RSPB Bird Reports
ORKNEY BIRD RECORDS
November 2007
Only one Black-throated Diver was reported, and that in the unusual fresh-water locality of Swannay Loch, until 12th. Great Northern Divers, however, were widely reported with the largest concentration being 53 off Quanterness on 26th. 27 Slavonian Grebes were in the same area on 12th and 15 in Waulkmill Bay on 14th while this species seems to be becoming commoner inland with 12 on the Stenness Loch on 12th and seven on the Boardhouse Loch on the same date. A single Red-necked Grebe was watched off the Bu of Cairston on 16th.
This autumn’s extraordinary shearwater passage extended into November with Sooty Shearwaters being seen off North Ronaldsay as late as 13th and a peak of 28 on 10th. Even more unusual was a Balearic Shearwater seen from the same island on 5th. The storm on 8th resulted in a Storm Petrel flying past Avertaft, Westray and a Leach’s Petrel being deposited in a Birsay Village garden later to be released none the worse.
A Little Egret that was found by the Loch of Hundland on 10th remained in the area for the rest of the month. Some good Shag counts included 600 in Widewall Bay on 3rd and 230 off Rousay’s Point of Avelshay on 7th.
Shapinsay again attracted the most Whooper Swans with up to 55 at Vasa Loch on 10th; elsewhere no more than ten were reported. The South walls Barnacle Goose flock numbered 700 on 3rd while smaller groups on the Mainland involved eight over Deerness on 12th, 12 at the Boardhouse Loch the same day and up to 62 at the Loch of Skaill. Five Pale-bellied Brent Geese were in Kirk Hope, South Walls on 3rd while, on 7th, 28 un-raced birds passed over Egilsay. The goose census over the whole of Orkney on 10th produced another enormous total of 54, 612 Greylag Geese. Very few Pink-footed Geese were found, the largest flock being 200 on Sanday on 8th. The only Greenland White-fronted Goose flock in Orkney is that which divides its time between The Loons, and the Swannay Loch; they numbered 75 on 4th.
Eight Shelducks returning from their north German moulting grounds were found on Shapinsay on 10th while singles were seen in Tankerness on 14th and in Widewall Bay on 29th. The largest Wigeon flock was 1075 on the Boardhouse Loch on 12th when 233 Teal were also present. As has become usual, it was the Stenness Loch that gave the highest total of Gadwall with 26 on 12th although up to 15 occurred on North Ronaldsay. North Ronaldsay also reported up to 17 Pintail, the only others reported being three on the Sabiston Loch on 12th. A Mandarin Duck in Birsay Bay must have been a fine sight even though it is likely to have wandered out of a wildfowl collection! Amongst the diving ducks, Pochard continue to fine the Boardhouse Loch to their liking with 441 there on 12th when the Stenness Loch Scaup flock numbered 259. As well as divers and grebes, the sea off Quanterness also produced the largest total of Velvet Scoters with 41 on 26th, the only others being singles off Houton on 3rd and in Echnaloch Bay on 15th/16th. The Quanterness birds were accompanied by a drake Surf Scoter on 12th and 26th. To complete the wildfowl, a Goosander was on the Ayre Loch, St. Mary’s on 17th, a drake Smew on the Skaill Loch elusively from 12th and the Ruddy Duck remained on the Quoyloo Brewery Pool.
A Common Buzzard was seen over Heddle on 1st while a Rough-legged Buzzard was reported from Rendall on 13th. A Water Rail near the Kirbister Loch on 25th was away from the few known breeding sites. The biggest concentration of Golden Plovers was in Deerness, peaking at 1100 on 29th. Grey Plovers are scarce on the Mainland so that one at Warebeth on 13th and 22nd was of note. Warebeth also provided the largest count of Ringed Plovers, 120 on 13th. The Mill Sand in Tankerness held 350 Knot on 13th while, as usual, Scuthvie, Sanday held the most Sanderlings, 220 on 29th. Although North Ronaldsay reported a respectable 145 Purple Sandpipers on 26th, this flock was outshone by the 279 on Papay on 10th. Four Ruff were at South Ronaldsay’s Loch of Lythe on 25th. 143 Snipe were counted on North Ronaldsay on 2nd but, significantly, not a single Jack Snipe record was forthcoming during the month. Woodcocks, however, were widely reported with one-two seen in nineteen localities. The very late Whimbrel in Burray lingered until at least 27th. Bar-tailed Godwits peaked at 51 in Widewall Bay on 11th and at about that time there was a small influx of Black-tailed Godwits with 15 by the Stenness Loch and 10 at Mill Sand on 10th and 12 over Quanterness two days later. A Grey Phalarope was a good find at Echnaloch Bay on 9th.
