Archives

Archives - July /August 2007 sightings

31/08/07






1st Jul.
A first-summer Little Gull, eight Goldeneyes and two Scaups were seen in Tankerness. Although the latter ducks appear to be paired, and are probably the same birds that were present at the end of May and into early June, there has been no evidence that they may have bred.

2nd July
Evidence of early autumn passage (or perhaps, dispersal) of waders was supported by sightings of a male Ruff (still sporting a striking ginger ruff, and 'tiger-striped' tertials) and two Golden Plovers in Tankerness; and a Whimbrel in Deerness.

4th July
A Swift was seen in Holm. A first-summer Little Gull was in Tankerness.

6th July
A red male Common Rosefinch was a nice find in Holm. Unfortunately the bird only stayed briefly, moved off through willows, and could not be re-located. Two Sand Martins were seen nearby.
A Whimbrel, an early Pochard and the seemingly inevitable Little Gull were seen in Tankerness.

8th July
A Curlew Sandpiper was seen in Deerness.

9th July
The Curlew Sandpiper was still present and proved to be more confiding than recent ones I have seen.


Two Knots and 16 Bar-tailed Godwits were seen in the same area.

10th July
Four adult Little Grebes were seen in Holm, and a Great Northern Diver offshore there. A Dunnock was found in Holm, at a site where there have been no previous summer records.
The summering Whooper Swan was also seen in Deerness.

11th July
22 Bar-tailed Godwits were seen in Deerness, and three in Holm. The Great Northern Diver was still present.

12th July
The Dunnock was seen again in Holm.

13th July
Both the Dunnock and the Great Northern Diver were seen again.

16th July
Both the Dunnock and the Great Northern Diver were seen again.
16 Knots were seen in Deerness.

17th July
217 Oystercatchers were seen in Deerness.

18th July
Three Greenshanks were found in Tankerness, along with a Turnstone.
603 Oystercatchers were seen in the same area, many feeding in newly-cut silage.
The Dunnock was still in Holm.

20th July
Two Greenshanks remained in Tankerness, along with a Shoveler.

21st July
The Whooper Swan was seen again in Deerness.

22nd July
A second-summer White-winged Black Tern was found late in the day in Tankerness (the third individual here in the last seven years). A Greenshank was also present.
In Deerness, waders found incuded 16 Knots and two Sanderlings.

23rd July
The White-winged Black Tern was still around.


A Sand Martin was also seen there.
A Greenshank was found in Deerness, whilst the Great Northern Diver was seen again off the Holm shore.

25th July
Two Green Sandpipers were seen in Deerness. A Greenshank in Tankerness was the only other wader of note.

26th July
A drake Common Scoter was found in the company of a couple of Eiders off the Holm shore. A Greenshank was seen again in Tankerness.

27th July
A Greenshank, two Whimbrels and seven Goldeneyes were seen in Tankerness. In what appears to have been a catastrophic breeding season for sea-birds, it was encouraging to see juvenile Common Terns at two sites in Tankerness.

28th July
95 Redshanks and a Greenshank were noted in Tankerness.

29th July
The Whooper Swan was present again in Deerness.

30th July
Single Greenshanks were seen in Deerness and Tankerness. A Whimbrel was seen in Holm.

31st July
Numbers of Turnstone have been steadily increasing; 26 were seen in Deerness. Two juvenile Arctic Terns were also present.

2nd August
A group of four Whimbrels was seen in Deerness. Three Greenshanks were seen together in Tankerness.

4th August
A first-summer Little Gull was seen in Tankerness.

The Whooper Swan remained in Deerness.

5th August
A Greenshank was seen in Tankerness. A party of five Common
Terns (two ads. and three juvs.) were seen in Holm.

6th August
A Greenshank was found at another Tankerness site, along with 104 Redshanks.
Three Sanderlings, 204 Oystercatchers, and two Little Terns (an ad. and a recently-fledged juv.) were seen together in Deerness. The terns were probably from the only current (very small) breeding colony on Orkney.


7th August
49 Ringed Plovers and seven Knots were counted in Deerness.


