1st and 2nd August
Beautiful, calm and sunny again on the 1st
with the nets at Holland first thing providing the first surprise of the day
with a juvenile Goldcrest trapped early on – it hadn’t quite
finished its post-juvenile moult so it hadn’t come too far, just from elsewhere
in Orkney you would suspect; also in the gardens were a Willow Warbler and a
Common Redpoll while just below Holland an almost fully grown Dunlin was
running happily down the middle of the road – proof that a second pair of
Dunlin bred successfully on the island in the Loch Park / East Loch Park area.
Dunlin chick
The
second surprise of the day came later on when some of the volunteers took a
lighthouse tour and when at the top, the first bird they saw was the adult White-winged Black
Tern flying in to Bewan after its
jaunt up to Fair Isle but typically it soon disappeared and was not seen again
– there are far fewer Arctic Terns present now for it to hang around with than when
it was last here.
Other birds of note included
the Black-throated Diver still in Nouster, the first Merlin of the autumn up the west coast, 550 Golden Plover,
39 Knot, 7 Black-tailed Godwits, the first fresh juvenile Kittiwake lingering
off Torness, 2 Collared Doves and at least 5 Swifts.
The 2nd was (if
possible) an even better day with wall to wall sunshine and hardly a breath of
wind; the many eyes and calm seas produced the highlights of the day with 2 Orcas seen off Seal Skerry which cruised round the coast to
the Beacon then out to sea and included a huge bull and later in the day a pod
of 12-15 Risso’s Dolphins frolicked off the west
coast.
Birdwise it was a bit quieter
in the fine conditions with two small Water Rail chicks showing well next to
the Ancum hide perhaps the highlight while other totals included 2 Herons, 580
Golden Plover, 12 Bar-tailed Godwits, 8 Whimbrel, a Greenshank and at least 3
Swifts.
Our Arctic Skua chick is now flying!
The Water Rail chicks at Ancum are not yet!
and this Kittiwake has been for a while!
photos Simon Davies
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