RSPB Bird Reports

ORKNEY BIRD RECORDS
JUNE 2004

The summer of 2004 seems destined to go down in history as one of the worst in living memory for our seabirds. Lack of food, probably caused by the warming of the North Sea, seems to be the driving factor but whatever the cause, the facts make stark reading. All of our large Arctic Tern colonies in the north isles have already failed and at the usually dependable colony on Papay’s North Hill, for the first time in living memory, the birds didn’t even appear! The only important ongoing colony that we currently know of is that on Swona where there were over 1000 adults in late June and eggs were just hatching. Arctic Skuas that are so dependent on parasitising the terns are having a poor season too while Bonxie numbers are well down in their main colony on Hoy. On the cliffs, numbers of nesting birds have slumped. Numbers of Guillemots at Marwick Head have fallen from 26500 in 199 to just 10500 this year while at The Noup numbers are down from 37400 to 25300. The once-thriving Kittiwake colony at Marwick is down from 3800 to 1300 pairs and that at The Noup has fallen from 17500 to 4700 in the same period. Many of the Kittiwakes present at our colonies have failed to even build nests and many of those that have failed to lay eggs. Even Fulmars are suffering with only half the normal number of occupied sites on Eynhallow and considerable decreases elsewhere, for example from 1100 on The Noup in 1999 to just 500 this year. The only bright light on the seabird horizon involves Gannets; the new colony at The Noup only established in 2003 has now increased to 14 pairs.

A very late Great Northern Diver was in Waulkmill Bay on 5th while light passage of Manx Shearwaters was noted off North Ronaldsay with 22 on 21st and nine on 26th when three were also off The Noup. North Ronaldsay also recorded three Storm Petrels on 21st. A Whooper Swan flew south over Egilsay on the unusual date of 10th while a Barnacle Goose was at Loch of Banks on 28th. Shapinsay’s Mill Dam has been the place to see breeding ducks at their best this spring and the number of broods being raised there is quite phenomenal with Wigeon (4), Teal (3), Shoveler (10), Gadwall (4), Pintail (2) and Pochard (4) all currently on show. Two Common Scoters were off North Ronaldsay on 15th and 22nd with a further two off No 2 Barrier on 14th. Two very late Long-tailed Ducks were of Graemsay on 2nd and 16 unseasonal Goldeneye were on the Skaill Loch on 5th. Apart from the five pairs of Ruddy Ducks present on Shapinsay’s Mill Dam, the only other record was of a drake that took up residence on the Orkney Brewery’s pool at Quoyloo during the month.

North Ronaldsay had a nice run of migrant raptors early in the month with an Osprey and a Hobby on 9th and a Marsh Harrier next day. Another sighting of a Red-legged Partridge came from St.Ola on 19th while a Quail was calling in South Ronaldsay on 3rd and 22nd. Corncrakes have struggled to match their 2003 numbers – compared to the 31 calling birds logged last year, only 15 have been located so far in 2004 with six on Papay being the largest concentration.

120 Sanderlings were on Papay on 5th together with 50 Dunlins; elsewhere, good Sanderling counts included up to 62 on North Ronaldsay, 27 at St.Mary’s and 12 in Birsay Bay. 50 Bar-tailed Godwits were at Mill Sand on 3rd while Whimbrels trickled through all month with one-two on North Ronaldsay, Westray, Papay and Papa Stronsay. North Ronaldsay had a virtual monopoly on rare and scarce waders with a Temminck’s Stint on 3rd, Curlew Sandpipers on 8th and 15th, a Pectoral Sandpiper on 14th/15th, one-three Red-necked Phalaropes between 19th and 29th and a Pacific Golden Plover on 30th. Only a Curlew Sandpiper on Sanday on 16th and a Dotterel on Egilsay on 11th broke the mould! The only gull records of note involved five Little Gulls on North Ronaldsay on 8th with one there on 15th.

A flock of 265 Rock Doves at Ireland on 12th was unusually large for the time of year. Up to ten Collared Doves passed through North Ronaldsay while Turtle Doves were recorded there (on 9th), at Rackwick (2nd), Finstown (20th) and Westray (23rd). One – two Swifts were noted from four localities while nine were reported from North Ronaldsay on 29th. A Cuckoo was well-reported from Orphir on 10th/11th while one was in Lyness next day and another in Hoy all month. One –two Sand Martins were noted in four sites with probable breeding in Birsay. Away from breeding sites, House Martins were noted only from North Ronaldsay (one – two on three dates) and Graemeshall Loch (four on 7th). A Grey Wagtail in Rousay’s Sourin valley was the only one of the month.

Most signs of passerine migration came from North Ronaldsay with two Black Redstarts (24th), Whinchat (2nd & 9th), Redwing (29th), Reed Warbler (1st), Marsh Warbler (29th), Icterine Warbler (2nd/3rd), Lesser Whitethroat (1-2 on six dates), Whitethroat (29th), Garden Warbler (singles 1st-5th), Blackcap (1-2 until 9th), Chiffchaff (1-3 on seven dates) and Spotted Flycatcher 1-2 on six dates). Only a Lesser Whitethroat in Finstown all month, a Chiffchaff in Rendall from 22nd and Spotted Flycatchers in Finstown all month, on Egilsay on 10th and on Hoy on 2nd chose to show up elsewhere!

The Golden Oriole that appeared on North Ronaldsay in late May stayed until 4th while there was a good run of Red-backed Shrike records there with singles remaining from the May arrival until 9th to be followed by two on each of 10th, 15th and 24th.. The only other Red-backed Shrike was that on Westray on 3rd but Papay produced a Woodchat Shrike on 5th-7th and a Great Grey Shrike was reported in Longhope on the most unusual date of 12th.

A brood of leucistic Starlings fledged in Lyness while a leucistic juvenile House Sparrow was seen in Stenness. Unusual finches included a Lesser Redpoll on North Ronaldsay on 29th with an unidentified redpoll over the Wasdale Loch next day; Crossbills in Finstown on 20th, North Ronaldsay on 24th and 29th and Rendall (2) on 28th; and Scarlet Rosefinches at Windwick and North Ronaldsay on 1st and again at the latter locality on 27th. Finally, a Snow Bunting on North Ronaldsay on 22nd was a very long way from where it should have been on that date.

Eric Meek

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