8th September

A few new arrivals made it here through the breezy westerly weather, including a small influx of Lapland Buntings, taking the number on the island to at least 11: harbingers, perhaps, of the previous autumn's spectacular incursion repeated. The first Grey Wagtail since April toured the island throughout the day, and the first Grey Plover for almost as long was also seen. Other new birds included 3 Peregrines, a Swift and 2 Willow Warblers, while a count of 101 Wheatears also involved some new migrants. Few seabirds of interest were seen, but, terns having been in short supply for a while, a Sandwich Tern, a Common Tern and 4 Arctic Terns were noteworthy.

Lingering highlights included the Barred Warbler, the Wood Sandpiper and 2 Little Stints.

7th September

A Citrine Wagtail seen in the morning was likely to be the same one as the previous week's sighting, and, just like that day, it quickly disappeared high into the sky and was not seen again. New passerines included a Barred Warbler, a Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Redpoll and a House Martin; those thought to be lingerers from earlier days included a Common Redstart, 2 Whinchats and a Willow Warbler.

A couple of Little Stints on the golf course were new, the Wood Sandpiper was still on Gretchen Loch, and at least 35 Ruffs were present. The most interesting seabirds were 12 Sooty Shearwaters, 6 Manx Shearwaters and a Sandwich Tern.

Little Stint

6th September

A very uneventful day had only a Willow Warbler and 2 Common Whitethroats by way of passerine migrants. A Curlew Sandpiper on the west coast was probably a new migrant, while the Wood Sandpiper was still on Gretchen Loch and 3 Black-tailed Godwits and 31 Ruffs remained on the island.

Wood Sandpiper

5th September

Despite a fairly promising weather forecast for the morning there appeared to be almost no new birds whatsoever. A Grasshopper Warbler and a second Lapland Bunting were the most interesting, and 3 White Wagtails, a Whinchat and a Common Sandpiper were also probably new. A few notable species remained from earlier in the week: the Wryneck was still on the west coast, the Barred Warbler was in Holland House garden, the Wood Sandpiper was on Gretchen Loch and the Little Stint and a Curlew Sandpiper remained near the lighthouse. Other odds and ends included a Red-throated Diver, a Great Northern Diver, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Garden Warbler and 3 Willow Warblers.

The Curlew Sandpiper is presumably a bird from the flock of 5 earlier in the week.

2nd September

A presumed Citrine Wagtail seen briefly near Garso Loch in the morning provided a bit of excitement at the end of an otherwise very quiet morning census. The observatory staff, setting off to drive to the north end of the island to try and relocate it, made a lucky decision to drop off the recycling at the bottle bank on the way and found the wagtail, now easily confirmed as a Citrine, sat on the pier right in front of them.

A new Barred Warbler was seen at Cursetter, while the long-staying ringed bird remained in Holland House garden and the flock of 4 Common Rosefinches remained at Gravity.

1st September

September, often anticipated as the most exciting month of the birding calendar, began in absolutely pterrific style with a fantastic Fea's Petrel cruising past the seawatching hide at 0800 in the morning. This will be the third record for the island, following birds in September 2002 and October 2010.

As with most fly-by seabirds, photographs were just not possible, but the field sketches from Paul's incredibly neat notebook amply illustrate the bird's main features.

Numbers of commoner seabirds were not as high as the previous day: the totals after 4 hours came to 888 Fulmars, 34 Manx Shearwaters, 22 Sooty Shearwaters, 6 Storm Petrels, 214 Gannets and a Red-throated Diver. The day's scarce migrant landbirds were the same Barred Warbler at Holland House and 5 Common Rosefinches - a flock of 4 at Gravity and a single bird at the school. Other passerines included a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Whinchats, 2 Garden Warblers and 6 Willow Warblers. A Kestrel and a new Peregrine were seen, while the remaining Little Stint and 4 Curlew Sandpipers were the best of the waders.

31st August

Numbers of birds remained quite low, but a few new odds and ends seemed to have arrived and a fair selection of species was seen. The first Marsh Warbler of the autumn near Bridesness was probably the pick of the passerines, although 3 Barred Warblers and 3 Common Rosefinches were also seen. Other small migrants included a Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Willow Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 5 Whinchats and 5 White Wagtails.

Nearly 6 hours in the seawatching hide produced an adult Pomarine Skua (a new species for the year), 31 Great Skuas, 1 Arctic Skua, 37 Sooty Shearwaters, 29 Manx Shearwaters, 35 Storm Petrels, 852 Gannets and 1156 Fulmars, one of which was a blue morph bird.

A Red-throated Diver and 2 Great Northern Divers flew by, an adult Peregrine was seen, and waders included a Wood Sandpiper, the same 5 Curlew Sandpipers and 27 Ruffs.

The day's non-avian highlight was another Basking Shark, this time loitering off the west coast.

Marsh Warbler is a description species in Orkney, so even the most distant photos are worth getting.

Basking Sharks, the second largest species of fish in the world, are now annual summer visitors to the waters surrounding North Ronaldsay. Today's individual was estimated at a fairly modest 5m in length, but some exceptional specimens have been known to exceed 12m.