September 14th 2012

 

We travelled up in two cars meeting up at various places to stock up on food, beer at the excellent Black Isle Brewery, and more beer at a supermarket in Thurso. We also stopped off to do some birding, with the main goal being to do a little seawatching in the strong northwesterly wind. Loch Fleet was our first stop, producing an osprey and a few greenshank, and from here we headed north to search for a likely seawatching point. Brimms ness looked the part, but from the road looked too low so we headed further west, only to receive a call from the other car who were already seawatching and had had fine views of a few Leach’s petrels – at Brimms ness! We headed back and eventually were treated to good views of a Leach’s petrel, as well as manx and sooty shearwaters, and great skuas. Like so much of this coastline, the area had oodles of potential but we had a ferry to catch and we wanted to fit in quick trip to St Johns Loch. The loch, again, looked brilliant but didn’t deliver, so we made our way to Gills Bay where we met our ferry. As the ferry chugged over the Pentland Firth into the darkness we notched up about 10 storm petrels, but little else of note, and before too long we had dumped our gear in the hostel and were paying for yet more beer to wash down our tea.

 

September 15th 2012

 

First task was a trip to do the big shop. Sanday has a few stores but it’s much easier to stock up on stuff and fill the back of the cars with rocky bars and the ingredients for 35 portions of chilli con carne in the supermarket in Kirkwall.

From Kirkwall it is then a 2 – 3 hour ferry ride over to Sanday. This trip has less potential than the Pentland crossing, but we picked up a single storm petrel, as well as plenty of black guillemots, great and Arctic skuas, and numerous greylags.

 

On arrival onto Sanday we quickly deposited luxuries such as food at our house in Lady, and headed off to look for wader flocks. As the weather had been out of the west for about a fortnight prior to our trip, we figured our best chance of rarities would be on the mudflats and beaches, or among the golden plover flocks. Unfortunately there was nothing doing that day, despite searching through about 3000 golden plover, 700 bar-tailed godwit, and several hundred sanderling. The best we could manage were a few black-tailed godwits, some stunning grey plovers, and raptors such as hen harrier and peregrine. Among the more interesting things seen by the others were merlin, great northern diver, and a goldcrest in one of the gardens at the east end.

 

September 16th 2012

 

Early in the morning a few of us went to explore some wader habitat in the west of the island. Bae Loch held good numbers of waterfowl, including small numbers of whoopers and pintail, and the big expanse of mud at Stove in the far southwest had over 100 sanderling and a ringtail hen harrier. Just north of the Stove road lies Laminess, a small seaweed covered beach with a few crofts around it – it looks mega rare there – but today we only managed a black guillemot in the bay and a few white wagtails picking through the seaweed among the good numbers of turnstone, redshank and ringed plover. From there we headed on to the little sea, a very picturesque tidal area, good for waders, and also, good for a pale bellied brent goose on this occasion, which was probably the most noteworthy thing we’d seen since arriving on the island.

 

From here we split up and went our separate ways (a much better tactic than last years, where we tended to stick together a little more). My walk took me back towards the village via the airstrip. It was all a bit quiet on the migrant front, with nothing more than a few wheatears on show, so I got back to Lady a little earlier than expected and birded the fields around the houses. One field had a small flock of golden plover in it, and as I scanned through them, I was delighted to come across a very grey and white bird, with a dark crown and bold white super. No sooner had I thought ‘this looks good’ than the flock took up. I managed to stay on the bird and as it flew around it revealed dusky underwings and axillaries, as well as no toe projection beyond the tail tip. It was an American golden plover for sure, so I called the rest of the guys but unfortunately the flock could not be relocated so we headed in for lunch.