During the storm on 8th, a Pomarine Skua passed Egilsay while, in its wake, seven passed North Ronaldsay on 10th and four on 13th. The latter island also produced the only Bonxie records with one on 10th and two on 13th. A juvenile Little Gull was on Westray from 30th October until 3rd while Stromness’s elusive Ring-billed Gull was relocated but only on 23rd. The storm also brought an influx of white gulls with at least 12 Glaucous Gulls (including a very tame bird in Stromness that is attracting attention) and Iceland Gulls in Kirkwall, Stromness and at the Bay of Skaill. In addition, two Kumlien’s Gulls were located, a second-winter bird at the Brough of Birsay from 10th -12th and a first-winter bird in the same locality on 11th. For those struggling to find this bird in their field guides, it is a race of Iceland Gull from the Canadian Arctic islands that is thought to have been derived from hybridisation between normal Iceland Gulls and Thayer’s Gull, a species from further west in Canada. The first-winter bird in Birsay was very dark and in fact showed some of the characters of Thayer’s. Kittiwakes were also stirred up by the strong winds, 1375 passing North Ronaldsay on 10th. The very late juvenile Arctic Tern stayed in Echnaloch Bay until 7th but an even later bird was found off the Bu of Cairston on 16th. Of all the species affected by the big storm, Little Auks were the most conspicuous and, although we didn’t see the tens of thousands that occurred further south in the North Sea, many were recorded. 258 passed North Ronaldsay on 10th, 860 on 12th and 151 on 13th while 137 were also reported passing The Gloup, Deerness on 12th; in addition there were up to 15 in Scapa Bay and up to four from a dozen other localities. Puffins, which should not be in Orkney waters at this time of year, were also noted passing North Ronaldsay with 20 on 112th and 27 on 13th.
250 Rock Doves were at Dale, Costa on 18th while a single Stock Dove was on North Ronaldsay on 2nd. Long-eared Owls were in very short supply, the only ones reported being at Smerquoy Brae on 8th and on North Ronaldsay on 21st. It wasn’t to be a Waxwing year but up to 11 were reported in Kirkwall (on 5th), one-two in Finstown and one on North Ronaldsay. The only Grey Wagtails were at Willow Road, Kirkwall where up to three were seen. The unusual habit of some Rock Pipits to move well inland in the winter was reported again with two perched on the BBC buildings on the summit of Keelylang on 30th. A very late Swallow was at Evie Sands on 4th and, on the same date, two late Wheatears were reported, in Birsay and in Sandwick. Single Black Redstarts were found on North Ronaldsay on 2nd and 7th and at Backatoon, Firth on 4th. There was an influx of Blackbirds early in the month with 74 on North Ronaldsay on 4th and parties of 10-12 in East Mainland and South Ronaldsay localities over the next few days. The largest Fieldfare parties were 71 on North Ronaldsay on 2nd and 60 at Stews, South Ronaldsay on 23rd. North Ronaldsay also reported 142 Redwings during the thrush arrival on 2nd but elsewhere no more than 30 were reported. There were six reports of one-two Blackcaps up to 22nd but more unusual were the Garden Warblers that occurred at Dale on 1st and 3rd and from 9th to 11th. Three Chiffchaffs were on North Ronaldsay on 1st/2nd while singles lingered there until 12th and at three other localities between 14th and 26th; another at Crafty, Firth on 26th was considered to be of the Siberian race, tristis.
The influx of Jackdaws thought to be mainly of the Nordic race, C.m.monedula, continued with 80 at Echanloch Bay on 4th, 75 over Birsay Bay on the same date and up to 36 on North Ronaldsay at the same time. Later in the month, 38 were in Burray Village on 15th and 20 at Tirlot, Westray on 29th. Two Carrion Crows were in Holm on 16th and one in Orphir on 22nd.
The largest Chaffinch flock was of 40 at Quoys, Hoy on 23rd. 40 Bramblings were on North Ronaldsay on 1st with one-five at five other localities during the month. Between 4th and 15th, single Goldfinches occurred in four localities (including Copinsay and Egilsay) while three were seen in Finstown on 26th. Eight Common Redpolls were on North Ronaldsay on 1st while an Arctic Redpoll was well described from Tirlot, Westray on 14th. The Siskin irruption continued on a smaller scale, the largest parties being 16 in Stromness on 12th and 30 at Herston on 21st with one-seven at six other sites. Twite flocks were well reported with 260 at each of Greenwall, Holm (16th) and Dale, Costa (18th) and three other flocks of over 100.
By far the largest Snow Bunting flock was in Holm where 470 were counted on 17th; three other flocks of 100-150 were seen in South-east Rousay, on Shapinsay and in Deerness. Lapland Buntings were only reported from Egilsay with one on 4th and three on 29th while the largest Reed Bunting flock resided, as usual, at Dale where there were 120 on 18th.
E.R.Meek
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