17th-24th October

 Friday 17th October - 

A few bits around the obs started the day off with Great Skua, a Greenfinch, a Fieldfare and a Rook that headed south, before a further three were seen by the Old Kirk before heading towards Nouster. Further corvids included eight Carrion Crow and a Jackdaw. Otherwise it was a very business as usual day, with a handful of common migrants hanging around, the bird of the day was a fully spooned Pomarine Skua past the sea-watch hide. 

Saturday 18th October - 

An increase in Thrushes was apparent early doors with over 100 Fieldfare in and around the obs. Five Crossbill went south over Holland. A Red-throated Pipit was heard and seen briefly near the Gravity's but couldn't be relocated. A Yellow-browed Warbler at the back of the airfield was promptly followed by a second in the rocks on Tor Ness. Another two Yellow-browed's came later in the day at Ancum Willows and the Post Office. A late Turtle Dove was flushed from the road near Ancum before dropping into the Ancum garden. 

Sunday 19th October - 

The morning of 19th was basically a repeat of the 18th, a few lingering Yellow-browed's.A lone Firecrest was along the walls on the west side before making its way into Ancum Willows later on. A potentially new Red-throated Pipit was discovered late on in the Shooting Gallery in the final offerings of light. 

Monday 20th October - 

In terms of weather the 20th was, simply put, horrendous. By lunchtime most of the staff were not only soaked through but pretty fed up of not being able to look through their bins! However the rain had done its magic and post-lunch it was very clear to see there had been arrival migrants. It was all kicked off by a Pallas's Warbler in the Shooting Gallery, this was coupled with re-emergence of the previous days Red-throated Pipit. Blackcaps made up the bulk of the arrival with over 70 around the north end alone and a day total just 230, however we feel this is likely an undercount! The Firecrest remained in Ancum Willows and another were present together near Ires Taing. A late Barred Warbler was at Scottigar with a Black Redstart. A new Yellow-browed Warbler was at Grind and was followed by another near the Geo o'Rue. A Woodlark bombed south down the west side to round off a great final few hours birding! An Iceland Gull was also photographed during the rain but this wasn't realised until later in the evening! 

Tuesday 21st October- 

The day started in relative calm, two Long-eared Owls were caught at Holland in the morning and a Little Bunting was found in East Loch Park before 10am. It's about here the day went a bit mad! Walking the traps is a usual part of doing A and deciding the bit the between Lurand and T1 was worth a look will go down as one of my best ever decisions. As I approached the end of flax a roughly Robin sized passerine flicked out the end of the willows on the end of the line, noticing it had a short reddish tail in flight I quickly raised my bins as it alighted on a pallet. I think my first reaction was f**k me, thats got pink legs, a grey wash to the underparts and rufousy upperparts ... I quickly realised this was Rufous-tailed Robin... jesus.... and then it was gone, the bird darted into the cover of the pallet garden and despite extensive searches over the next two days it was never seen again. For me a very bittersweet moment, I mean what a bird, but for the rest of the staff not to see it, I have to say I was a bit gutted! I spent the next three or so hours scouring the area with the rest of the team, but with no sign we put the news out. I perhaps wish I'd gone straight for my camera but hindsight is a wonderful thing! Elsewhere a Glaucous Gull was seen off Southness, and a Red Kite initially discovered Diane (my mum) and Wilson the dog, toured the island. The Woodlark was seen again in the Nether Linnay stubble, and the Firecrests were still present.

Wednesday 22nd October- 

A day of windy weather followed and the earlier part of the morning was spent searching for the Robin. The previous days Little Bunting was still around in East Loch Park while the main attraction of the day was massive gull passage. Well over 1000 Herring Gulls and similar numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls passed through the north and west of the island. In amongst them a 1cy Icleand Gull and two 1cy Glaucous Gulls. Long-eared Owls were roosting at Ancum and Milldam.

Thursday 23rd October-

My favourite day in the calendar, mainly because its my birthday, but also because it seems to produce rare birds, and today was no different! Two Firecrest were in Ancum, the Red Kite remained and a late Tree Pipit was at Milldam. Two late Arctic Terns were off the Links and the two Long-eared Owls were now at the school. A Corncrake was seen briefly at Snettan, this equals the latest Orkney record. With news of Bullfinches appearing further north it felt like it was only a matter of time and around 1530 one appeared in Ancum Willows. Now for some more flax fun! Me and Maddy had decided to have last wander around the obs trapping area, as we approached the same patch the Robin had come from a phyllosc shot out ahead of us and landed in the Rosa across the path, I quickly got bins to it seeing it was an ochre coloured warbler with orange legs! I shouted across to Maddy 'Radde's or Dusky! Pretty sure its Radde's!' We saw the bird again after doing another lap and confirmed it was a Radde's. With news out there was a team effort to get the bird into a heligoland trap. While all this was going on a Bullfinch was trapped at Holland. A great birthday treat for me and we all left thinking things had gone pretty well, but they were about to get a bit better! With dusk now fast approaching Alison and Dylan had gone up to Holland to do the roost, around 1815 my phone went, it was Dylan.

Me - 'Hello, what have you got?'

Dylan - 'Hi, urm, we've just caught a Black-throated Thrush!' 

Me - 'F**K!'

or it was something to the effect! The bird was ringed at Holland before being shown to staff and visitors and then released back into Holland once the nets had been closed, what a great way to end the day! 

Friday 24th October - 

The wind had ramped up overnight and we were left with a pretty disgusting day of northerlies and squalls! The only birds of note were a Bullfinch at Antabreck, the Red Kite and a couple of Goldeneye. 

Long-eared Owl - GG

Long-eared Owl - GG

Long-eared Owl - GG

Firecrest - GG

Little Bunting - GG

Radde's Warbler - GG

Black-throated Thrush - GG

Radde's Warbler - GG