The weather may have been atrocious this morning for the Hide Session at The Loons Hide but it didn't stop the serious business of getting the next generation of birds underway. At times the rain was lashing in through the open windows but everywhere I looked, I could see birds in pairs. A pair of mute swans proved a good indicator of when the next wave of rain was coming across, making a bee-line for the shelter of…

I had another very pleasant Monday morning at The Loons Hide this week. It was a bit cold at some points but the sun eventually came out and everything began to warm up. Just to tempt you into either coming along to a session or visiting at another time during the week: This is what you missed....

 Drake Shoveler 13.04.13, Ian Cunningham

32 bird species in 3 hours (plus the brown hares!)

• Mute Swans
• Coot
• Tea…

It was the first Hide Session of the year at The Loons today and the morning wasn't promising with heavy snow showers and most of the birds hunkering down out of the wind. I wasn't too optimistic about how many would drop in to the session (you wouldn't believe the numbers of layers of clothing I put on in preparation!) but the morning past quickly with 6 people enjoying what the hide…

Hi Everybody

The RSPB Orkney Events Calendar for 2013 is now published. Those with email will be receiving their copies tomorrow while the paper copies should land on doormats tomorrow also. Watch out for this arriving - hope you all enjoy the lovely hen harrier photo which adorns the front.

The programme covers hide sessions, guided walks - both on the mainland and the isles, a reminder about the Nature Festival in…

Entries close on 31 March for the RSPB’s Orkney Local Group and Orkney Camera Club year-long photographic competition - “Wild Orkney: The Way I See It”.  And don't forget there are some great prizes!

Photographs can be entered in four categories: Wild Open Spaces; Wonderful Colours of Orkney; Waves and Water; and Wondrous Nature in Detail.

You do not have to be an expert, an RSPB member or a camera…

Winter Bird Race

There was a good response to the 2013 bird race with a total of 8 teams taking part.

The race began at 9 am with teams spotting as many different birds as possible until finishing time at 5.30. My own team, which also included Malcolm Russell, Dick Matson and Willie Smith, were off to a flying start when Willie spotted an American Wigeon among a group of the more familiar types of the species from…

As part of the annual practical management work programme for the Birsay Moors at this time of year we are meant to complete some muirburn. However, often the Orkney weather has other ideas…

But the window of lovely settled weather we have had opened up a chance for us to get out on to the reserve and start some fires!

For me anyway at first, the idea of setting fire to a nature reserve seems wrong (well more…

At 10am on 11 January 2013 Stephen Kemp from Orkney Builders was admiring the view from his office window when all hell broke loose and a male Peregrine snatched a gull out of the sky, the Peregrine landed on the bird and proceeded to pluck the gull. The two images below were taken with Stephen's iphone... It must have been close.

"He sat there for around half an hour eating quite relaxed".  You can see…

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job on reserves during the winter months is carrying out a monthly count of wintering Hen Harriers using the Birsay Moors reserve communal roost. Selecting the right day weather wise is crucial as it can be a bitterly cold/damp session otherwise. Generally we try and arrive on site about an hour before sunset, with bird activity peaking around 15 minutes either side of sunset.  Concentration…

Hi Everybody

First may I wish all of you a Happy New Year and let's hope it's a successful one for Orkney's birds.

The programme for 2013 has already largely been planned and, of course, includes all the usual favourite outings. This year, though, we will give Westray a miss and visit the island of Eday in June instead. There is also a planned outing to Shapinsay in April - the perfect time to visit this…

 Ho, Ho, Ho

Thanks for viewing the blog in 2012. Here's to more interesting blogs in 2013.
RSPB Staff on Orkney

Some of the hardy band of local practical volunteers braved the slightly dodgy weather forecast and travelled over to Rousay to help Izzy (Onziebust and Trumland warden) today with a spot salmonberry removal.