 

With waders still firmly on our minds, after lunch I headed out to the Collaness area, a short walk north of Lady. This area is a little maze of tidal nooks and crannies, and looks uber rare. I hadn’t been there for too long when, while I was counting the red-breasted mergansers and eiders in the bay, an abrupt ‘prrrt’ call half cut through the wind. For some reason I couldn’t place it, but when a small wader dashed past me it all fell together and I realized it was a pectoral sandpiper. It landed a little way away on the mud, where it allowed me to scope it for a minute or so, before it took off and headed west. I spent the rest of the day scoping waders in the area and reflecting upon some good luck, before calling it a day and heading back to the house. Among the better stuff the others had caught up with were a Greenland whitefront on the Bae loch, and some encouraging migrant action in the form of various goldcrests, a house martin, and a lesser whitethroat, on top of a big increase in wheatear numbers.

 

September 17th 2012

 

With pinkfeet moving aver the village first thing, two of us decided to have another look at Collaness in the morning. Here we found a great little pool that dunlin fed on at high tide, but there was nothing interesting among the 40 or so that fed in front of us. Among the barwits in the fields the odd black-tailed godwit lurked, and a female type merlin put on a fine display as we talked to a couple of farmers. Little did we realize that we’d be seeing a little more of these guys later in the day…

 

At about eleven, we got a call from one of the others saying they’d found an American golden plover. We were both keen to see it, so we headed back to the house where we got picked up and shuttled out to a neatly cropped field on the shores of the Bae loch. Soon enough we were looking at a fine adult AGP, undoubtedly the same bird as I’d seen the day before, but this time with better and more prolonged views. We must have been there for about 45 minutes when all of a sudden one of the guys picked up a buff-breasted sandpiper, no more than 20 yards from the AGP. This was all getting quite exciting, so we headed back for a spot of lunch before striking out again pm.

 

We split up again in the afternoon and I opted for the long walk around the most northerly part of the island, North Loch and Tofts Ness. From here it’s a mere 4 km over the water to the observatory on North Ronaldsay, so it (as well as the rest of Sanday) must do ok for migrants. It was a fair walk but a lovely sunny, and relatively still afternoon. Around North Loch I had hen harrier, peregrine and merlin, as well as whoopers, black-tailed godwit, and good numbers of pink-footed geese. Having negotiated a couple of electric fences badly (I was to realize there was a much easier route later in the week) the long slog around Tofts Ness produced 8 snow bunting and a single, scope filling Lapland bunting, as well as plenty of wheatear, and a lone house martin.

 

On meeting up with the rest of the group over brandy coffees, I was to learn that others had seen two more whitefronts, various other snow and Lapland buntings, and at least 2 more pectoral sandpipers at Westayre loch. Usually the brandy coffee means that the birding is over and the serious business of going through the log and slagging each other off can begin. That night though we received a call from someone in the village telling us about an owl that had ended up in their village. I was slightly tipsy when she gave me the directions so we took a wrong turn when we headed off – but luckily the nice Lady lady saw our torches and came to pick us up. Of course, we expected the bird to be a short-eared owl as we had seen a few already that week, so were very pleasantly surprised to be ushered into a kitchen where one of the farmers from earlier was holding a long-eared owl. After a little while the local ranger stuck a ring on the bird and it was put out into the garden, and we were just about on our way when we were directed into the living room and plied with large quantities of home brew. Conversation flowed between these strangers like we were old friends, and it was well into the night before we stumbled home. A great day, but the kindness and good humour we encountered that night was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

September 18th 2012

 

We didn’t get up as early as we had been doing before…

 

First up, a couple of us went back to the field that had delivered so much in the past few days. Not long into our stop we picked up a cracking juv American golden plover, and that field became known as the magic field from that point forward. We called the others and they arrived soon after, pulling up behind our car but not getting out as the birds were close. A text soon came through asking where it was in relation to the buff-breasted sand, which yet again we had completely overlooked! Soon they were all on the bird and shortly after we split up again and went our separate ways. Not too long after we got a text from the guy who went to the other side of the Bae loch saying that he’d found a blue phase snow goose. We jumped in the car and headed over but it was out of view, so we killed a little time scanning dunlins, sanderlings and other waders on the Little Sea, before heading back and eventually getting distant views of the sleeping goose among the thousands of greylags. It was a pretty good morning and our heads had been well and truly cleared by the good birds and the biting wind.

