tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30969868447814948822024-03-05T05:34:41.672-08:00NRBO LifeWelcome to the North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory 'Obs Life' blog. This is the place to keep up to date with the observatory's work and daily goings-on: a weekly journal by the NRBO staff about all aspects of life at the obs. For up-to-date news of bird sightings, please visit our sightings blog at http://northronbirdobs.blogspot.com/.northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-49860979848683387902014-01-11T12:07:00.003-08:002014-01-27T12:41:52.157-08:00NRBO is now on Facebook and Twitter!!!<div style="text-align: center;">
NRBO now has its own Facebook and Twitter pages-we will be updating here regularly with all aspects of life at the Observatory instead of the Obs life blog. Click on the icons on the right of the page for all the latest news.</div>
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northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-14830265826563411772013-04-11T08:00:00.001-07:002013-04-11T08:00:50.953-07:00Simon - A new face!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hi, this is my first Obs Life blog entry as I’m a new
addition to the wardening team here this year; I come fresh from spending all
last year in Broome, Western Australia, I’ve noticed a slight temperature
change since being here but I’ve spent a few seasons working on Shetland and
Fair Isle in the past so I soon reacclimatised!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an unplanned coincidence Ric, AW here for
the last couple of years, has moved down-under to take over my old job in
Broome, perhaps not a big surprise given the small, incestuous Bird Observatory
world!</span></div>
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My home last year - pretty much identical to Nouster Bay!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My first few weeks here have been filled with a wide variety
of jobs, largely concerned with getting the Observatory ready for the upcoming
season, I've helped paint most of the walls in the hostel, cleaned lots of things,
made repairs and small adaptations to the Helgoland traps near the Observatory,
put mist nets up in anticipation for the vegetation to grow up and generally
got my head round the running of the Obs including the bar, kitchen, rooms etc and my role in amongst it all.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another major job resulting from the severe storms over the
winter months has been to make a start on rebuilding large portions of the
sheep dyke round the island which has been washed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve just started a section near Gretchen
Loch as it’s close to the Obs, provides good cover for migrants during an
easterly blow and allows folks to reach the hide overlooking the Loch without
disturbing the birds before getting inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good progress has been made with Mark and myself having several
afternoon sessions while lately we’ve been joined by roving dyke-builder
extraordinaire Dougie who has speeded up the process no end! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unsurprisingly I’ve also been carrying out the daily bird
census of the island, exploring my way round, getting to know all the promising
looking dykes, ditches and clumps of vegetation where migrants will turn up
through the season but the trickiest part has been trying to learn the names of
the crofts, fields and sections of the coast – I’m slowly getting there but it
will be a long process!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also
carried out several mist-netting sessions at Holland House with the definite
highlight being a cracking Long-eared Owl while a Curlew was certainly a
surprise catch in amongst the Sycamores in the garden!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I write this with the famous North Ronaldsay Panto looming
large on the horizon (Saturday night!), I’ve been told it’s a huge gala-like
event with a lively dance afterwards to get involved with – although I have to
bear in mind, the last time I was dancing in the Northern Isles I ended up
breaking my foot in three places, although that was to Blondie and not Scottish
country dancing…….perhaps I should be more worried thinking about it!</span><br />
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The result of the last time I danced in the Northern Isles!</div>
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northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-56852285743304524232013-03-14T08:56:00.000-07:002013-03-14T08:59:45.630-07:00Mark-A 'big' surprise<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A quiet month really since we last updated... NOT!!! You’ll have done well not to have heard about North Ronaldsay recently, something to do with a Walrus...? But just in-case you’ve been practising being an Ostrich with your head in the sand for the last couple of weeks, I’ll tell the tale again about how the world went mad for North Ronaldsay!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our news, quite literally made the National news at the beginning of March when I stumbled upon that lump of blubber on the beach at Bridesness. With a bit of help from the World Wide Web, within an hour our phone was ringing to call centre levels, the blog page was receiving more hits than in a Boxing match and I found myself needing an agent to handle all the subsequent interviews and photo requests. For the next week the whole country, in fact the whole world (we even had a call from Japanese TV) wanted to know about Waldo, our Walrus superstar. There were too many to mention but highlights for me were a chat with Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 Breakfast show and the fantastic page 3 spread in the Daily Record. The publicity has been fantastic for the Observatory but thankfully the media frenzy has subsided a little, although we are still getting requests for pictures and quotes daily.</span></div>
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The picture which made the BBC Breakfast news and among others the Times newspaper. He's not a circus Walrus...honest.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So... onto some other news and some of the ‘proper’ work we’ve been up to. Birding is always a bit slow at the start of year, but I’ve been trying to get out for at least a few hours each day-if only for a walk around the block with Fleur and Pumpkin. It’s been freezing cold the vast majority of the time, with what has seemed like a constant northerly airstream. There’s not been much, with ‘white-winged’ Gulls virtually absent but I have managed to dig out the first wintering records of Stock Dove, Velvet Scoter and flock of Black-tailed Godwits, all of which have kept me going. Oh yeah-and a Walrus!!! Nearly 100 Twite have been trapped and ringed at the baited whoosh net site but the first Wheatears and Chiffchaffs still seem a long way off yet and even further so today as we’ve had our first settling Snow.</span></div>
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The view from the bedroom window this morning-we can't see the Wheatears for all the Snow!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve mentioned recently the demise of the sheep dyke, and although I haven’t actually built any wall I spent a week with a few Islanders fencing off the area which was brought down at Gretchen. I’m not a fan of fencing but needs must-soon we’ll be rebuilding the punds before the sheep are taken in at the beginning of April. Luckily most of my work of late has been of the indoor variety, although I have had to replace or repair a couple of shed doors damaged during some rough stuff in February. The bird report is all but finished with Alison doing the final proof reading this week. Everything is as it should, printer tests have been completed and the final printing of our 107 page, second annual report is due to start next week. There’s been a bit of painting and general repairs to guest areas but the major project which I’ve just finished has been the assembling of the display of the birds of North Ronaldsay posters we designed last year. They look good and will prove a great help for guests to identify some of our commoner species during visits to the Observatory.</span></div>
