Archives

Archives - October 2007 sightings

31/10/07



1st Oct.
47 Dunlins and 17 Ringed Plovers were notable inland counts in Tankerness.

2nd Oct.
Four Black-tailed Godwits were seen in Tankerness, with a flock of 15 Gadwall and a female/imm. Scaup nearby.

3rd Oct.
Single Black-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover were seen in Deerness and Tankerness, respectively.

4th Oct.
The American Golden Plover re-appeared briefly in Holm.

5th Oct.
Two ad. male Surf Scoters were seen off Tankerness, along with a Common Scoter and 29 Velvet Scoters.






6th Oct.
Five juv. Black-tailed Godwits were seen in Tankerness. 149 Knots were counted in Deerness.

7th Oct.
Given the paucity of passerine migrants locally, it was good to see a Hawfinch from our kitchen window in Holm.
Flocks of 20 Gadwall and three Pintail were seen in Tankerness.

8th Oct.
The Hawfinch remained in Holm.
There were also five Black-tailed Godwits in Tankerness.


9th Oct.
Two Puffins and two Razorbills were seen off Holm. A Chiffchaff was seen nearby.
In Tankerness, one of the Surf Scoters was seen offshore, along with Velvet Scoters and two female/imm. Scaup.

10th Oct.
The Surf Scoter was seen again off Tankerness, this time with one Scaup and 45 Velvet Scoters. In the same area 25 Slavonian Grebes
were counted on the sea, with another two inland.

12th Oct.
Another Puffin was seen off Holm.
An influx of Redshanks into the area was noted with a count of 228 in Tankerness.

14th Oct.
A Brambling was in Tankerness and four Stonechats (two each at two sites), but apart from numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares, there was a virtual absence of passerine migrants.

15th Oct.
Scaup were seen in Holm (single female/imm.) and Kirkwall (four female/imms.).
A second-winter Mediterranean Gull was also seen in Kirkwall. Two inland Slavonian Grebes were seen in Tankerness.










19th Oct.
22 Whooper Swans were seen in Holm. The two inland Slavonian Grebes remained in Tankerness.

20th Oct.
The Mediterranean Gull was seen again in Kirkwall, along with 86 Tufted Ducks and six Scaups.
Three drake Surf Scoters off Tankerness was the largest group there since Sep. - Dec. 1999, when three were also found. Also present were 52 Velvet Scoters, a
drake Common Scoter, 28 Slavonian Grebes and seven Razorbills.








21st Oct.
Most of the scoters were a long way out off Tankerness, but at least one drake Surf Scoter was still present.

22nd Oct.
A Woodcock, two Slavonian Grebes and a Scaup were seen in Tankerness.

23rd Oct.
Thrushes have been rather scarce of late, so a flock of 100 Redwings and 15 Fieldfares was a welcome sight in Holm.

24th Oct.
A Puffin and four Red-throated Divers were seen off Holm. 167 Knots was the largest flock in Deerness for some time.
Off Tankerness, two male Surf Scoters were still to be seen, along with 54 Velvet Scoters. Also present were numbers of Red-throated and Great Northern Divers and Slavonian Grebes, but I did not have enough time to count these.

25th Oct.
169 Pochards was something of a recovery in Tankerness, where numbers had reached quite low levels in recent years. Two Siskins were also seen.

27th Oct.
Counts of 196 Tufted Ducks, accompanied by a flock of 12 Scaup in Kirkwall were unusually high for both species.
28th Oct.
Two rather late Wheatears were seen in Deerness, along with a flock of seven Siskins.

30th Oct.
A Grey Plover was seen in Deerness.
The first returning Purple Sandpipers ,a flock of 18, was seen nearby.
The two Surf Scoters were found again off Tankerness.