Holiday week 2

Monday and I was doing the track....

Tuesday's seawatch and a Common Scoter, uncommon at Birsay was followed by a smart DD morph Blue Fulmar. Also on Tuesday a trip to The Loons found that there were still 15 Greenland Whitefronts and good numbers of Pink-feet.

Wednesday I made a big effort to finish the track and collected three loads from the quarry. Ruff on The Shunan was nice.

There have been up to four hanging around

Thursday I intended to go seawatching again but got to Palace and there was a huge scrum of gulls by the beach feeding on the high tide and the massive rollers that were driving on to the beach. I found an adult Iceland Gull fairly promptly but it as quickly disappeared and then took a further 40 mins or so to relocate it for some record shots. I did eventually go seawatching but it was a session of maybes; a maybe GND, a distant flock of grey geese that maybe were of interest and then a maybe Velvet Scoter, all very distant and nothing tickable for a year tick on the patch. Loch of Boardhouse did produce Slavonian Grebes and Red-throated Divers though.

 Gull scrum

 Adult Iceland Gull

After the seawatch I went for a bit of a wander.

Then in the garden in the afternoon some non-birdy things...

 First Yellow Dung Fly ( Scathophaga stercoraria) of the year, note black antennae

Cepea hortensis

Friday in the sunshine, 81 Great Northern Divers counted from my spot near Hatston, that's a lot of GND. Many of these were a good distance away, there could have been half a dozen Bananabills in with that lot, however, I suspect not. Also there 697 Eider around the fish cages, 4 Velvet Scoter and 6 or so Slavonian Grebes. Conditions were perfect when I got there with perfect visibility but that deteriorated after about 40 minutes. The Eider were around the fish cages and the males at least were easily identifiable, but no sign of a king.

Yesterday was miserable most of the day, but a patch year tick in the shape of a Bonxie that came low through the garden. A session down near the Merkister  a couple of hours later produced Slavonian Grebe, Red-throated Divers and a couple of Fulmar as well as another Bonxie terrorising everything.

 Rooks and a rabbit from the kitchen window

A repeat of that session this afternoon in better conditions got the Slav Grebe count up to four and there was yet another Fulmar, and one over The Shunan too. Star of today though was the 3cy Glaucous Gull I found having delivered older daughter to her social destination.

Glaucous Gull having a drink

Still very pleased with the Kowa bins, they are brighter than the Nikons and seem a tad sharper too. The close focus will be useful when the hover season starts, none yet here.

New bins

Eventually I succumbed: knocking £400 off the price had got my interest up, having eyed these for a while and read excellent reviews - Kowa, Genesis, Prominar 8x33.

First impressions are good, lovely and sharp (like the Nikons - 8x32 HG and HGL), brighter than my Nikons and very close focus, so very useful for insect stuff. It is a very long time since I bought some new bins, I had the Nikons serviced a few years back but I reckon I've had them for 12 - 14 or so years (I have two pairs). It rained all afternoon and I was working on the track, so not really tried them except from indoors but they are comfortable to the eye and no obvious problems, seawatching tomorrow so a bit of a test then. First species looked at, in flight Mallard.

Change

The nasty weather on Friday brought an influx of Woodpigeons, 26, and by Saturday morning, when the day dawned bright, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were much in evidence, Meadow Pipits in particular were now singing in numbers, they seem to have come straight in and on to territory.

Starling singing in the back garden

Blackbird has finally begun to sing in the garden, I still don't understand why they are so late to begin singing here when in Kirkwall they will have been singing for the best part of a month, average temperature maybe? Starlings are seeking nesting places, we'll need to be checking the cars each morning shortly. Greenfinch are singing and displaying all around the garden. Linnet were at Bosquoy today with a male in song and a partner present. The Mute Swan pair on The Shunan had to defend their realm against invasion as another pair tried to stake their claim, they were violently repulsed. The Rooks now have 44 nests with a further five small bundles of twigs and birds are busy collecting lining materials.

