It was just before 7 o'clock this morning when I went out to top up the bird feeders.
I was greeted by the usual sounds of the Curlew, Lapwings and Skylarks and from over the hill the cockerels. There were Sparrows and Greenfinches in the bushes too. Then I heard a call that was very familiar but from a bird that is described as an uncommon passage migrant in Orkney. There had been a few recent reports of this species being seen at various locations around Orkney but no reports as far as I was aware from Burray.
Then I heard it again - Cuckoo, Cuckoo. I grabbed the binoculars and started walking down the track in the general direction of the call to a spot where I could get a good view of the area down the hill towards the village. The bird continued to call and using the old cupped hands behind the ears technique I was able to determine that the bird was to the West of the village and not lurking around a few of the gardens with good cover.
I continued along the footpath trying to get a better fix on where the call was coming from but after ten minutes of calling it stopped and that was that. No visual on the bird.
About an hour later I saw one of the local dog walkers that often goes around a large area of my patch. We had a quick chat about what was about and when I mentioned th Cuckoo they said that they had heard one the other evening but thought they were hearing things, so were a bit relieved that someone else had heard one too.
So that is a new species for my patch and for my Burray list.
Sunday, 18 May 2014
So far in May
On the 1st, a late afternoon stop off at Echna Bay had 15
Oystercatchers, 1 Redshank and 2 Mute Swans. The swans had Yellow Darvic rings 245
and 251. Subsequent enquiries showed that they were both ringed on the Loch of Harray on the 28 Jul 08 as adult
females.
A White-billed Diver was reported in various locations within Water Sound on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.
A late afternoon stop at Echna Bay, on the 5th, produced 2 Oystercatchers, 3
Common Gull, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 28 Long-tailed Ducks and 1 Arctic Tern.
In the garden at Millfield a Blackbird nest with 5
eggs was found on the 6th. By the 17th the eggs had hatched and there were now 5 chicks which were ringed.
A walk from Millfield up to the trig point, on the 6th, produced 2 Blackbird, 6 Common
Gull, 5 Lapwing, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 2 Skylark and 1 Snipe. In addition Eiders, Long-tailed Duck and Greylag Geese were heard.
April Round Up
April kicked off with reports of two Goldfinch at the Bu on the 2 Apr.
A single Sand Martin was seen over Echna Loch on the 3 Apr.
There was a single Siskin in my garden on the 4 Apr and also a single Goldfinch down at the Bu.
Mist was the order of the day on the 5 Apr but that didn't stop Paul H from the Hope (St Margaret's Hope, South Ronaldsay) reporting five Sandwich Terns flying over head in the Burray direction. Didn't hear of any reports of them being heard/seen here. I was lucky enough to see a female Hen Harrier flying over my garden just before I set off on a business trip for a few days.
On the 7 Apr Barrie had a Goldfinch turn up on his feeder at Westshore.
On my way into work just after 07:30 on the 8 Apr I saw a single Swallow perched on an over head cable between the turning to Littlequoy and Echna Loch. This was my first for the year and a sure sign Spring had arrived. It was species 58 for my Patchwork Challenge (PWC) list.
An interesting report on the 8 Apr of a calling Corncrake heard over the last couple of days by at least two people. It was heard on the Eastern edge of the village in the vicinity of the ditch that runs from Echna Loch, under the road and down to Watersound. The ditch runs through a thick strip of rough ground and the bird has been calling fairly close to the road.
On the 15 Apr Barrie reported seeing one Goldfinch, two Siskins and one Wheatear at Westshore with three Slavonian Grebes offshore from his garden. There was also approx 150 Pink-footed Geese flying in NW direction.
There was a Black Redstart at Ness on the morning of the 23 Apr and Barrie's Brambling count was now up to five.
A male Redstart was seen again at Ness on the 25 Apr and was presumably the same bird seen by Barrie on the 23 Apr. The were also 15 Slavonian Grebes on the West side of Barrier 4. In the evening Barrie reported two Ring Ouzels feeding together at the Cemetery along with a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff. While on Bu beach there was a Common Sandpiper and a Whimbrel. His Brambling count was now up to at least eight birds.
On the morning of the 26 Apr Barrie's Brambling count was up to 10 and they had been joined on the feeders by either a Common or Lesser Redpoll. It wasn't immediately obvious which one but I think in the end he decided it was a Common Redpoll.
On Apr 27 Barrie reported two Mealy Redpolls and 10 Brambling on his feeders. I was able to join him and Linda to see them along with the Greenfinches, House Sparrows, two Wrens (one of which was collecting nesting material), three Blackbirds and a Collared Dove. The Brambling and Redpoll giving me PWC species 59 and 60.