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The new information display in the Observatory Shop</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve had a few such guests with Fleur kept busy when virtually every builder or water board operative descending on us during the only calm, windless week of the period. With Easter looming, tourists will soon also be arriving and bookings are coming in fast. There’s also the traditional pantomime coming up with Alison and I again featuring, although the audience will no doubt be disappointed that I’m not repeating my fan dance this year! We don’t seem very good yet and with several cast members away and missing practises, our performance of Little Red Riding Hood may not be ‘alright on the night’. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Simon is due to arrive next week and along with Alison and I we plan to begin daily census again. There’s easterlies forecast but it’s probably a bit early for too many migrants to arrive, but you never know, and there's always White-billed Divers and King Eiders to look for. If winter persists then hopefully the increased coverage will turn up one of these...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One farmers attempt to scare the Geese off his fields should work if he manages to attract breeding Gyr Falcons to the Island!</span></div>
northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-27013062384601495082013-02-12T11:36:00.003-08:002013-02-12T11:40:27.685-08:00Fleur-winter, a wedding and windy weather!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Well it’s finally time for the blog update!! I know many of you have been enquiring as to why it hasn’t been updated for so long and we can but apologise. Having had a busy season and with the boys and I whizzing off here and there, there never seemed to be enough time. But now we are back and it is at the top of my list – so here we go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">As many of you might have known Mark and myself were getting married at Christmas this year and I am pleased to report we managed to do that successfully! The weather was pretty awful in Cornwall on the run up to the wedding but everybody managed to get there and we had the most amazing day- even the rain went on strike for most of it!! Kevin, Alison, Heather, Gavin and the dogs all made the long journey down from North Ronaldsay to join us and helped teach the Cornish folk some proper Scottish dancing although several people did get a little over enthusiastic and almost caused fatalities, but ‘Dance-master’ Kevin soon had it all going smoothly. Heather’s amazing fiddle playing brought a touch of the islands to Cornwall and it was beautiful. Also I must add that our lovely Rael ( and of course my gorgeous husband Mark) scrubbed up pretty well for the occasion and did the Bird Obs proud- in fact I expect many of you barely recognise them without torn clothing, eau d’ Fulmar and binoculars!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The new Mr and Mrs Warren and Rael doing his best catalogue pose!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">After the wedding we were lucky enough to visit Cuba on honeymoon (Mark and Myself – not Rael!) and we had the most amazing trip. There was even time to have a look at some of the native bird species- much to Mark’s delight I even spotted some myself. (I think this bird watching business is starting to rub off on me!) We saw Hummingbirds, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Palm and Cape May Warblers (the latter seemed to have a penchant for butter and mayonnaise) and my highlight a Giant Lizard Cuckoo! And so my fate as a birding WAG was sealed it would seem!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The Giant Lizard Cuckoo -We initially thought this was a monkey from the amount of noise it was making crashing about in the trees. Unlikely to turn up on North Ron-apparently they're not the greatest fliers of the world! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The Cape May Warbler-This cheeky little chap was obviously onto a good thing as he discovered the butter bowl and on the buffet – he kept diving in for a mouthful every few minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Now we are back to North Ronaldsay and there was a bit of a surprise on our return. Apparently Cornwall wasn’t the only place over the winter to have a heavy dose of rain and wind! North Ronaldsay took a huge battering and as a result we are now missing 3-4 miles of our sheep dyke. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the damage was to the east side of the island until the week we returned when we saw firsthand how powerful the sea really is. In the space of an hour one afternoon the whole of the wall around Gretchen Loch was demolished by the waves sweeping into the bay-you could have gone surfing on the Loch! Surprisingly there was one survivor – Gretchen Bird Hide! Against all odds it survived with no damage to it. For any visitors returning to us this year, you will be in for a bit of a shock as you wander about the island. The wall is going to be re built but the estimated time frame for this is unknown at the moment-it may well be years!</span><br />
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Gretchen during the storm</div>
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Part of the (former) eastern dyke near Bewan</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">And now to finish up on Obs news! There have been a few changes at the Obs this year as Ric has opted for a change of scene and headed over to sunnier climes in Australia! (You can’t really blame him after the weather here this winter!) He is doing a placement over in Broom Bird Observatory for a year – quite a change from North Ron as apparently so far in the kitchen he has had to remove a Python, Brown Goshawk and an Australian Giant Centipede! Rael too has decided on a change investigating opportunities abroad and plans to spend a bit more time at Spurn this year. I’m sure we will still see plenty of him although he will not be a regular fixture here this season. So that means we will be getting some new staff due to start in March. We will introduce you to them in the next blog update. Exciting and busy times ahead for all of us here on North Ronaldsay so we really will keep you updated a little bit better this year!</span></div>
northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-29474796281774484292012-04-01T04:32:00.003-07:002012-04-01T04:32:55.841-07:00Mark<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spring is here! The first (exceptionally early) Swallow and Sand Martins have been seen and we're all gearing up for a busy season of visitors and hopefully an equally busy season for birds. The “to do list” we put together at the beginning of the winter has been added to almost as rapidly as jobs have been completed and ticked off, but we're getting there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Firstly, an update on our last update. The eagerly anticipated (by us anyway) first North Ronaldsay annual bird report is in the final stages of its development. Weeks of proof reading, checking data and editing is all but finished. The materials have arrived and we just await one more article and it’s printing time. So don’t be expecting much bird news this spring as Ric, Rael and I will be locking ourselves in the office arguing with the printer until it’s done. It’s been a larger task than we initially anticipated but hopefully we’ve done the groundwork so our successors will find producing the 20<sup>th</sup> NRBO report in years to come somewhat easier. Also this month the transformation of the old flagstone room into a combined shop and visitor information display is progressing, albeit slowly, and we hope to open this new area to guests in a few weeks' time. There still seems to be an endless amount of paperwork coming out of Alison’s office, but at least after two hours of struggling, a hole in the wall and a box of wine gums later, the giant sofa has found itself a new home at the Old Manse. The new clothing range and stock has been ordered and includes NRBO Hoodies for the first time, and as I write this Ric is working out ‘Photoshop’ and beginning to design some of our new display boards. Tied in with this is the re-invention of the dog-porch. Our two sheepdogs Rhinay and Pot have moved over to Lurand with Kevin and Alison, so the former dog porch has had a lick of paint, all the old un-wanted Jackets, wellies and waterproofs sent to the charity shop and has now become a boot porch and cloakroom for our guests' outdoor belongings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also in the last month we’ve all gone a bit ‘green fingers’ crazy - It must be all these Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall programs on the TV at the moment. The unexpected warm weather has prompted us to get our vegetable patch rotavated early, weeded and our newly sown parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions and everyone’s favourite, the potatoes, await the virtually guaranteed April showers and sunshine. Fleur has also joined in, though she’s opted for the much more sensible flat kitchen as her growing space. And with the wide variety of fruit and vegetables she’s planted, even watermelons may soon be appearing on the menu! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rotavating the vegetable patch. I may have said this before, but there’ll be a Pine Bunting in there this time next week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The list of jobs we’ve ticked off is endless and far too many to mention them all, especially with Martha here all month helping out. The Hostel has been fully re-painted ready for the new season as has the bar and corridor. Rael and I finished replacing the fabric on the chairs and with better weather we’ve been able to get on with some outside jobs. The fence and heligoland traps have been given coats of wood-seal and creosote respectively and we’ve planted more fuscia, rhubarb and black-current about the Observatory, mainly in the vicinity of the new heligoland traps. We’ve also transferred a trailer load of irises from Ancum to a field at the Observatory, with the aim that one day we’ll have an annoyingly un-birdable area just like Bridesness on our doorstep in the not too distant future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Transferring Irises from Ancum</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Vistors over the last month included two gentlemen from the Highland and Islands Fire Brigade, over to present Kevin with a commemorative axe to mark his retirement from the Islands Fire Service. After almost thirty years of service most of the brigade were present to honour this achievement and it was of course good reason for a few drinks and a go on Ric’s err.. unicycle?</span></div>
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Kevin's new axe will come in handy once all our trees will have grown to forest proportions by next year!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The new fire vehicle has a few health and safety issues to be resolved before it can attend plane duty!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It would seem panto season is also upon us once again on the Island, and yes I have once again been tempted to cross-dress for the occasion. The grand performance of ‘Swanney Loch’ will take place in a week’s time. It seems that everybody, not just me, is playing the opposite sex, with Alison becoming somewhat typecast as the courageous hero for the umpteenth year in succession. I however, have the role of the evil sorcerer's less than beautiful daughter. The audience had better have their earplugs at the ready for when I sing, and they may require councilling after I’ve performed an interesting fan dance - previously performed by one Dita Von Teese! I have a feeling Fleur in particular may suffer lasting trauma!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finding emarginations and taking biometrics on these wings has proved a little tricky!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Until next time, I have panto lines to learn...</span></div>
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</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-83784274054935512072012-03-06T09:52:00.001-08:002012-03-06T09:54:03.994-08:00Ric: back for 2012<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Although I spent more than a couple of months away from the obs during the winter, it was nice to get back again in mid February to help the others get the place ready for the fast-approaching start of the new season.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Before I could get back to work, there was some furniture rearrangement to be done. I spent my first year here with three extra, unused beds, numerous superfluous mattresses and several sets of unneeded lockers taking up most of the space in my bedroom, but my abode for 2012 was soon rearranged, and now contains a more appropriate bed:person ratio and a new wardrobe. The many dusty old boxes of crockery that spent the last year stashed away untouched beneath the redundant bunks have been removed, along with the two large boxes of fireworks, the compendium of adult drinking games and the fossilised vomit stain left on the wall behind the beds by one of the room's long-previous occupants (not me!).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The staff office also got a bit of an overhaul. A new computer desk was brought in to replace the one with the bent leg, and we tidied everything else up enough to move a couple of proper chairs into the room. The daily log will certainly be conducted in a higher degree of spacious comfort from now on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVWCpFO1dOecEvIFMMlua5eZGqjVfkiJ28KDv_4inIhmi99y2gWfNGxqYEOkPmCN8A7NXf1vDxfadbUBV7bz7YpSzsWYkpoQjaq4AKjuFjd3AdrYC2A7LiTid6DjivZqtpblKKWfX9nS_/s1600/office1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVWCpFO1dOecEvIFMMlua5eZGqjVfkiJ28KDv_4inIhmi99y2gWfNGxqYEOkPmCN8A7NXf1vDxfadbUBV7bz7YpSzsWYkpoQjaq4AKjuFjd3AdrYC2A7LiTid6DjivZqtpblKKWfX9nS_/s320/office1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The new office set-up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are, as usual, many small tasks to keep us busy, but we also have two current, larger projects that we are working on. The first of these is the transformation of the old staff room into a combined shop and visitor information display. We have already started by beginning to clear the room, burning as much of the many years’ worth of accumulated birders’ clutter that we can bear to be rid of, and appropriating the furniture and any genuinely useful odds and ends in other parts of the building – although a new home has yet to be agreed on for Mark’s Girls Aloud poster. Eventually, the space created will contain displays about the work of the observatory and the wildlife of the island, as well as exhibiting merchandise and supplies in a convenient way for the guests to browse.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our other big project is the production of NRBO’s first ever bird report. Our annual bird records have always been summarised in the Orkney Bird Report, which presents them in the context of the whole archipelago; but we are in the process of creating our own, additional, report for 2011, documenting just our own sightings and activities. Most of the text is already written and edited, but the labours of home-publishing are beginning to become apparent. Mark and I spent a whole afternoon pitting our combined wits against a stubborn and temperamental printer that inexplicably stopped working at random and inappropriate moments, in an attempt to produce a complete prototype copy. Eventually, after much frustration and a lot of trial and error, we succeeded in getting each page not only printed, but printed the right way up, at the right size, on the right type of paper and in the right order. Johannes Gutenberg probably printed his first bible more quickly than we did our first report, but we seem to be getting the hang of it and hope to have saleable copies available soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6mB2dqOY78RYb5zTuqE9cE9dSoZ_LQ0Hg6RC2LVdhdj2gn6C6IAPCj_4YqZ7R5TsL3TWHIx6eTkDGrO8sLU_ahniVQDBfLW05CM091URp4rsGXoV-ze3zeEEVll-zjgSLlC1NCYMMhvx/s1600/report+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6mB2dqOY78RYb5zTuqE9cE9dSoZ_LQ0Hg6RC2LVdhdj2gn6C6IAPCj_4YqZ7R5TsL3TWHIx6eTkDGrO8sLU_ahniVQDBfLW05CM091URp4rsGXoV-ze3zeEEVll-zjgSLlC1NCYMMhvx/s320/report+front.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpZi-XsHp0x-ttBrJByccq_BrMgmoLNKeSZFkf5YNrg-g1BPlYhawJI5G_JwNRrscS_sPB20b7wq9cXJDD5BLpV-gxZgzamvBGS-tWYgNTlJP65j8W_XXKOQHxLgG5DBx7yYKrfc1D4ME/s1600/report+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpZi-XsHp0x-ttBrJByccq_BrMgmoLNKeSZFkf5YNrg-g1BPlYhawJI5G_JwNRrscS_sPB20b7wq9cXJDD5BLpV-gxZgzamvBGS-tWYgNTlJP65j8W_XXKOQHxLgG5DBx7yYKrfc1D4ME/s320/report+back.