies on 10th while another was hunting House Martins over Stromness on 27th.
A Quail was on North Ronaldsay on 1st/2nd. Passage of Ringed Plovers brought 70 to Birsay Bay on 14th and a maximum of 204 to North Ronaldsay on 21st but at least some local birds were still breeding as evidenced by the behaviour of one at Yesnaby on 26th. Golden Plover flocks built up during the month with a peak of 746 on North Ronaldsay on 26th and 600 in Birsay on 16th with several other flocks of up to 400. The only Grey Plovers noted were two on Westray on 9th and one on Papay on 30th. Although North Ronaldsay recorded up to 158 Knot (maximum on 14th) and 110 were on Papay on 20th, the next highest count was of just 15, in Birsay Bay mid-month. Similarly, North Ronaldsay recorded 492 Sanderling on 3rd and Papay had 60 on 30th, the only other report being of up to 19 at Birsay. There was a small influx of Little Stints (one in Birsay Bay on 14th and one-two at three other localities after 26th) and of its fellow-traveller, Curlew Sandpiper with one on Shapinsay on 26th,four at The Loons and five on North Ronaldsay on 30th. The highest Purple Sandpiper count was of 40 on North Ronaldsay on 27th while that island also reported the rarest wader of the month, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, from 11th-21st. Another American wader, a Pectoral Sandpiper, was at the Loch of Banks on 30th.
North Ronaldsay logged a good passage of Ruff almost throughout the month with a peak of 29 on 9th but although The Shunan had up to six early in the month, it was not until after 16th that other localities began to report them with one-five at six sites and a flock of 25 at Loch of Banks on 30th. Black-tailed Godwit passage was disappointing with, on North Ronaldsay, one on 12th and nine on 21st, four at The Shunan on 15th and one in Stromness on 30th. North Ronaldsay recorded peaks of Whimbrel passage on 4th and 20th with 17 and 22 respectively; elsewhere single were noted at five sites. Curlew flocks began to build with 146 on North Ronaldsay on 14th and 150 at Coldomo, Stenness next day.
Greenshanks were conspicuous throughout the month with maximum counts of five at The Loons on 30th and four on North Ronaldsay on 4th and 6th but one-three were noted at a dozen other localities including the Peedie Sea. Spotted Redshanks were reported from Point of Ayre on 9th/10th, The Shunan on 12th and 27th and over Finstown on 30th. Green Sandpipers are early migrants and, true to form, all records occurred before 15th with one-two at seven localities. Wood Sandpipers are much scarcer but three were on North Ronaldsay on 4th with singles at Mill Sand on 3rd and 17th. Migrant Common Sandpipers were on North Ronaldsay on 5th (three), 16th and 26th. By far the largest Turnstone count was of 521 on North Ronaldsay on 21st although a flock of 150 was at Burwick the previous day.
Single Pomarine Skuas were seen off the Brough of Birsay on 8th and off North Ronaldsay on 31st while a juvenile Little Gull at St. Margaret’s Hope stayed just long enough to have its picture taken! Our breeding Lesser Black-backed Gulls just seem to fade away during August and the only records received were of one on North Ronaldsay on 16th and a juvenile in Stromness Harbour on 27th. Rather than disappearing, Sandwich Tern numbers actually increase at this time of year as birds from colonies all around the North Sea begin wandering prior to heading south; there were lots of records after 15th, the largest counts being 25 at Scapa on 25th and 60 on Burray on 27th. Quite a few Common Terns were also seen late in the month with at least 10 at the Hope on 25th. Arctic Terns, however, have largely gone by the end of August although there had been an enormous gathering on North Ronaldsay early in the month when numbers peaked at 4000 on 1st. Puffins remained conspicuous until well into August and sea-watching off North Ronaldsay, between 6th-9th, produced some big counts with a maximum of 1070 on 9th.
Juvenile Cuckoos were seen on Papay from about 3rd – 10th while another was watched being fed by its Meadow Pipit foster-parent at Scorradale, Orphir on 4th. Reports of Swifts were concentrated between 13th-23rd with peaks of nine on North Ronaldsay,six on Papay on 20th and four at Widewall on 16th. Wrynecks are classic late August migrants drifted from their normal southerly course out of Scandinavia by easterly winds; no fewer than eight appeared on North Ronaldsay on 24th with another in Holm the same day.
Sand Martin breeding colonies were still being frequented by birds during the first week of the month while one-two migrants were on North Ronaldsay 14th-19th. Swallows seem to be everywhere with gatherings of 50-100 not uncommon although 1500 going in to roost in the reed-bed at The Loons RSPB Reserve must have been exciting! Some 250 Meadow Pipits in the vicinity of Houton Head on 15th may have been either local birds or immigrants from the north-west; North Ronaldsay recorded a peak of 239 on 26th. North Ronaldsay was the only place to report Tree Pipits with one on 14th then up to five during the last week. Two Yellow Wagtails were also there on 26th while one-five White Wagtails were noted from four localities, mainly after mid-month.
North Ronaldsay had a monopoly on migrant chats with Robins on 23rd and 25th, a Black Redstart on 14th, a Common Redstart from 24th-26th and up to five Whinchats (peak on 31st). Wheatear numbers peaked at 80 there on 26th. A Stonechat had also been present on 25th others being seen at Tomb of the Eagles on 1st and Burray Village on 29th. Although their main passage period is in October, a few Fieldfares often pass through in August, small parties being seen at two Westray localities on 18th and a single bird on Egilsay on 26th. A Ring Ouzel was in Rendall on 30th.
As with chats, it was North Ronaldsay that dominated the scene for warblers. There were Grasshopper Warblers there on 6th, 25th and 31st; a Marsh Warbler on 31st; Reed Warblers on 12th and 24th; an Icterine Warbler on 14th; five Barred Warblers on 24th followed by a fresh influx of three on 31st; Lesser Whitethroats on 22nd and 24th; Garden Warbler on 1st with up to three from 13th-19th and six on 25th; and Wood Warblers on 14th and 24th. A Blackcap at Swannay on 3rd was matched by one on North Ronaldsay on 24th while a Chiffchaff, also at Swannay, on 31st, was outshone by the one-two on ten dates on North Ronaldsay! One-three Willow Warblers were noted at four Mainland sites and one Papay locality while the influx of migrants on 24th brought 37 to North Ronaldsay. That influx also brought the island eight Pied Flycatchers while one-two were also noted at Dale, Costa from 29th.
Coal Tits were proven to have bred at the Bu Hill, Hoy Lodge and Wee Fea Plantations on Hoy, juveniles being seen at them all; the first proven breeding was in 2010 and it would seem that birds survived the hard winter successfully. A Hooded Crow x Carrion Crow pair in Swannay reared three young that looked more like Carrions! The Tree Sparrow was till visiting Nisthouse, Harray as late as 12th.
A Brambling on North Ronaldsay on 3rd was extremely early while a count of 450 Twite on Graemsay (including a flock of 150) was of particular note. North Ronaldsay reported one-three Mealy Redpolls on six dates after 16th while apparent family parties of redpolls, mainly thought to be Mealies, in Rendall, Kirkwall, Stromness and Rackwick, was suggestive of local breeding. Finally, there were a small number of Crossbill sightings with one-three in four localities during the month.
Eric Meek
Back to RSPB Bird Reports Menu