Barrie also had 12 White Wagtails at the Burray end of Barrier 4 beach. Elsewhere, he had four Blackcap, two Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler.
A single Sand Martin was seen over Echna Loch on the 3 Apr.
There was a single Siskin in my garden on the 4 Apr and also a single Goldfinch down at the Bu.
Mist was the order of the day on the 5 Apr but that didn't stop Paul H from the Hope (St Margaret's Hope, South Ronaldsay) reporting five Sandwich Terns flying over head in the Burray direction. Didn't hear of any reports of them being heard/seen here. I was lucky enough to see a female Hen Harrier flying over my garden just before I set off on a business trip for a few days.
On the 7 Apr Barrie had a Goldfinch turn up on his feeder at Westshore.
On my way into work just after 07:30 on the 8 Apr I saw a single Swallow perched on an over head cable between the turning to Littlequoy and Echna Loch. This was my first for the year and a sure sign Spring had arrived. It was species 58 for my Patchwork Challenge (PWC) list.
An interesting report on the 8 Apr of a calling Corncrake heard over the last couple of days by at least two people. It was heard on the Eastern edge of the village in the vicinity of the ditch that runs from Echna Loch, under the road and down to Watersound. The ditch runs through a thick strip of rough ground and the bird has been calling fairly close to the road.
On the 15 Apr Barrie reported seeing one Goldfinch, two Siskins and one Wheatear at Westshore with three Slavonian Grebes offshore from his garden. There was also approx 150 Pink-footed Geese flying in NW direction.
Barrie had a male Brambling on his feeders at Westshore at tea-time on the 21 Apr with four more the following day. Later on the evening of the 21 Apr he had a Whimbrel on the shore. He said that it might be the
wintering bird that is usually seen 400-500 metres away.
There was a Black Redstart at Ness on the morning of the 23 Apr and Barrie's Brambling count was now up to five.
A male Redstart was seen again at Ness on the 25 Apr and was presumably the same bird seen by Barrie on the 23 Apr. The were also 15 Slavonian Grebes on the West side of Barrier 4. In the evening Barrie reported two Ring Ouzels feeding together at the Cemetery along with a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff. While on Bu beach there was a Common Sandpiper and a Whimbrel. His Brambling count was now up to at least eight birds.
On the morning of the 26 Apr Barrie's Brambling count was up to 10 and they had been joined on the feeders by either a Common or Lesser Redpoll. It wasn't immediately obvious which one but I think in the end he decided it was a Common Redpoll.
On Apr 27 Barrie reported two Mealy Redpolls and 10 Brambling on his feeders. I was able to join him and Linda to see them along with the Greenfinches, House Sparrows, two Wrens (one of which was collecting nesting material), three Blackbirds and a Collared Dove. The Brambling and Redpoll giving me PWC species 59 and 60.
Barrie also had 12 White Wagtails at the Burray end of Barrier 4 beach. Elsewhere, he had four Blackcap, two Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler.
After leaving Barrie's I headed West away from the village seeing a Collared Dove, three Greenfinches, a single Redpoll, four Linnets, a Pheasant, two Meadow Pipits, two Skylarks, a Wren, a Great Black-backed Gull, five Blackbirds, a Wheatear (PWC species 61), a Dunnock and a Wood Pigeon (PWC specis 62)
On my way home from work on the 29 Apr I stopped off to see what was about in Echna Bay and on Echna Loch. Starting with the bay there were two Ringed Plover, two Oystercatchers and two Mute Swans which had yellow Darvic rings on their left legs but they were too far away to read with the bins. Out in the bay it was rather quiet with just three Red-breasted Mergansers. A Great Skua (Bonxie) came gliding along the edge of the bay for PWC species 63.
Across the road on the loch there was a male Mallard, four Mute Swans, 10 Tufted Duck, two Common Gulls and between 450-500 Long-tailed ducks.
On the afternoon of the 30 Apr Barrie had five Brambling on his feeders who were joined by two Goldfinches.
Tim Dean rounds of the month by reporting a 'stunning spectacle' on Echna Loch on the evening of the 30 Apr with 680 Long-tailed Ducks!!
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
One more for the list and one to find
A quick stop off at Echna Loch/Bay on the way home this afternoon had all the action on the sea side of the road today. Echna Loch was pretty empty with just a few gulls on it.
Over on Echna Bay were two Black-headed Gulls, two Great Black-backed Gulls, two Eiders, 20 Long-tailed ducks, 14 Wigeon, 2 Mute Swans and some good close up views of a Great Northern Diver. On the beach there were three Oystercatchers and new for the patch list this year two Pied Wagtails.