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0c343d;">The prototype copy of the first NRBO annual report: front and back views.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Other activities in the last week or so have included some maintenance of the Heligoland traps, fixing and updating the website, punding the sheep, repunding the sheep after they escaped, and the Sisyphean task of refilling all the potholes in the track to the observatory. And, of course, we are always looking out for any migrant birds that might begin to appear as we get closer to the start of spring. We are aiming to break the island year-list record for the second successive year, and, with a full team of wardens in place for the whole season again, we think we stand every chance – especially as 2012 has one more day of bird-finding potential than 2011 did.</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-61425564791035335452012-02-17T10:23:00.002-08:002012-02-17T10:29:32.321-08:00Rael: Glad to be back<span lang="EN-US">Illness related fatigue meant an early exit for me last season, consequently missing a large chunk of an outstanding birding year on North Ronaldsay to take a’ time-out’ ,or my interpretation of such at Spurn Point, occasionally Hull Royal Infirmary before heading home for a 3 month spell in the gym, my preparation for an early return to North Ronaldsay, with intension of completing or at least starting the practical jobs in and around The Observatory before spring gets underway and guests arrive…. And here I am, mid February, enjoying myself.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Of course the first few days were spent logging what birds were present, and we have since made a good compromise between birding and what most readers will consider, ‘proper’ work. Either birding in the morning and working in the afternoon/evening, or working all day with the Whoosh Net set catching Twite as and when we could. An added bonus to this early arrival was that it coincided with the current influx of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls into the Northern Isles; a maximum of 42 individuals casually logged in January alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8YAMcxUMg6gDuLxVucvnc_8TDT-ycUk5p8UOrbWRWbjwJyeddpYy3miwQplMPXZf3HhjUgMQ4VqHNWvS68ak9ewcDRJM_w1eDXpMIEkrie6o2FAnk4IXrHXx2w9luSDj_eCYEdxx5rOb/s1600/Wader+Nets+Brides'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8YAMcxUMg6gDuLxVucvnc_8TDT-ycUk5p8UOrbWRWbjwJyeddpYy3miwQplMPXZf3HhjUgMQ4VqHNWvS68ak9ewcDRJM_w1eDXpMIEkrie6o2FAnk4IXrHXx2w9luSDj_eCYEdxx5rOb/s320/Wader+Nets+Brides'.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wader Nets at Brides' Loch</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptXZpMBDvlcStGvoAWG6gnEKmbY_fyyL9tErp72zob_C2c8dDIqvNDDLLy-_QMmxAcpJOZQlnsjJCy565gh9SfFTkxnUOXgAFIORXIeacHnzqHwZYRVljG2U_PniBRQlPTdIfQ3zCkeou/s1600/Whoosh+Net+Tattie+Patch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptXZpMBDvlcStGvoAWG6gnEKmbY_fyyL9tErp72zob_C2c8dDIqvNDDLLy-_QMmxAcpJOZQlnsjJCy565gh9SfFTkxnUOXgAFIORXIeacHnzqHwZYRVljG2U_PniBRQlPTdIfQ3zCkeou/s320/Whoosh+Net+Tattie+Patch.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Whoosh Net for Twite</div><div align="center"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Firstly the eyesore that was the burning pit and compost heap has now been neatly fenced, recycling the wood from the once strawberry patch, and all large stone taken from the Burning Pit used to tidy stone dyking by The Observatory and the rest taken to Funny Park to heighten and therefore sheep-proof the outer dyke, with hopes of bringing this field back into rotation with the surrounding the 34 acre croft land in the near future.</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGT6V8B1yGaRiU8S9T2Hbp_P9y2K7U_q3IwV63APf5R1XyBJZEM1K0rKaWSUrgknH6vlcrCgBv10zKO6Z3qh1DYjlwQFc7OM2MCY5uct9J33wZ7bNfeDRSuzZ-lo-x5nVG0hNbAnxp2GqU/s1600/Old+Burning+Pit+&+Compost+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGT6V8B1yGaRiU8S9T2Hbp_P9y2K7U_q3IwV63APf5R1XyBJZEM1K0rKaWSUrgknH6vlcrCgBv10zKO6Z3qh1DYjlwQFc7OM2MCY5uct9J33wZ7bNfeDRSuzZ-lo-x5nVG0hNbAnxp2GqU/s320/Old+Burning+Pit+&+Compost+.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-F4HyVcMoLCoCeS9eQnemnVRwfynE2oeQqaBOC9REICDDVkb4BfxDuvW5M4r7dY6D3YAUClZZvH5V6aykaiaj0PsUqejBnUauYZoWOyCmXoBErWHJKLU36YzUtcKArw7VxUAPUQYE0qD/s1600/Burning+Pit+&+Compost+4..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-F4HyVcMoLCoCeS9eQnemnVRwfynE2oeQqaBOC9REICDDVkb4BfxDuvW5M4r7dY6D3YAUClZZvH5V6aykaiaj0PsUqejBnUauYZoWOyCmXoBErWHJKLU36YzUtcKArw7VxUAPUQYE0qD/s320/Burning+Pit+&+Compost+4..jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFHYJMKT1Ijlh3QIlSdIojX6IWXI7SEd_tBsRw60dsmBW8rxJhe7YdssF1lSKXOttpUbhZGTE6dLfP5v4PWr4fqqx5iX2EY114YHhsCSim52gDHMrMgOZudgsP2oYIFb0jcMMry2eWMaM/s1600/Caithness+Tile+dyke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFHYJMKT1Ijlh3QIlSdIojX6IWXI7SEd_tBsRw60dsmBW8rxJhe7YdssF1lSKXOttpUbhZGTE6dLfP5v4PWr4fqqx5iX2EY114YHhsCSim52gDHMrMgOZudgsP2oYIFb0jcMMry2eWMaM/s320/Caithness+Tile+dyke.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dyke repairs and Burning Pit/Compost Heap before & after</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Decorating was our next mission, with the re-painting of all Guest House rooms and also my own room, giving Mark and Fleur some space and the chance to sort the flat which had been my luxury accommodation for the previous few weeks. I know have a walk along the corridor and stairs between my room and the bathroom, which is fine – in summer! Although in fairness, despite lots of rain plus the usual strong winds it’s been surprisingly mild so far, a statement Fleur may dispute. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Before continuing my post, after a 13 year spell at North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory, I must mention now former assistant Paul Brown, who left the island recently, his loss will impact The Observatory and Islanders alike, not to mention bar sales! His discovery of a Siberian Blue Robin in October 2001 is surely never to be forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Continuing with the decorating, Paul’s departure left another room to be painted and consequently a re-jig of the layout of the rooms; this becoming the new staff room, only to be re-decorated by Pumpkin days later…don’t ask! Having a small porch for boots and outdoor clothing adjoining meant the previous, larger boot room would become the guest boot room. The former larger, darker and much colder staff room known as the Flagstone Room, is now our indoor focus, along with re-covering all the dining chairs, and will soon be utilized more effectively. Next on the agenda is clearing the conservatory of furniture and de-cluttering the assistant warden’s office whilst Alison hopefully begins the mammoth task of sorting hers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62VVdl1WMaeCuWYRBtlknGQ6tENi-up1BKiIELVbDhmrQlgifZmm4Xkfsd5VA1xuLLM-ICdhTbvFB8Lk9T_NyALoNGLSgtMrK9Fz_N33jkuo7Z0iPiMs86CuYjMFTz5a5KmSjCU4U4tyD/s1600/Staff+Room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62VVdl1WMaeCuWYRBtlknGQ6tENi-up1BKiIELVbDhmrQlgifZmm4Xkfsd5VA1xuLLM-ICdhTbvFB8Lk9T_NyALoNGLSgtMrK9Fz_N33jkuo7Z0iPiMs86CuYjMFTz5a5KmSjCU4U4tyD/s320/Staff+Room.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">New Staff Room</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US">As I mentioned earlier we have put a few hours aside for playing, the dead seal we set up with a whoosh-net making a few Heligoland trap alterations, and sooner than we anticipated <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>trapped the Glaucous Gull that had been feeding on it for weeks, but we’ve still much work to be done such as preparing the storm battered polytunnel, but with the arrival fellow assistant Ric, and last year’s volunteer Martha this morning, the extra effort should get things progressing faster and we begin our routine daily census.