26th August - 2nd September

September 02, 2025

26th August - 2nd September

It's been a very good few days here with August ending with the first passerine migrants of the autumn.

The 26th started with a Common Tern at the pier, a Willow Warbler and Short-eared Owl at Kirbest and a Tree Pipit at North Gravity. The bird of the day was undoubtably a sub-adult Franklin's Gull found near Brides, it wouldn't stay too long however and was only present for a couple of hours, its only the second record for Orkney and a first island record. The day ended with two Little Gulls around the pier.

The following day was fairly quiet with the only notable sightings a Pied Flycatcher at Westness anf five White-sided Dolphin past the sea-watch hide. The 28th saw the start of a few migrants arriving, A Whinchat at Milldam was quickly followed by a Greenshank at Ancum and the Pied Flycatcher remained at Westness now joined by our first Barred Warbler of the year. The highlight of the day was a Spotted Redshank on Ancum, by no means an annual occurrence here, so it was a very welcome year list addition.

The 29th saw a second Spotted Redshank, with the initial bird now being on Gretchen a new bird was at Bewan. Another Whinchat was at Kirbest and the first Robin of the autumn was at Lochend. Our first Wryneck of the year was in Gairsna Geo before relocating down the coast, another Barred Warbler was at Bridesness, a Cuckoo was around the Observatory and a Rosefinch was trapped in Ancum Willows in the evening.

The penultimate day of August saw both Spotted Redshank remain, two Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint were on Gretchen, the Wryneck remained in situ as did one of the Little Gulls. At least three Pied Flycatcher were present on the island, while a Barred Warbler was in Ancum Willows, a Redstart was at Westness and a Spotted Flycatcher was at Milldam. The previous days Rosefinch was re-trapped at Ancum and a second was at the Surgery. Our first Reed Warbler of the year was trapped in Ancum.

The final day in August was dubbed as a biggie but by lunchtime it was clear that it was going to be the opposite, much of the previous days birds had cleared out but a new Barred Warbler was trapped in Holland. A Rosefinch was by T5, up to four Common Sandpiper were present and House Martin was around the Beacon. A flurry of activity in the evening saw a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Dotterel appear within minutes of each other at Tor Ness and Nether Linnay respectively while a Green Sandpiper was fresh in on Ancum.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Dotterel remained the next day as did one of the Spotted Redshanks. At least three Greenshank were seen throughout the day, the long-staying American Golden Plover was at Sandar still.

The 2nd was almost a carbon copy of the previous day with the main focus of things being on waders, the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Dotterel, Spotted Redshank were joined by the re-appearance of the Long-billed Dowitcher. A pretty good wader list was bolstered by Little Stint and two Curlew Sandpiper. In a repeat of last year a white-morph Gyr Falcon was seen as it headed south, despite a bit of panic photos appear to reveal a ring of sorts on the legs that point to it being of captive origin.