11th-16th October
A bit of treat for the readers of the blog as this edition has been written by former AW Tom Gale. A relatively quiet period to begin with saw the Long-billed Dowitcher and Booted Warbler remaining at the north end of the island, with 2 Barnacle Geese, one each of Redpoll and Woodpigeon, 27 Snow Buntings and a Rosefinch the highlights on 11th. 12th was a similar story, although two Yellow-browed Warblers (at Dennishill and Hooking) were new in, along with a Brambling, 2 Jackdaws and a Black Redstart.
13th was a pleasant calm day which again began quietly. A Jack Snipe was at Lurand, a Yellow-browed Warbler was at North Gravity and the Rosefinch made its way into the nets at Holland. An hour’s sea-watch saw 16 Sooty Shearwaters, one Manx Shearwater, 120 Gannets and 70 Kittiwakes logged. However, the peace and quiet wasn’t to last, as late in the day, news of a possible female Siberian Rubythroat seen briefly at Verracott saw everyone at the Obs scrambling up the island to join in the efforts to relocate it. Unfortunately, the light was against us and despite the search continuing deep into the twilight, we were unable to refind the bird, much to everyone’s distress, especially for the finder!
14th began with another fruitless search for the Rubythroat and transpired to be an uneventful day with a Pink-footed Goose at Verracott the only sighting of note. 15th saw an increasingly strong southerly wind with the more optimistic residents of the Obs desperately clinging to the slight easterly ‘whip’ shown on the weather charts in hope of some new migrants entering the system… and in the system they were! From the outset, an arrival of Redwings was evident, with a stream of birds heading south down the west coast in the morning (a total of 1,397 were logged by the end of the day). As the day progressed, a Barred Warbler was discovered at the Old Manse, followed by a Red-breasted Flycatcher zipping around the geo at the south end of West Beach (does anyone well-versed in North Ronaldsay toponymy know what the real name for this is?) - A note from George, it's Rift Geo! A Hawfinch was then trapped at T4, prior to the discovery of an intriguing “Hippo” at Ancum Willows. Following a rather bemusing set of photos, the bird was trapped and ringed to resolve its identity, revealing it to be the island’s 11th Melodious Warbler – certainly not what we expect in mid-October, but perhaps not totally outrageous given the southerly airflow dominating the system. Further excitement involved a Woodlark flying low north over Holland (making it a good autumn for this species), plus a Ring Ouzel near Gretchen.
The wind swung further round to the southeast during the night and with a good band of rain forecast, hopes were high of a proper easterly arrival of migrants on 16th. Keen beans who set out early in rather rancid conditions unearthed a few migrants, including a scattering of Woodcock, two Short-eared Owls, a Ring Ouzel and a Yellow-browed Warbler. However, despite a reasonable scattering of thrushes, by the late afternoon the day appeared to be losing momentum, with lower-than-expected numbers of migrants about. Cue Craig; whilst making his way back to the obs, an interesting thrush shot across the road amongst a small group of Redwing. Lifting his bins and securing a trusty Canon Powershot image, Craig entered panic mode as he realised he’d just found North Ronaldsay’s first American Robin! The bird then disappeared into Laird’s Park and (another) frantic search ensued. It was carnage with the wardening team falling over ditches and tussocks left, right and centre, but the bird was eventually refound, returning to the Parkhouse area where it showed superbly. Now, the previous days’ Melodious Warbler may have been unexpected, but an American Robin in south easterlies was totally absurd! How or why this bird ended up here is anyone’s guess – maybe it took a cruise over to Europe before heading back west with the Redwings, or perhaps it had arrived during the previous week’s northerlies via Iceland. Whatever the answer, autumn in the Northern Isles is full of surprises and it’s not over yet!
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