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuWTTlnGbDyP8p4ZHcdktp1Jc3tyPn1FN3UtOaLEInXSjv_uDtPiv0dUgb_OYjOd9v0TOL7na_xz4o-s144py4v4Sil8qm3A10UkstADyJyKI8mMbAGqWFu8nA9J4UZJJ19y0GDjuQMJx/s1600/Whoosh+Net+seal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOuWTTlnGbDyP8p4ZHcdktp1Jc3tyPn1FN3UtOaLEInXSjv_uDtPiv0dUgb_OYjOd9v0TOL7na_xz4o-s144py4v4Sil8qm3A10UkstADyJyKI8mMbAGqWFu8nA9J4UZJJ19y0GDjuQMJx/s320/Whoosh+Net+seal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Whoosh Net for Glaucous Gull</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT7NQaFnNysSIsXLjZ3GTUE1z24oyJFJwViWpVsnNd5ge0nMcjM8nO99i-ybUumjAyiWnPSjPgHFgO2E2YBFZaV4MopJ1s6WFI1rrX4zJ0aw8XzUSy5XCVZzhMcw6kVvoaW8LmppHDtcz/s1600/P1000423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT7NQaFnNysSIsXLjZ3GTUE1z24oyJFJwViWpVsnNd5ge0nMcjM8nO99i-ybUumjAyiWnPSjPgHFgO2E2YBFZaV4MopJ1s6WFI1rrX4zJ0aw8XzUSy5XCVZzhMcw6kVvoaW8LmppHDtcz/s320/P1000423.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Glaucous Gull</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-58937110079811741632012-02-06T10:47:00.000-08:002012-02-06T10:47:37.594-08:00Fleur : New Year and lots to do<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well it’s been a little while since I last did the blog so I thought it was about time that I had another go! I think it’s safe to say that all though we are out of season and quiet on the guest front there has been lots and lots of things going on around the Obs! Kevin, Alison and the kids have finally moved into their new house which is great news! Although it is not quite finished they managed to spend Christmas Day with their family in there – although it was a close run thing as the new cooker didn’t turn up until the day before Christmas Eve!!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mark, Pumpkin and I were lucky enough to go home to Cornwall for a month over the Christmas Period. While we enjoy Island life it was fantastic to get away for a while and noticeably warmer in Penzance although Pumpkin was definitely not feeling on festive on Christmas Day when we put her in her Mrs Claus outfit. Mark got to go to KFC, although for those of you driving up or down the M6 our research has shown that if you don’t stop at the Gretna services, there isn’t another one until Preston! It was great to go out with many of our friends and family we hadn’t seen for nearly nine months and to try and sort out some wedding things. The boys got their suits sorted out which was the one of the main things, but they’ll have to lay off the pasties until December.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjp0KyZdeR6gQxY3fLhN7a8TuYFWgsktQcCiw6Rm8v3x5UNhcAprtAX2RhMytfOazGzdRo0BggEME7WC4djkajh5ViwR_3j_YShzz-0TF2yagICA1666qqb6RzmclU7lRFS17QT3VSFUS/s1600/pumpkin2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjp0KyZdeR6gQxY3fLhN7a8TuYFWgsktQcCiw6Rm8v3x5UNhcAprtAX2RhMytfOazGzdRo0BggEME7WC4djkajh5ViwR_3j_YShzz-0TF2yagICA1666qqb6RzmclU7lRFS17QT3VSFUS/s320/pumpkin2012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pumpkin auditioning for an ITV2 programme!</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNbzCkV7ea_t5lD6a5gvPcdLXfwdZ3OgfY_X5NTGiGsbjzXv27vUDnGHB6sAcCysaTajODeKjeZjR6mzZFHhQDHOeNHso2pJEPN8L-fi6ujQaDZeXJksucWUVYWSShmsZ8wuUkR1JoUQz/s1600/mark+xmas+dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNbzCkV7ea_t5lD6a5gvPcdLXfwdZ3OgfY_X5NTGiGsbjzXv27vUDnGHB6sAcCysaTajODeKjeZjR6mzZFHhQDHOeNHso2pJEPN8L-fi6ujQaDZeXJksucWUVYWSShmsZ8wuUkR1JoUQz/s320/mark+xmas+dinner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mark’s Christmas Dinner courtesy of my brother-it was bigger than Pumpkin!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a month off it was a little shock to the system to come back to the Island and the Obs. Mainly because the temperature was so much colder! I’m still struggling to get used to it. Having said that in North Ronaldsay terms its actually been quite reasonable since we got back. There have been plenty of rain free days and recently we have even had 3 or 4 days of hardly any wind at all, which as anyone who has visited us will know is very rare.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmCw0OWKrJosgDj-71_YXFoB7WqWYNRr7SwQcOBkDgHYkpFa6YspiVzXBn9vIVwX1dICuSV4w_Cii4F3wg2En49mCunQZGd5ONRR2FSX35h5DyLhhD27vxr52Ju8PeuQy-3JWvSiQl0uM/s1600/snowdrops2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmCw0OWKrJosgDj-71_YXFoB7WqWYNRr7SwQcOBkDgHYkpFa6YspiVzXBn9vIVwX1dICuSV4w_Cii4F3wg2En49mCunQZGd5ONRR2FSX35h5DyLhhD27vxr52Ju8PeuQy-3JWvSiQl0uM/s320/snowdrops2012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some beautiful snow drops have started flowering in little patches at Holland House and daffodils are sprouting at the side of the roads so it gives hope that spring is on the way.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now as I said there has been a huge ‘to do’ list made for things to be done around the Obs, so it’s just as well that Rael has rejoined us back on the island! He and Mark wasted no time getting started and began by dismantling the old burning pit and relocating it further away from the Obs. As I write this they’re putting together a wooden fence in its place and we will soon have a giant compost heap instead. We have also spent time redecorating all the rooms in the guesthouse so that they are all fresh for the new season – although for some reason we seem to get more paint on ourselves that goes on the walls and we’ve still got the hostel and bar to do!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were lucky enough to be back on the island for Burns night this year. Now this was our first experience of this night so we were a little unsure of what to expect. It has to be said we were pleasantly surprised. The entire hall had been beautifully decorated and we enjoyed the traditional piping in of the haggis (and we enjoyed eating it even more!), as well as some cultural poetry and music and the usual dancing. Although a bit different from a Penzance Friday night we really enjoyed ourselves – although I may have to do some homework on Burns poetry for next year as some of it was quite hard to understand.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walls need painting, see you soon..</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-5680814595439151342011-12-11T09:23:00.000-08:002011-12-11T09:26:13.237-08:00Mark: Winter on the Island<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With the daylight hours rapidly diminishing it’s almost time for Fleur, Pumpkin and I to make our way south to Cornwall for a few weeks of rest, relaxation and err Guinness. We leave on Tuesday and should be back in the middle of January so were not avoiding the whole winter on the Island-and what a winter it’s already been so far! To tidy up a few loose ends, Rick left a couple of weeks ago and he did so in fine style. A venture north on his last day to search the coast for Gulls was aborted as he decided we should in fact be checking<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the ditches near Garso for any late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">locustella’s</i>-using the<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Landrover!</b></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonFsLEeOKVb5bZ9NNAfUsxUzBMTqlHTHakFEpnXSR3GadVBiBEKI4uCtfwvqJJ6DXsAgRlOwbTHRDeT79EqLhgR4ahmmetzuW9FD7p1k13XpUyeZFaFQm8kvSEbf7K9lCqs9CfqQsE07M/s1600/landrover+ditch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonFsLEeOKVb5bZ9NNAfUsxUzBMTqlHTHakFEpnXSR3GadVBiBEKI4uCtfwvqJJ6DXsAgRlOwbTHRDeT79EqLhgR4ahmmetzuW9FD7p1k13XpUyeZFaFQm8kvSEbf7K9lCqs9CfqQsE07M/s320/landrover+ditch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Calibri;">Excuses offered included-“those 2 Swans (clearly Whoopers) looked interesting” and “The wind blew us in the ditch” even though the wind was in the opposite direction!</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just Kevin, Alison, Fleur and I are left now, so we’ve started to plan new projects for next year and make a start on the winter jobs to spruce up the observatory a bit before the season begins. There’s a long list with plenty to do, although I have still managed to get out and about the Island most days but there’s been no Gyrfalcon or Harlequin yet. I’ve begun replacing the covers on the chairs in the dining room and bar-a good wet weather job as long as you don’t count how many you have left to do! As long as it rains lots in January and February I should be done by the spring. Fleur has given the Kitchen and Rooms a good deep clean, and the paint and varnish has arrived ready for us to start re-decorating the rooms and hostel as soon as we return in the New Year. Alison and I rebuilt a section of the sheep dyke last week and I’ve taken the mist-nets down for the winter and done a little bit off maintenance to the catching boxes of the Heligoland traps. There are many exciting plans and new opportunities in the pipeline for North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory in 2012 so watch this space....