2nd and 3rd February

A wander around the Island on 2nd found 60 European White-fronted Geese to still be present near the School while the regular 2nd winter Glaucous Gull was still at Gretchen, but a 1st winter Iceland Gull feeding in Nouster Bay was new. The female Scaup re-appeared on Ancum and 14 Long-tailed Ducks were off the east coast. A small influx of Thrushes has been noted with 39 Redwings, 10 Fieldfares and a Song Thrush counted. On 3rd another new Iceland Gull arrived, this time a 3rd winter at the Kirk and a handful of Skylarks were noted coming in off the sea. Over the two days at least 2 Hen Harriers and 2 Peregrines have been seen, and a few more Woodcocks also seem to have arrived.

This Woodcock (above) and Snipe (below) were caught during a rare winter ringing session in the Holland Gardens, with the aim of catching a few Redwings frequenting the area. Just 4 were caught but did include an bird previously ringed in Iceland. This is only the 3rd foreign ringed Redwing to have been re-trapped on North Ronaldsay-the other 2 had also been ringed in Iceland!

Winter ringing has been surprisingly productive so far, with an attempt to catch Ducks on Bridesness during slack weather last night resulting in zero Ducks being trapped-but instead just the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Bar-tailed Godwits to have been ringed on the Island were caught.