8th August
Two Great Northern Divers were seen off the Holm shore. Neither showed pristine breeding plumage, so they were probably second-summers.

122 Redshanks were seen in Tankerness, along with a juv. male Ruff. Another single seen nearby may have been the same bird. In the same area three Greenshanks were seen together; also a first-summer Little Gull and a group of seven Whimbrels.
Remarkably, another White-winged Black Tern was found, - this time an adult - just 16 days after the last one.









9th August
The White-winged Black Tern was seen again, but late in the morning was attacked by a juvenile Peregrine. The falcon made five or six very determined stoops, and it looked like the tern was doomed. However, it managed to evade every attack at the last second, then gained height and drifted off to the north.













The Little Gull, two Greenshanks and the Ruff were also present.
Three Great Northern Divers were together off the Holm shore, the two second-summers? having been joined by a first-summer bird.

10th August
The White-winged Black Tern was back, none the worse for its encounter with the Peregrine.

A Ruff was seen at a third site in Tankerness (probably the same bird as reported earlier).

11th August
Single Greenshanks were seen in Deerness and Tankerness. Eight Goldeneyes and a Ruff were also found in Tankerness.
A Willow Warbler was seen in Holm.

12th August
A flock of four Greenshanks was seen in Tankerness.
A Ruff and two Knots were found nearby.

13th August
Two juvenile Ruffs were in Tankerness, with a female Long-tailed Duck nearby.
The first significant influx of Knot had occurred with a flock of 48 (mainly juveniles) in Deerness.

14th August
Redshank numbers continued to build with a count of 173 in Tankerness; a Greenshank was also seen nearby.
The parish of Tankerness came up with the goods again in the shape of a White-rumped Sandpiper. This bird was quite un-approachable as it was keeping company with Redshanks (amongst others), so I was fortunate to be able to get any shots of it at all.


15th August
39 Ringed Plovers, 94 Dunlins, 14 Knots and two Greenshanks were seen in Tankerness. There was no sign of the White-rumped Sandpiper.

17th August
32 Knots, a Greenshank and a juvenile Black-tailed Godwit were seen in Tankerness.

18th August
Single Ruffs (juv. male and juv. female) were seen at different sites in Tankerness.
A Carrion Crow and a hybrid CarrionxHooded Crow were seen with a flock of Hooded Crows in Holm.

19th August
The flock of Knots in Tankerness had increased to 78 birds. There was also a Black-tailed Godwit and three Greenshanks there.
After an apparent absence of four days the White-rumped Sandpiper suddenly put in an appearance, this time without the Redshank escort. It was therefore possible to get better shots this time round.







20th August
The White-rumped Sandpiper was still present.

22nd August
A count of 48 Woodpigeons in Toab seemed to be an unusually large assembly so early in the autumn.
Two Greenshanks (singles at two sites) and a Black-tailed Godwit were seen in Tankerness.
A Carrion Crow was seen in Holm.

23rd August
Three Goldeneyes were new arrivals in Holm.
The Knot flock in Deerness had increased to 118 birds.

24th August
A Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit, a hybrid Crow and a Carrion Crow were found in Deerness.

25th August
Three Great Northern Divers (two first-summers and an adult/second-summer) were seen off Holm.
77 Knots were seen in Toab.

26th August
An adult White Wagtail was seen in Holm.

27th August
A juv. Ruff and three Greenshanks were seen in Tankerness along with a flock of 510 Greylag Geese. The ad. White-winged Black Tern was also found dead.

28th August
Two Greenshanks remained in Tankerness. A juv. Ruff was found in Toab. Flocks of 1500 Common Gulls and 393 Golden Plovers were counted in Toab and Deerness, respectively. A Carrion Crow was also seen with the plovers.

29th August
Two Black-tailed Godwits were found in Deerness.

30th August
A Ruff was seen in Tankerness. The Whooper Swan continues its stay in Deerness; it is not injured as it was seen in flight today.

31st August
63 Turnstones were counted in Deerness. There was also a flock of nine Black-tailed Godwits and a leucistic juv. Swallow in the same area.