</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The main other talking points revolve mainly around the weather. The first Snow of the winter arrived on the Island overnight on 3<sup>rd</sup> December and settled for about 48 hours. It was strange seeing the Island covered in the white stuff, with it even settling on Nouster beach for a while. Once the winter wonder land vanished it’s been all about the wind, with an evil storm hitting Scotland during the 8<sup>th</sup> and 9<sup>th</sup> December. It was overnight between the two dates when we suffered the worst, the wind got up to somewhere between 90 and 130mph depending on who you talked too! Damage could be seen all over the Island with plenty of sheds relocating to Sanday, Cattle feeders blown into the sea and the odd Chicken with a headache! At the obs we suffered more damage to the roof with another 3 glass panels blowing off, subsequently replaced with less attractive temporary plywood alternatives. We’ve also lost one of the small sheds, a few slates and rather bizarrely the inside panel and window of the red land-rover door (which has had a difficult week!), but it could have been a lot worse</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qu8rEn3Iayh-FAYUci-SxjBYsG915f3LHXSaja2YwwiXAuAAuMlfKhsdYAdfRF4TfiP31aIVayLXhNE0MdrV0TonnSZ1ccUV-0i831C72thFX8BQE8Y6jgdaD_e3ADD3iEpmFPgnNQ9M/s1600/fleur+snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qu8rEn3Iayh-FAYUci-SxjBYsG915f3LHXSaja2YwwiXAuAAuMlfKhsdYAdfRF4TfiP31aIVayLXhNE0MdrV0TonnSZ1ccUV-0i831C72thFX8BQE8Y6jgdaD_e3ADD3iEpmFPgnNQ9M/s320/fleur+snow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Calibri;">Fleur and Pumpkin enjoying the snow on North Ronaldsay (well Fleur is anyway!)</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JqbipR3L7hvkG4hJ51Yp-yCr2AlyIwm8aX9_LD9A0ZIqQ2Ai9aEtrTjT6XRtMTwgPEC0KDrIy405Whyu_TP_fcbBRYbdCszOff3RxEd6vapDfeap7maz3Y4pOkYHfihZmvslDOsZECgk/s1600/storm+dec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JqbipR3L7hvkG4hJ51Yp-yCr2AlyIwm8aX9_LD9A0ZIqQ2Ai9aEtrTjT6XRtMTwgPEC0KDrIy405Whyu_TP_fcbBRYbdCszOff3RxEd6vapDfeap7maz3Y4pOkYHfihZmvslDOsZECgk/s320/storm+dec.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Calibri;">You wouldn’t see this on Countryfile-farmers on North Ronaldsay make use of all the available land</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2jCNoSJZtc4YzN_jVk-BOpxvRffm0jYwJJ4jbn1oI0NiAFVjEwBSsk3c_2C07Pn5HnaELXz2928fbyKMJJFvmE-JhbmvrR5R2aqh-p4iVkbXTeEJEpW8E89Uc50c85zw_Rz6P-ad1Wem/s1600/storm+dec2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2jCNoSJZtc4YzN_jVk-BOpxvRffm0jYwJJ4jbn1oI0NiAFVjEwBSsk3c_2C07Pn5HnaELXz2928fbyKMJJFvmE-JhbmvrR5R2aqh-p4iVkbXTeEJEpW8E89Uc50c85zw_Rz6P-ad1Wem/s320/storm+dec2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Calibri;">Something is clearly wrong here-no crash helmet, that’s it!</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So tomorrow is our last day of 2011 on North Ronaldsay (weather depending of course), were all packed, Pumpkins got plenty of Gravy Bones for the long journey to Cornwall so all that’s left to do is to wish all Observatory and Blog followers a Merry Christmas and we’ll see you all for the Happy, bird filled New Year were going to have here on North Ronaldsay in 2012!</span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-11535261766461581322011-11-29T04:50:00.000-08:002011-11-29T04:54:41.434-08:00Ric: heading south for the winter<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Now that the eventful and rarity-filled observatory season has finally petered out to its wintry, blustery end, there is just time left for me to write a valedictory blog post before I depart south to my wintering grounds, exchanging the cold and stormy Orcadian climate for the street-level smog and ambient crack fumes of Greater Manchester. I am glad to say, though, that I will be returning to the clean subarctic air of North Ron early in the spring, and am already looking forward to what promises to be an equally exciting sophomore season at the bird observatory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">My departure does mean that, from this week, I will be handing over the responsibility of updating the observatory’s sightings blog to Mark, who will continue to keep you informed of any interesting bird news until I get back. I will, of course, continue to keep a scrupulous eye out for any grammatical slips and solecisms creeping into his postings, and will endeavour to intervene and hastily eradicate any greengrocers’ apostrophes and dangling participles faster than you can say “Harlequin Duck’s”.*</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The never-ending series of gales and hailstorms in the last week have given us an opportunity to tackle the inevitable accumulation of end-of-season paperwork: Mark and I have been busy slogging our way up the mountain of ringing data that needs to be entered into the computer system and finishing off all our rarity descriptions from earlier in the year. It is an unfortunate by-product of successful birding and ringing that it tends to leave you with a backlog of tedious computer work, but at least it gives you something to do indoors on these stormy November days.</span></span><br />
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The weather has also been keeping us busy with practical maintenance work this week. Horrendously strong winds in the early hours of Saturday morning tore a couple of windows out of the observatory roof and ripped the polytunnel to shreds, leaving us with some improvised emergency repairs to do during the day. Mark and Kevin were quickly out of bed and to clamp the remaining loft windows down with mole grips before more damage could be done, and in the afternoon we managed to block the hole with wooden boards tied down with string. There are already yet more gales looming on the horizon, but we should be able to make our repairs robust enough to last until we can get someone out here to do it properly. The polytunnel covering is clearly beyond repair, and will have to wait until the spring to be replaced.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UKynAd7xXNYKxuu87L2YoNpy0FrrNGlmRIF7lLnH_Yz_q2R5Qp6109yUBIRjauwaTgpubRO7avQEVo3tKx261qS35vXIs-VC6IkFXDtW3UjzC_rPHGg7a7gBuXdEiRSpGipdunY-X_X8/s1600/polytunnel1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UKynAd7xXNYKxuu87L2YoNpy0FrrNGlmRIF7lLnH_Yz_q2R5Qp6109yUBIRjauwaTgpubRO7avQEVo3tKx261qS35vXIs-VC6IkFXDtW3UjzC_rPHGg7a7gBuXdEiRSpGipdunY-X_X8/s320/polytunnel1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">It is fortunate that we had had the foresight to remove all the potted plants from the already-damaged polytunnel before the latest storms ripped the plastic sheeting off completely.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlc8Ca4P16d1gV2a4NV4kBrf8OZl0gI8Gv0P9GOHHeTediuqRE5WYJl_dO5iqSh4mGmkc_tYS0zLVTpFYbupzLbL4FimG52hSXv5VyB9gkAFcsO3Vbd0bGrEAXoo_Ms3Q-EZYKyp4E-rKj/s1600/roof+repairs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlc8Ca4P16d1gV2a4NV4kBrf8OZl0gI8Gv0P9GOHHeTediuqRE5WYJl_dO5iqSh4mGmkc_tYS0zLVTpFYbupzLbL4FimG52hSXv5VyB9gkAFcsO3Vbd0bGrEAXoo_Ms3Q-EZYKyp4E-rKj/s320/roof+repairs1.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">Our efforts to patch up the gap in the roof seem to be holding up so far, even though the wooden sheets are mainly held in place by pieces of the guy cord that we normally use for the mist nets.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A welcome feature of island life in recent weeks has been the introduction of Saturday afternoon badminton sessions at the community centre. Attendance has not exactly been high so far, and one week we were turned away because the sports hall had been set out with tables and chairs for a book sale and coffee evening, about which we had completely forgotten; but Mark, Gavin and I have been enjoying our weekly dose of sporting activity and I expect them both to keep practising and become expert badminton players by the time I return. They might even be able to beat me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I have now got just a couple of days left to finish the last few pages of ringing data, pack my bags, try to find one last rare bird, and dig out an ample quantity of Stugeron and ginger biscuits to last me the ferry journey from Kirkwall to Aberdeen <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">– a sea-crossing that I am not particularly looking forward to. The rest of the observatory staff will be staying on the island for most of the winter, repairing any more weather damage, continuing the hitherto unsuccessful attempts to catch Bean Geese and swans at night, and, most importantly, rehearsing their parts and trying on their body-stockings for the spring pantomime.