News in this evening from Barrie that a Woodpigeon was seen around Ourigaire this morning. That is a species still needed for this year's patch list so a small detour on the way to work in the morning maybe on the cards.
Over on Echna Bay were two Black-headed Gulls, two Great Black-backed Gulls, two Eiders, 20 Long-tailed ducks, 14 Wigeon, 2 Mute Swans and some good close up views of a Great Northern Diver. On the beach there were three Oystercatchers and new for the patch list this year two Pied Wagtails.
News in this evening from Barrie that a Woodpigeon was seen around Ourigaire this morning. That is a species still needed for this year's patch list so a small detour on the way to work in the morning maybe on the cards.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Around the garden
Last week the Greenfinches returned to the garden after being absent since just after the start of the new year. Three arrived at the beginning of the week and were around most days and this week their numbers peaked at six.
The pair of Blackbirds are still around but no signs of nest building so far that I have seen. There was also a second male appeared for a couple of days at the start of the week but I didn't see him towards the end of the week so presumably he has moved on or been chased away.
The Skylarks can be heard singing daily and it is quite impressive how they seem to be able to stay above their territory singing away even in a Force 7 wind!!
Lapwings are now displaying over the fields surrounding the house and Oystercatchers can now be heard calling away around the clock.
With the clocks going forward next weekend it will soon be time to get out for a bit of patch watching in the evenings.
The pair of Blackbirds are still around but no signs of nest building so far that I have seen. There was also a second male appeared for a couple of days at the start of the week but I didn't see him towards the end of the week so presumably he has moved on or been chased away.
The Skylarks can be heard singing daily and it is quite impressive how they seem to be able to stay above their territory singing away even in a Force 7 wind!!
Lapwings are now displaying over the fields surrounding the house and Oystercatchers can now be heard calling away around the clock.
With the clocks going forward next weekend it will soon be time to get out for a bit of patch watching in the evenings.
Black-headed Gull
I always thought that the Black-headed Gull should be an easy addition to my patch list.
I was pretty sure that I saw them all the time on my travels around the patch and further afield and the Orkney Bird Report lists the species as a common breeding species, passage migrant and winter visitor.
A couple of weeks ago I was looking through my patch list for this year to see how I was doing and I was surprised to see that the Black-headed Gull was missing from my list. I guessed that I must have seen it and just forgotten to tick it off so I checked back through my note book and found that I hadn't made a note of one at all for this year either on or off my patch.
So now I was on a mission. It should be a straight forward look round the patch starting with a few obvious places and get it on the list. The more I looked the more blanks I was coming up with. I paid more attention on my commute to work and at first I wasn't seeing any further afield either!!
Then finally last week I started seeing a few appear with increasing numbers over the next few days. Still none on the patch though. Yesterday lunchtime on my way into town I spotted a solitary one sat on the shingle at Echna Bay and have now added it to my patch list for the year at species number 56.
Checking back in my notes for last year I found out that I didn't actually see this species on the patch until mid May, when it was species number 50. So I'll be taking a closer note of this species in future to see what their movements are over the year.
I was pretty sure that I saw them all the time on my travels around the patch and further afield and the Orkney Bird Report lists the species as a common breeding species, passage migrant and winter visitor.
A couple of weeks ago I was looking through my patch list for this year to see how I was doing and I was surprised to see that the Black-headed Gull was missing from my list. I guessed that I must have seen it and just forgotten to tick it off so I checked back through my note book and found that I hadn't made a note of one at all for this year either on or off my patch.
So now I was on a mission. It should be a straight forward look round the patch starting with a few obvious places and get it on the list. The more I looked the more blanks I was coming up with. I paid more attention on my commute to work and at first I wasn't seeing any further afield either!!
Then finally last week I started seeing a few appear with increasing numbers over the next few days. Still none on the patch though. Yesterday lunchtime on my way into town I spotted a solitary one sat on the shingle at Echna Bay and have now added it to my patch list for the year at species number 56.
Checking back in my notes for last year I found out that I didn't actually see this species on the patch until mid May, when it was species number 50. So I'll be taking a closer note of this species in future to see what their movements are over the year.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Echna Loch/Bay
Today we met up with some friends for Sunday lunch and a catch up on some birding news in general and relating to the parish of South Ronaldsay. This was followed by a quick visit to Barrie and Linda to drop off something and also to catch up on more local birding news. Still no sightings of a Short-eared Owl yet this year.
After that we headed across to Echna Loch/Bay for a quick look before heading home.
Echna Bay was pretty quiet. There were two Great Black-backed Gulls out on the water along with a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers and 50+ Fulmars along the cliffs. No sign of any Long-tailed Ducks today. Also there was no sign of any waders along the tide line.