 

I spent the afternoon on foot exploring the area around Lady and up to Collaness. A chiffchaff called in the Doctors garden in Lady, and 10 grey herons taking off out of the marsh at Collaness was a fine number for here. Waders were here in decent numbers but peeps resolutely refused to appear among the 50 or so dunlin, so I had to be satisfied with a flyover Lapland bunting. From here I moved to the Cata sand on the other side of the village, where at high tide waders can be enjoyed at pretty close range. There was nothing of note here, but my route home took me past the crop in the ranger’s garden, where among the linnets was a massive brute of a Rostrata type redpoll. As I was looking at this a text came through from one of the guys who had found a red-backed shrike out east, but unfortunately it was too late to get a lift out to see it.

 

By this time it was brandy coffee time. The others had seen, among other things that afternoon, the two pec sands at westayre loch, a curlew sandpiper at cata sand, various migrants such as lesser whitethroat and sedge warbler, and we’d all noticed an increase in blackbird numbers.

 

September 19th 2012

 

For some reason there is very little in my notebook for this day. Apparently in the morning I was at the ‘magic field’ where the juv American golden plover was still present, and a snow bunting flew by.

 

In the afternoon, my notebook tells me that I saw the red-backed shrike from the day before, a juvenile bird. From here, I remember heading out towards Start point, the most easterly part of the island, but I could not cross over to the ‘island’ as the tide was too high. There is nothing in my notebook apart from an otter that I get pretty close to. Still, an otter is pretty cool, so despite the fact that there’s nothing in my notebook I probably had quite a nice day…

 

The others probably had a nice day too, as various snow and Lapland buntings, a few migrants such as a willow warbler, and the ‘long staying’ pectoral sandpipers all made it onto the spreadsheet for the day.

 

September 20th 2012

 

The weather had gradually been ‘improving’ through the week so I spent the morning doing the Roos Loch loop in some very pleasant conditions. Peregrines and merlins flushed birds of various sizes out of stubble fields, and a very handy looking marsh in the middle of the Roos peninsula had various ducks, including plenty of shoveler, teal and wigeon. Definitely a spot to keep a closer eye on in the future. The bay behind Roos loch was dripping with sanderling (200+) as well as plenty of small gulls and other waders feasting on insects attracted to the piles of seaweed.

 

My route back towards civilization took me back past the marsh and out towards junction in the road, where a quick scan of a golden plover flock revealed the adult American golden plover was still around. I texted this out to visiting Orkney birder who I knew as Mike on Bike, who Paul Higson had put me in touch with. Mike sped to the spot on his bike, but I had to leave him there unfortunately. I think he caught up with the plover though, which was nice.

 

After lunch I headed down to the Cata sand but unfortunately the tide was too high and the waders had disappeared to roost. My planned long sit was therefore going to be a lot longer so instead I went off-road around the side of the cata sand, planning to head back towards Lady along the Overbister road. Cata was quiet but I spent a very pleasant 10 minutes in the company of a pair of twite that didn’t seem to mind my presence at all. Further round I had great views of another merlin and even better views of a short eared owl. After I found my way back onto the Overbister road I started scanning through the large numbers of golden plover in the area (about 2000) but failed to find the now almost expected AGP. I did bump into the buff-breasted sandpiper again though which I texted out, but that funnily enough roused no interest from the rest of the team. They were too busy enjoying the likes of great northern diver, manx and sooty shearwaters off start point, gadwall, a new pectoral sandpiper in whitemill bay, and migrants in the form of the remaining red backed shrike, lesser whitethroat, common redpoll, snow and Lapland buntings, and ever increasing numbers of blackbirds.