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*An effort that I’m sure will be appreciated in Tense Towers, if nowhere else.</span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-68376953200425429352011-11-08T10:07:00.000-08:002011-11-08T10:07:15.737-08:00Mark: Autumn Events and migrant Balloons<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">After a long and bird-filled autumn it’s that moment you’ve all been waiting for-an ‘Obslife’ update! It’s been a whole three months since our last and there’s been a lot happening. Staff members, volunteers and guests have come and gone and the daylight hours are rapidly dwindling away as winter begins to arrive. I’ll concentrate on the last couple of weeks though, beginning with the Harvest home festival at the end of October. A typical North Ronaldsay ‘knees-up’ at the community centre to celebrate the end of the farmers harvest saw 80 odd folk gather for a sit-down meal of roasted mutton, ham, pork, clapshot, (neaps and tatties) with wine of course. This was followed by after-dinner speeches from Islander Ian Scott and Neil Leask-custodian of the Corrigal Farm Museum and Kirbister Farm Museum on Orkney Mainland, and later the traditional dances. About £600 was raised for future Island events from the raffle and an auction was held of an Ian Scott original painting featuring the lighthouse-which Mark (from the Lighthouse) won for a mere £350-a bargain! Highlight for me though was winning an equally fine Ian Scott original of West Beach in the raffle for just a £1 ticket!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">A concerning sight a week or so later was that of a Mad Doctor, Giant Spider, Killer Shark, Evil Witch, Grim Reaper, and a Black Cat clambering into a Red Fiesta outside the post-office. I’ve come up with three possible explanations for this 1. I was still drunk from the Harvest Home festival. 2. The post-office was being held up by a well disguised crew of robbers. 3. It was the school kids out trick or treating on Halloween. I guess option 3 is the most likely and so none of the above critters were entered into the bird log.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9q97oY8Ccczd65-7f3MxWTmBJRb8ZViVyq6e8o1QSEYkKz5KKQT6A0pJ_dE64XE6ewIUHalfvv2gjflt-6eLY79De341PXjbKZUkyWfpz7W6c1e8h_54TOqh49NPwTNqeUuhkzXkccr3P/s1600/080%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9q97oY8Ccczd65-7f3MxWTmBJRb8ZViVyq6e8o1QSEYkKz5KKQT6A0pJ_dE64XE6ewIUHalfvv2gjflt-6eLY79De341PXjbKZUkyWfpz7W6c1e8h_54TOqh49NPwTNqeUuhkzXkccr3P/s320/080%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">An extremely frightening pumpkin</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XCwxdSv7kzwQCcIN6HCYogojUC-7Gimj_kkIm4XaNJLEQYtbyHKvp_GnS3ZNwP_PEs-NjWb0WIS3tcVZtLHo0nTM4BXrAUpUFxRKe5vFO6ylRmVBQZaMnOHasFm6tVzEbiWdzkA_zbCy/s1600/034%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XCwxdSv7kzwQCcIN6HCYogojUC-7Gimj_kkIm4XaNJLEQYtbyHKvp_GnS3ZNwP_PEs-NjWb0WIS3tcVZtLHo0nTM4BXrAUpUFxRKe5vFO6ylRmVBQZaMnOHasFm6tVzEbiWdzkA_zbCy/s320/034%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">A less frightening pumpkin-although that bone could be human?!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Remember, remember the 5<sup>th</sup> of November! It was fireworks night up at the lighthouse and something Fleur and I didn’t expect to see up here on North Ronaldsay. A great community night with roaring bonfire, sparklers, burgers, hot-dogs and a beer or two (well earned after our trek from one end of the Island to the other), were followed by the main event-the fireworks. There were plenty of Oooh’s and Aaaah’s as the clear and calm skies were lit up in a multiple colours.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_160t3_r38u1zapIpZOyzTpLKHaZ0B6N9fcY-VedUA1yVwhHgGZmIsMLJb_gODjTyBxbetYfMfyN39V4Gw09zMWGqX8zlJijvfYhygZtI567Bf6PtNOqUJrPGKXe31N3ydns6hd_ZZNc/s1600/072%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_160t3_r38u1zapIpZOyzTpLKHaZ0B6N9fcY-VedUA1yVwhHgGZmIsMLJb_gODjTyBxbetYfMfyN39V4Gw09zMWGqX8zlJijvfYhygZtI567Bf6PtNOqUJrPGKXe31N3ydns6hd_ZZNc/s320/072%25282%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Despite several members of the Island fire-brigade being present-nobody told me my bum was on fire!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">As winter is upon us we hope to provide further updates, with the emphasis moving from ornithological related work to maintenance tasks around the Observatory and Indoor work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";">Two cruel finds for Ric and I in recent days are pictured below, and a reminder we live on a 'Desert' Island away from civilisation, the luxury's and some of the things we love (or love to hate) from our past lives. Or perhaps we’ve stumbled on a gap in the market on North Ron and will shortly be opening our own Fast Food establishment</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-7Z13kPhcSFeEgiK0bou6wFE-1EMbxf5L8m5xeQO4rgs8yS7lGdD6v4LJA3o3eLhbb5xdzWRQemtUH8-kWPCkyBEgROPx9YDdTihg7siV0hiCSqiQQyan_Y3YdWfpqqFPFlz6V6dxn1n/s1600/089+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-7Z13kPhcSFeEgiK0bou6wFE-1EMbxf5L8m5xeQO4rgs8yS7lGdD6v4LJA3o3eLhbb5xdzWRQemtUH8-kWPCkyBEgROPx9YDdTihg7siV0hiCSqiQQyan_Y3YdWfpqqFPFlz6V6dxn1n/s320/089+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">These two are likely to have travelled just as far as some of our migrant birds-other fast food venues are available-but not on North Ron!</span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnm9GbRdiWKwewykjNPDJr-V1IWsACzVWyCB_QkYOKC5cfBF4LH3B1Hg_IcvbNULXtOgfq9PVvKdPM1wULv0-Y5csq6jCtEsW4LVd378sCHjpK3Xz-497hlbKcK81tOC_SHVOgIkwTtEJY/s1600/064+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnm9GbRdiWKwewykjNPDJr-V1IWsACzVWyCB_QkYOKC5cfBF4LH3B1Hg_IcvbNULXtOgfq9PVvKdPM1wULv0-Y5csq6jCtEsW4LVd378sCHjpK3Xz-497hlbKcK81tOC_SHVOgIkwTtEJY/s320/064+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-60368105687076579902011-08-28T07:11:00.000-07:002011-08-28T07:11:57.901-07:00Ric: Autumn Begins<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">It’s been a while hasn’t it? My excuse: the lack of updates is due, in part, to recent staff holidays: I spent a few days on Orkney Mainland trying to ignore birds and being force-fed history and culture by my visiting family who seem to be under the impression that these are alien concepts to me; Mark and Fleur headed home to the balmy latitudes of Cornwall to catch up with family and friends, leaving a certain high-maintenance miniature ‘dog’ in the care of Alex.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I returned to North Ron just late enough to get out of ‘Bag the Bruck’, a mass litter-pick to remove as much rubbish as possible from the island’s coastline, but not quite late enough to get out of the evening dance in celebration of the newly tidied beaches. The enormous quantity of flotsam, jetsam, odd wellies and other miscellaneous junk that had been collected during the day was most impressive; the islanders had done a fantastic job of clearing the place up and deservedly made the most of the free bar (yes, a free bar) in the evening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For me, and the rest of the ornithological staff, it is time to switch back into full-on birding mode as the busy migration period begins. A good fall of Wrynecks and other migrants on Wednesday jump-started my autumn efforts with dawn to dusk birding, partly in horrendous weather conditions, as Paul and I tried to cover as much of the island as possible. It was a fantastic day though, that showed just how exciting birding here can be when the right conditions occur. Caught slightly short-staffed while a certain nearby island produced an impressive sequence of rarities, it does feel like we have been struggling to keep up with the Joneses during the last few days; but it’s certainly been enjoyable finding all the common and scarce birds that we’ve had and we must be due our next rare any day soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Probably not today, though. The gale-force northerly winds and incessant horizontal rain that is literally rattling the windows out of their frames as I write this have made most practical bird-related activities fairly futile and more or less impossible. This morning we resorted to a safari-style Land Rover cruise around the island looking for birds from the comfort of the vehicle, although even this was difficult in the poor visibility. Otherwise, it looks like a day of window fixing, paperwork, tea drinking and football watching – until five o’clock, when Alex and I have decided to expend some energy with a preprandial jog through the raging tempest as far as the lighthouse and back. And, if that is not punishment enough for one day, Mark and I are considering a night of wandering around in the dark catching and ringing waders. If you’re mad enough, you can find things to do on even the most unpleasant days.