28th March

A White-billed Diver, the first real rarity of the year, was found on the sea off Tor Ness during the morning. It was considered to be a young bird, but it soon drifted further out to sea.

This species has been about annual at North Ronaldsay in recent years, with most records occuring in April.

Nine Great Northern Divers and 8 Red-throated Divers were also seen off the west coast, while a Great Skua and a Sandwich Tern also passed by. A Jackdaw was another new species for the year, a flock of 15 Ravens flew south over the island and a couple of Common Redpolls and a Siskin also arrived. Meadow Pipits further increased to 29, and Pied Wagtails to 19; and the Peregrine and Rook remained.

Unfortunately, the White-billed Diver didn't linger long enough for photos to be taken, but a picture of a Rook is almost as interesting. No?

27th March

The first Jack Snipe of the year made its belated appearance in the afternoon, and a male Lapland Bunting in smart breeding plumage brightened up an otherwise uneventful day. The Rook was still present and a Common Redpoll, 20 Meadow Pipits and 9 Pied Wagtails were logged.

A newly rotivated field near the observatory is already proving popular with the Twites; calm weather has allowed several of them to be caught and ringed.

25th March

An early morning Sandwich Tern - the first of the year - was the best sighting of a calm and drizzly day. Three Rooks were new migrants, and numbers of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails continued to creep up with 51 and 14 respectively. A Dunnock was at Holland, while passerines remaining from previous days included the Wheatear, a Song Thrush and a Chaffinch.

Oystercatchers have been a very conspicuous feature of birding around the island of late, particularly at high tide when they gather inland to feed in the fields.

The long-staying Grey Plover on the links was seen again today. If only someone had checked that part of the island yesterday, we would have equalled the highest ever count.

24th March

A reasonably calm day saw Wheatear make its anticipated debut on the island's year-list, just two days later than the earliest ever arrival here. Other migrant passerines included 23 Meadow Pipits, 11 Pied Wagtails, 127 Skylarks and 2 Song Thrushes. The most unusual sighting of the day was a flock of 10 Grey Plovers flying along the west coast: this is a fairly uncommon species here, and todays count is only one fewer than the all-time record. The 20 Whooper Swans remained and the Peregrine was seen again near the lighthouse.

23rd March

The day's highlight was an immature Iceland Gull that drifted along the west coast in the afternoon. A Peregrine was another new migrant, 20 Whooper Swans were scattered around the island and 11 Red-throated Divers were seen offshore. There was plenty of Skylark activity; the count of 217 was probably a very conservative estimate. Two Chaffinches and the Siskin remained at Holland.

The problem with having so many Fulmars is that they sometimes obstruct your view of Iceland Gulls.

19th - 22nd March

There were few migrants of note on the 19th: Skylarks increased in number to 120, an extra Chaffinch joined the 3 already present, 5 Meadow Pipits were counted and 4 Pied Wagtails were also seen. The following day was even quieter, with 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls the only new arrivals noted. A strong westerly wind on the 21st did nothing to bring any more landbirds to the island, but good counts of 15 Great Northern Divers and 8 Red-throated Divers were found sheltering in the leeward bays.

The 22nd produced a slightly more varied morning's birding. A movement of Whooper Swans involved 11 new birds joining the 6 wintering birds at the north of the island. A Great Skua was new to the year-list, 2 Rooks were at Westness, 5 Grey Herons drifted overhead, 9 Red-throated Divers were offshore and a Woodcock was near Ancum. Skylarks were evidently on the move: a count of 221 was the highest of the year so far. Twite numbers reached 145, while other passerines included 4 Song Thrushes, 6 Meadow Pipits, 4 Pied Wagtails and a lingering Dunnock. At least 3 Hen Harriers were present, including an adult male.

Mass hatch-outs of insects on the beaches have attracted large flocks of feeding Starlings.

Today's arrival was the first movement of Whooper Swans this year.

15th - 18th March

The 15th was very uneventful and provided little worth reporting: three Pink-footed Geese and three White-fronted Geese were still mingling with the Greylags and another Pied Wagtail was the only new passerine. The first Dunnock of the year at Twingness was the highlight of the 16th, with two Song Thrushes also arriving near the Observatory.

A distinct improvement was noted on the 17th, when the simultaneous arrival of a variety of new birds signalled that spring migration was finally getting under way. A Mistle Thrush, a Chaffinch and a Sparrowhawk were all new species for the year, as were at least 2 Whimbrels that turned up in the afternoon. Passerine migrants included a new Dunnock, a Robin, 3 Song Thrushes and 4 Pied Wagtails; and a few Skylarks made there way north during the morning. Two Woodcocks, the first for about a month, were found; an influx of Black-headed Gulls to the colonies reached 141 birds; the Golden Plover flock increased to 125; and 28 Snipe were seen - the highest count of a very poor couple of months for this species.

New birds for the year on the 18th were a female Siskin and a Kestrel. A scattering of thrushes included 2 Fieldfares, 2 Song Thrushes and about 10 newly arrived Blackbirds; two Robins near the lighthouse and three Chaffinches at Holland were also new; 6 Pied Wagtails were seen and the Dunnock was still at Twingness.

In the absence of any other decent shots this week, a Fulmar will have to do. A ubiquitous species on the island, large numbers of these birds can currently be seen all around the coastline.