RSPB Bird Reports
ORKNEY BIRD RECORDS
JULY 2007
Unseasonable Great Northern Divers were seen off No.1 Barrier on 12th and North Ronaldsay on 21st. Seabird movements got under way with a very scarce and very early Cory’s Shearwater off North Ronaldsay on 7th. Up to 25 Manx Shearwaters per day were passing that island with one-two Sooty Shearwaters on six dates up to 27th then 11 on 31st with another in the Pentland Firth on 28th. Storm Petrel catches on North Ronaldsay peaked at 84 on each of 13th and 15th with a single Leach’s Petrel on 13th and two on 27th; four Storm Petrels were also seen in the Pentland Firth on 28th. Commoner seabirds were on the move on 29th when 720 Fulmars and 400 Gannets per hour were passing Marwick Head. A concentration of at least 600 Shags in Orphir Bay on 6th was noteworthy as was the sighting, on Westray, of a Heron feeding on road-killed Rabbit!
A Whooper Swan noted on Papay on 2nd and 9th was probably an injured bird. A duck Red-breasted Merganser escorted a brood of eight ducklings on the Harray Loch on 8th, an early date for this late nester.
A Buzzard was in Orphir on 30th and a Marsh Harrier in the same parish on 9th but the most unusual raptor of the month was a Hobby in Firth on 23rd
Golden Plover numbers built during the month with 800 on North Ronaldsay by 16th, 250 at Lopness, Sanday on 24th and up to 150 on Papay by 27th. Knot peaked at 45 on North Ronaldsay on 3rd while Sanderling numbers were greatest later in the month with a peak of 70 on 26th; 40 Sanderling were also in Westray’s Bay of Tuquoy on 9th and six on Evie Sands on 26th. The first Purple Sandpipers returned to North Ronaldsay with five on 12th, two on 23rd and one on 27th but a much rarer visitor to that island was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper from 27th – 30th. A Woodcock was seen in Costa on the most unusual dates of 3rd and 4th. Cata Sand on Sanday held 120 Bar-tailed Godwits on 4th while, between 9th and 11th, there was an influx of Black-tailed Godwits with 40 in the Bay of Tuquoy, Westray, seven on North Ronaldsay and two at Quoyberstane, St.Ola. Return passage of Whimbrels got under way with up to three at four localities up to 24th then 13 on North Ronaldsay on 26th. A Greenshank was seen at The Loons on 10th then one – two were on North Ronaldsay from 21st – 25th with one in Rendall on the last date. A small influx of Green Sandpipers resulted in birds seen at Durkadale, in Deerness and on North Ronaldsay on 22nd/23rd. A migrant Common Sandpiper was on North Ronaldsay on 4th.
120 Bonxies per hour were passing Marwick Head on 29th. A Little Gull was at the Loch of Tankerness on 27th while a Glaucous Gull was noted in the northern part of South Ronaldsay almost all month. A Little Tern was noted at Echnaloch, Burray on 21st but much rarer was the White-winged Black Tern at the Loch of Tankerness on 27th.
A migrant Collared Dove was on North Ronaldsay on 22nd/23rd and one – two Swifts were seen over that island on three dates to 18th with others at the Brig o’ Waithe on 2nd and over Burray on 22nd. The only Cuckoo was a juvenile at Feold, Firth on 27th, a sighting that suggested local breeding. Up to three Sand Martins were seen on Burray on three dates the only other being one at Marwick Head on 9th. North Ronaldsay reported two House Martins on 2nd/3rd and one on 18th, the only other sighting away from breeding sites being one on Copinsay on 4th. Grey Wagtails seen in Evie on 20th and in Binscarth (two) on 29th were all thought to be juveniles and thus to have been reared locally.
A Grasshopper Warbler sang briefly in Rendall on 15th and 27th inviting speculation as to whether they have nested there this summer. A Garden Warbler sang in the same locality up to 21st. The only Blackcap reported was one on North Ronaldsay on 23rd/24th. Fledged young Goldcrests were seen in Binscarth on 7th. However, a much more amazing sight was that of a brood of half-grown Spotted Flycatchers, swaying merrily in the wind, in their nest in a hanging basket in Orphir; this species is only an occasional breeder in Orkney.
Reports of more unusual finches came only from Rendall with a Siskin there on 10th followed by two on 13th; a Redpoll on 26th/27th and a Crossbill on 20th.
Eric MeekBack to RSPB Bird Reports Menu