3rd - 13th July

Another big break between blog posts as attention has turned towards seabird monitoring. Bad weather has hampered efforts at times but we are well underway with Black Guillemot chick, Arctic Tern chick, and Storm Petrel ringing, with more Fulmar chicks being spotted around the island every day.

A sea watch on 3rd produced 34 Manx Shearwater, one Red-throated Diver and one Great Northern Diver. A new Red-necked Phalarope was also seen on Ancum.

Red-necked Phalarope numbers increased to two on 4th and were seen sporadically up until 9th. A sea watch saw 10 Manx Shearwater, two Storm Petrel, 189 Kittiwake, 455 Puffin, 520 Razorbill/Guillemot and more than ten Risso's Dolphin pass Dennishead. A Collared Dove was seen on multiple occasions flying round the obs, a Common Tern was on the Links and one of the first returning Purple Sandpipers of the Autumn was also there. Two Chiffchaff were in Holland Garden and the Stone-curlew made another reappearance, this time in the tattie patch at Purtabreck.

A short sea watch on 5th produced 4 Manx Shearwater, 206 Puffin, and 126 Razorbill/Guillemot. 

The highlight on 6th was a pod of Orca which were first spotted between the obs and Sanday, giving distant but good views as they sped about the firth. It wasn't until the staff were headed to Sheep Festival football training at 8pm that the Orca would give themselves up properly, allowing great views at the north end as they lingered off shore fairly close in. Also seen were at least eight Risso's Dolphin. A sea watch produced our first Sooty Shearwater of the year, with totals from a two hour watch including 47 Manx Shearwater, two Sooty Shearwater, one Storm Petrel, 52 Kittiwake, 507 Puffin, and 412 Razorbill/Guillemot. Another addition to the year list was a Corncrake heard singing, which continued to do so sporadically until 9th.

On 7th one Sooty Shearwater, 37 Manx Shearwater, one Storm Petrel, 103 Kittiwake, 151 Puffin, and 293 Razorbill/Guillemot were seen passing the sea watch hide. A Ruff was also seen on Ancum.

8th was set aside for Arctic Tern colony monitoring, with many more chicks ringed than in previous years. It is great to see this species doing so well after a few years of poor breeding success as a result of avian flu and high predation rates. One Ruff remained on Ancum and a Hen Harrier was seen at the airfield.

The high count of the year so far of Storm Petrel was produced on 9th when eight passed the seawatch hide, along with five Manx Shearwater, 62 Kittiwake, 92 Puffin, and 251 Razorbill/Guillemot.

A whole island coastal Fulmar survey on 11th saw just 171 occupied nests counted. This seems a notably small count of breeding numbers of this species compared to previous years when totals often exceeded 400.

12th and 13th saw the start to one of the favourite times of year here on the island; Black Guillemot chick ringing! Over the two days, 60 birds have already been ringed, with plenty more of the island's rocky coastline still left to search.

Red-necked Phalarope (MEH)

Purple Sandpiper (MEH)