 

September 21st 2012

 

It had been a clear night and the day dawned still and almost barmy. I was getting a bit sick of looking through flocks of waders so headed down to do a long loop back to lady, starting off around the couple of interesting gardens by the little sea. Before I’d even got to the gardens I ducked into the cemetery to check out the few bushes in there. Immediately I got onto a dull small warbler, which was flitting around at the back of the cemetery, but being pretty elusive. I texted the gang that I had an unstreaked acro but I guess they wanted a little more than that before they came to see it! A few more glimpses of the beast had my suspicions roused sufficiently to call for backup, and about 20 mins later the first of the cavalry arrived. We began to get some decentish views of the bird and started to suspect that it was a goody. After what seemed like another age we heard it tacking like a lesser whitethroat. This is not the golden bullet that it might have been thought in the past, but it was enough for me to get in touch with the rest of the group to say we had a probable blyth’s reed. That got them moving quickly enough…

 

The five of us watched the bird on and off for about 2 hours, and after a couple of phonecalls to folk who had more experience of these things, we were certain we had a Blyth’s reed warbler. Great fun indeed and a real pleasure to spend a good amount of time with an educational bird.

 

The afternoon was a bit of a let down after that, but a couple of random sedge warblers provided interest, and the long-eared owl from earlier in the week was showing very nicely in the doctors garden.

 

Not much else was reported that day but of interest was the usual scattering of snow and Lapland buntings, and a curlew sandpiper on cleat creak.

 

September 22nd 2012

 

The last day, and after the success of yesterday we thought that was the high we would end on. After a quick check for the Blyth’s reed (which was not present) we headed back up Lady to have a look in the gardens. Three common redpolls gave ridiculous views in the trees around the post office, and at that we headed out east. For some reason we stopped at the heritage centre, the last building in Lady, where behind the centre was a sheltered sycamore. Of course, the migrant floodgates had opened (although we didn’t know that yet) and a yellow browed warbler was flitting around in this lone tree. As we watched it we got a text about another YBW out east. As the other guys were checking east we changed our plans and got dropped off at various likely looking parts of the island. Before we’d even got out of the car at the first place a pair of very sharp eyes picked out a barred warbler feeding in the roadside verge.

 

I was dropped off and walked up the Durness road, with a view to doing the Roos loop. Checking the gardens and cover up the Durness road I began to loose heart as the migrant fest I’d hoped for did not materialize. I walked all the way to the top of the craft centre and had little more than a robin. I almost sacked off the Roos loop but a little voice in the back of my mind told me to keep going. Luckily for me I did, as about 100 yards down the road a bluethroat hopped up onto a fencepost in front of me. A few of the others had become similarly downhearted and came to see the bluethroat but it had vanished into a massive iris bed. We scooted around the various spots around roos and then split up again.

 

It was then that the floodgates opened. At the school, where there is a very thick patch of impenetrable cover, there were three yellow-broweds, and when we arrived at the pub in kettletoft for our lunch there was one in the garden over the road. We even had a yellow-browed perching on an anchor through the window of the pub as we ate!

 

Another afternoon on my own saw me picking up a single yellow-browed in one garden by the little sea, and then a barred warbler and two yellow-broweds in the garden next door. While all this was going on various texts were coming through from the other guys, with news of more YBW, two common rosefinch, and yet another unstreaked acro with about an hour to go before the ferry deadline. This bird was in the garden of a derelict house and was massively difficult to get anything on as it ghosted through the rosehips. We didn’t get much on it but felt it was probably a marsh warbler. Unfortunately none of us saw enough to be certain though. On meeting up with the others at the ferry terminal, we realized that our day totals were 19 YBW, 3 barred, 2 rosefinch and a bluethroat, as well as some common migrants such as garden and willow warbler, a few lesser whitethroat, and a pied flycatcher.

 

Our crossing was uneventful, but after arriving in Kirkwall we quickly decamped to a curry house where we toasted a good trip with a few too many beers…