14th-15th November

A blustery couple of days with the gale force westerly winds making walking difficult, let alone birding! Christmas shopping, packing and a leucistic Redwing pretty much sum up the 14th, but we'd like to take this opportunity to thank Simon (who heads south today) and all the seasonal staff and volunteers for all their hard work and company during the season. The 15th must have been the 'greyest' day of the year so far, with so much cloud it didn't seem to get light! A Grey Phalarope in the bay at Nouster seemed like a fair return for a hike around the more sheltered south-eastern coast. But this proven merely to be the entre with a drake Green-winged Teal found sleeping among the wildfowl at Bridesness a few hours later-the eighth North Ronaldsay record and the fourth in 3 years. A couple of Merlin's were also seen, along with 5 Red-throated Divers, 2 Woodcocks, a Jack Snipe and 25 Snow Buntings.

Somewhere in this rubbish photo there's a Green-winged Teal!