29th June- 1st July

It feels as though spring is well and truly done here and we're now onto summer and all the jobs that it entails. Bird wise things have gone a little bit quieter in the last few days. An adult Little Gull at Westness on the 29th and 30th was a welcome arrival. A few Whimbrels have been knocking around as they make their way South. A little bit left field from the usual bits on here, its a first for North Ronaldsay in the shape of Volucella bombylans (or so I'm told by those who know better!) it also represents the most Northerly record for the UK, so quite exciting really! The 30th also had a few other late arrivals the pick of the bunch being a Cuckoo that was found late on at Cruesbrek followed by a Stonechat at Howartoft and 3 Redwings, two at Howartoft and one at Westness. Another Stonechat between Quoybanks and Sandback on the 1st was about the only bird of note. On a final note we said goodbye to Phoebe, we thank her for all her efforts this Spring and hopefully we'll see her again soon.  

Stonechat                                                                             GG

Volucella bombylans                                                     GG

There's still plenty of Kittiwakes around!                   GG