On the other side of the road Echna Loch was pretty quiet too. There was a single Goldeneye and a flock of about 40 Tufted Duck. The star of the afternoon was skulking about in amongst the Tufties in the form of a male Pochard. This is a new species not only for this year but also for my all time patch list and my Burray list!!
There were two Greylag Geese in the field to the South of the loch but no sign of the Mute Swans today.
After that we headed across to Echna Loch/Bay for a quick look before heading home.
Echna Bay was pretty quiet. There were two Great Black-backed Gulls out on the water along with a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers and 50+ Fulmars along the cliffs. No sign of any Long-tailed Ducks today. Also there was no sign of any waders along the tide line.
On the other side of the road Echna Loch was pretty quiet too. There was a single Goldeneye and a flock of about 40 Tufted Duck. The star of the afternoon was skulking about in amongst the Tufties in the form of a male Pochard. This is a new species not only for this year but also for my all time patch list and my Burray list!!
There were two Greylag Geese in the field to the South of the loch but no sign of the Mute Swans today.
Week 3-9 March
Not a lot to report this week, there were a couple of male Siskins seen on the outshirts of the village on Tuesday (4 Mar) afternoon and the White-billed Diver is still around in Water Sound bay, favouring an area just off the end of the Cara Road.
On the home front a couple of House Sparrows have appeared in the garden this week so thats good news, just need some Greenfinches to reappear now.
On the home front a couple of House Sparrows have appeared in the garden this week so thats good news, just need some Greenfinches to reappear now.
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Spring is in the air
Today is the first of March and the start of the meteorological spring.
It certainly lived up to it's name. I had an early start this morning and was out of the house at 7:15am. As I waited for my lift to arrive I was greeted by the sound of a couple of Skylarks singing away high up in the sky, giving me my 54th species of the year for the Patchwork Challenge. They were still singing late this afternoon.
This was followed by a nice sunrise and a glorious day of blue sky and sunshine and a gentle breeze.
There were two male Blackbirds chasing each other around the garden first thing and at lunchtime the Wren was spotted working its way along the low stone dyke in the garden.
After all the recent wind and rain a few more today's like today would be well received.
It certainly lived up to it's name. I had an early start this morning and was out of the house at 7:15am. As I waited for my lift to arrive I was greeted by the sound of a couple of Skylarks singing away high up in the sky, giving me my 54th species of the year for the Patchwork Challenge. They were still singing late this afternoon.
This was followed by a nice sunrise and a glorious day of blue sky and sunshine and a gentle breeze.
There were two male Blackbirds chasing each other around the garden first thing and at lunchtime the Wren was spotted working its way along the low stone dyke in the garden.
After all the recent wind and rain a few more today's like today would be well received.
An auroral feast.
It turned out that the auroral treat I mentioned on Sunday was just a warm up for bigger and better things that took place on Thursday (27 Feb) evening. With the sun still being a bit active I had been keeping my eye on various sources of data to see if we might get another chance to see some auroral activity.
Around 7:30pm there were signs that things were starting to stir so I took a look out of the living room window to see if I could see any signs in the sky itself and I could certainly some activity, so I decided to grab the camera and go outside to take a better look.
Wow.
The sight that greeted me was fantastic, the sky was alive with reds and greens as the aurora danced about. I quickly popped back into the cottage to tell Claire to get her coat on and join me outside. Moving to the North end of the cottage out of the stiff cold wind we stood and watched the best aurora we had ever seen. It started off in pretty much the same area of sky as Sunday's but quickly spread further out across the sky, then it started moving forward until it was right over the top of us. Eventually we were actually stood facing South and still seeing the aurora.
Later in the evening, around 10pm the colours and strength of the aurora started to subside but now it was replaced by quick flashes of what looked like green wispy Cirrus cloud darting back and forth across the sky.
By 11pm I was getting cold and tired so called it a night. Social media was buzzing with reports of the aurora from all over Scotland and the following morning it was being reported on the BBC news as being seen as far South as Essex and South Wales. By tea time there were reports that it had ben seen as far South as Jersey!! So a pretty spectacular event. Interestingly one of the astronomers that's had commented on the event said that this aurora was only due to a glancing blow by the particles from the sun hitting the earth's atmosphere. I'd love to see what the aurora looks like if we take a direct hit.
Anyway until that happens here are some of the photos that I took during the event.
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| The Plough stood on end in the middle of the aurora |
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| Looking North towards St Mary's village |
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| Looking North towards St Mary's village |
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| Looking South-West. Orion on the left hand edge of the photo |
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| Looking South over the cottage |
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| Looking North towards St Mary's Village |
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| Looking North East |
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| Looking West |
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