Salmonberry is a North American plant that seems to have thrived in Orkney (find out more here http://www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/WOODLAND/index.asp?pageid=2954) and turned into a bit of a monster in places and…

Hi Everybody

The Charities Bazaar took place on November 10^th and volunteers helping on the day were: Megan Taylor, Fiona Fox, Graham Brown, Kathie Brown, Doreen Sinclair, Grace Currie, Davina Brown, Thora Craigie, Thelma Irvine, Maggie Currie, Kate Barrett, Pauline Wilson & Jim Williams.

Kate Barrett kindly donated a beautiful hand-made cot duvet for the raffle and this was won by Dora Mackay of Rendall. Kathie…

During the Grey Seal pupping season on Copinsay (late September to early November) I placed one of our trail cameras to overlook Little Sand Geo on Copinsay to try and capture some of the activities. I have added a few of the images below to give you a flavour of this colony on Copinsay.


At this time of year the weather on Orkney is not always favourable...


Expecting mothers hauled out preparing for the big push! Today the…

This summer we transformed a 3 acre field on the reserve from this...

 

to this………

A bird cover crop of mustard, fodder radish, kale, linseed, red clover and Phacelia.

 Yellow mustard flowers, mauve/white fodder radish and blue Phacelia flowers attracting insects.

Blue Phacelia is nectar rich and particularly attractive to bumblebees, especially the great yellow bumble bee which is very rare…

It’s the time of year for one of Orkney’s most fascinating wildlife spectacles – Grey seal pupping.  On exposed beaches all around the coast, pregnant Grey seals come to give birth and as well as being able to see the fluffy white offspring dotted along the shore, there is also a whole soap opera of activity unfolding on the beaches during this time – fighting males, defensive females, amorous encounters…

Now that it’s Autumn (well, it feels more like winter today...), the practical work parties have started up on the Mainland reserves again.  The group is made up of a number of  local volunteers who give up their time to help the RSPB. As well as a few stalwarts we have a number of new faces joining us this season, which is great! To give you an idea how valuable the work parties are to us, the volunteers put in 225…

It's that time of year again - it's noticeably cooler, the days are drawing in and the RSPB Local Group and Orkney Field Club holds its annual "Feed the Birds" event at the Wellpark Garden Centre.

This year's event held on 13th October, started off rather quietly probably due to a combination of heavy rain and the fact that it was the first day of the October school holiday. By lunchtime though,…

Image courtesy of Premysl Fojtu, Orkney Camera Club

Aileen Meek writes...
 
Whatever you thought of the summer that’s past, the season of winter wildness awaits and who knows what it will bring? Gentle winds or great gusts and gales, frost-crusted mornings or falls of snow that put a stop to all plans but create new ones like sledging and snowballs and then swadging by the fire! But don’t spend all winter by the fireside…

I thought our Local Group members might be interested to know how we fared in our two days of bag-packing in the Tesco Store - and the answer is exceedingly well!

Volunteers from our Group - and most of RSPB Orkney staff - all arrived as promised and worked hard on the task in hand with the result that the magnificent sum of £1305.28 was raised! This surpassed my expectations and I am grateful to all those who…

Can you help?

Scotland is a country proud of its rich natural heritage; it is home to iconic terrestrial species, wonderful birds, amazing marine life and is one of the most important places in the world for seabirds.

Many are shocked to learn that some of Scotland’s seabird colonies are on a trajectory toward extinction. That is why we need you to step up and act now by emailing Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary…

Stoat Monitoring

This is just a reminder about Sarah Sankey's plea for help by our local group members in placing stoat monitoring tubes at various locations (see my email about this). If you are thinking of volunteering but haven't yet got round to it, then there is no time like the present! Sarah's number is 01856 850176 or email: sarah.sankey@rspb.org.uk

Another Volunteering Opportunity

At a recent…

The Loons Hide session this morning was pretty eventful with a noteworthy six species of birds of prey seen during the 3hr event; Hen Harrier (2 males and at least a single ring-tail), Marsh Harrier (a fine male), Sparrowhawk (2 females), Peregrine (a distant male), Merlin (female) and a Kestrel.



Other birds of note were; Grey Heron (7), Curlew (80), Black-tailed Godwit (15), Snipe (40+), Water Rail (heard mainly and…