Spring farming activity brings interesting gulls - or not

Lesser Celandine, more yellow time

34 Twite at Howaback, should be dispersing soon

At the coast the Wigeon were still much in evidence at The Links and there were three Mute Swans on the sea, the beginning of the usual spring build up.

Gratuitous Harbour Seal pic

Butterbur

The weather passed.

And so I ventured out with Louise and the hound mid afternoon. Not much to report but the sun is coming out now in the early evening and the wind has died away to nothing.

In the evening a Goldcrest singing from the garden, that's never happened before.

Looking across the plough from the back of the house

Starling on next-door's weather vane

Five this afternoon on their way now

There were a pile of Pink-feet in the fields across the road.

A sure sign of spring, territorial Common Gulls

...and yellow time is beginning

Time

I really don't like this changing the clocks business, it's rubbish! It throws me out for a day at least. It is a sign that the year is moving on, you wouldn't guess it today with a blow gusting close to 60mph. I'll avoid going out until it eases.

Can barely see the niger feeder.

It has been calm recently, so calm yesterday that it was worth a stop to look into Kirkwall Bay from west of Hatston. Viewing opportunities have been improved here recently with the construction of new roads to extend the industrial estate but the best viewing point is still the slightly difficult to access gateway to the west. 38 Great Northerns, 6 Velvet Scoter, 4 Slav Grebes were the highlights though a beefy young Peregrine tried to steal the show. Pied Wags and Mepit could all be heard from the surrounding fields, a sign that spring really is here.

The previous weekend Mollie, Liam and I walked up to Russadale Quarry after nosing around Happy Valley. There were signs of spring, more Goldcrests at Happy Valley, having found two in the garden the previous day, a flowering primrose, Robins singing. Coming back down from the quarry there were a pair of Stonechats.

Liverwort

 

 Oh no!

 

 Stonechat

Only on Orkney...

Louise was in the kitchen and the dog was outside sitting under the front kitchen window. Something caught Louise's eye and then she heard a high pitched cry as well, on the kitchen window ledge, with the dog a couple of feet below, was a Hen Harrier trying to take a bird. Today I've noticed that the male Blackbird that is paired and seems to have established a territory at the front of the house is tail-less. This is the Blackbird with a singe white outer tail feather on the right (which obviously is now no longer visible). So I suspect this was the very lucky escapee, I've heard Blackbirds make a terrible high pitched squeak when taken by a Sproghawk in the past.

Bird race

Bit of research yesterday, actually was more interested in the waves.

Marwick swell

We couldn't find the Snow Buntings so we went for a cuppa.

Early this morn I did go out and find a few things, these Whoopers were back on The Shunan.

On Loch of Sabiston there were 6 Blackwits and 4 Pintail, tricky species to get here. I watched a Grey Heron catch an Eel too (nice iRecord that). On Loch of Banks this Otter was feeding not far from the road.

Once the race was started we did ok with Mealy Redpoll in Finstown, Green-winged Teal, Black-necked Grebe and Smew at Skaill and an Orkney tick for me of Avocet at Loch of Tankerness. 93 was our best total to date, and although I saw Hen Harrier early on, during the race period we strangely did not see one. Only scraped Greenfinch by the skin of our teeth as well.

A few birds of interest and an aurora

Finally connected with the Green-winged Teal on Loch of Skaill but for some reason couldn't find either the Smew or the B-n Grebe but maybe they weren't there.... seen today though. However, there was a smart adult Iceland Gull.

Interesting behaviour, Goldeneye and Pochard taking advantage of a Whooper stirring the food up off the bottom, I've some movie of this which I'll try and post later.

These were just off the beach....

Much of today was spent making a log store for all the wood we've been given, however, in the afternoon I did venture out. Really pleased to find an American Wigeon in amongst a large flock of Wigeon near the Ring of Brodgar.

Smart aurora this evening.