</span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-55548949094177295512011-07-26T13:27:00.000-07:002011-07-26T13:27:55.082-07:00Alex: Chilli Bandits<div class="Standard">Hi everybody! My name is Alex and this is my first post for the NRBO Life blog. This week there have been three main aspects that have stood out as more prominent than the usual day to day jobs and tasks of cooking, cleaning, looking after guests etc.</div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard"></div><div class="Standard">The first of such is the much anticipated new Heligoland trap. This large structure has been particuarly interesting to me from a 'non-birding' perspective: upon first inspection, to me the structure resembled an over-large rabbit hutch, however, due to the prevailing and widespread animosity on the island towards these animals for the negative effect they have upon bird populations and plantation growth, I relatively quickly ascertained that these were not in fact hutches, but an enclosure for the ever growing puppies!... I was further saved from embarassment after overhearing that they were in fact bird traps used for ringing purposes and named after the pioneer trap was erected in Heligoland, Germany.</div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY45we-RjF47n1n3ZlnvXnsk7O8XPyyE-a_1LQkGCRD4ITiJMbyVxum6uLW6RqFufc3wNKG2RsGDXtaUectEZ30qZ_y0SuzvQ6T4kKra8fmwga2JEw8L8varxkqah9Y6w0_3tcwxfbtEM/s1600/traps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY45we-RjF47n1n3ZlnvXnsk7O8XPyyE-a_1LQkGCRD4ITiJMbyVxum6uLW6RqFufc3wNKG2RsGDXtaUectEZ30qZ_y0SuzvQ6T4kKra8fmwga2JEw8L8varxkqah9Y6w0_3tcwxfbtEM/s400/traps.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="Standard" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">The new trap, with the other two traps and Gretchen Loch in the background.</span></div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard"></div><div class="Standard">The second thing that springs to mind is the departure of the first of the puppies. This puppy, already named Harley, was one of my favorites, having distinct brown eyebrows that gave him a constant look of mild suprise. However sad to see one go, It also could be said that it was about time for this to happen: the growth rate of the bunch has not seemed to slow down and these now stocky and increasingly beefy individuals have been creating a somewhat undesirable sight for anyone having the misfortune of seeing, first thing in the morning, the dog house/shoe & wellie porch. Added to this, they have now accomplished the feat of escaping from their outside enclosure and running amok around the driveway and gardens/under landrover wheels!</div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard"></div><div class="Standard">However, all this havoc has still remained very much endearing, and very much a highlight for many of the guests, including my own mum, sister and father who have been staying up here this week and had to have all of their bags checked thouroughly when one of the puppies had gone tempoarily missing towards the end of their stay here. Needless to say, upon inspection they had not attempted to smuggle a puppy and he did infact turn up somewhere behind a bush.</div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard"></div><div class="Standard">The final thing that I am going to write about today is the mysterious 'Chilli Bandit'. Chilli Con Carne (a firm favorite among both guests and residents) night was on monday. On this occasion the Chilli Bandit made their first strike - a mysterious and unknown figure happened to hot things up a bit more than usual by slying extra chilli into the dish while nobody was watching, rendering it eye-wateringly hot to anything with a tearduct. Needless to say, all fingers were pointed towards Rick, the obvious choice due to his abnormal tolerance towards the chilli fruit, but the defendant has, however, pleaded not guilty continually and therefore the best we can do is keep our eyes beady for a repeat offence.</div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apart from the things mentioned above, everything is all in good order and running smoothly, other than a missing member of the team - sadly, Beth's stay came to and end at the beginning of the week and she has therefore retired from her post as general helper/keeping her brother Rick in check/being top banoffee pie consumer and is a missed member of the team!</span></div><div class="Standard"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="Standard"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anyway, until next week! Goodbye!</span></span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-13970204185764798412011-07-08T14:01:00.000-07:002011-11-29T04:54:56.617-08:00Ric: Another busy week<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It’s been a typically busy couple of weeks here at the observatory, with a good spell of pleasant weather giving the green light for the continuation of our multitude of ongoing projects. One more addition to our team arrived in the form of Laura, Alison’s other niece, joining the well-oiled domestic machine of Fleur, Catriona, Beth and Alex in the endless cycle of housekeeping duties and pudding production. The ornithological staff have been kept occupied, and out of the kitchen, by a combination of building another Heligoland trap, chasing around after elusive plovers, manually extracting undesirable vegetation from our prized field of tuberous crops and coordinating the logistical minefield of shuffling all the staff bedrooms around to make extra guest space available.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The new Heligoland trap is progressing rapidly thanks to Mark’s detailed planning and the practice we had building the last one, although it does seem considerably bigger than we had originally envisaged. With most of the uprights already concreted in place, it is a bit late for it to be resized, but the considerable dimensions that the trap has taken on can only result in it being even more effective at catching birds in the autumn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEL0bcf16kjBAYEaZxbKsEdC2Veg1nbUZuUDi9Yi0kkZvxOymUAnUj-TICE1DhP_8WS-aaTrtHUUgYBxqhkFXcK0kJexCh5txhuPg2tWW0ojG59w76YSHxsVkSHjk6tJby_tf2LhSQK4P_/s1600/field+trap1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEL0bcf16kjBAYEaZxbKsEdC2Veg1nbUZuUDi9Yi0kkZvxOymUAnUj-TICE1DhP_8WS-aaTrtHUUgYBxqhkFXcK0kJexCh5txhuPg2tWW0ojG59w76YSHxsVkSHjk6tJby_tf2LhSQK4P_/s320/field+trap1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kevin has been back on the island for a couple of weeks, and has been hard at work finishing the harrowing and sowing in our crop fields and creating the observatory’s new camping area. He also managed to persuade a visiting microlight pilot to take him for a spin around the island: a fantastic opportunity for some aerial photography, the results of which will be appearing on the NRBO website soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Paul has been busy on sheep shearing duty for most of the last week, much to the delight of Beth who got the opportunity to fulfil her questionable ambition of divesting the troublesome ungulates of their fleeces. The famous North Ronaldsay sheep, adept at breaking down walls, leaping over barbed wire fences and tip-toeing over cattle grids, have been particularly mischievous of late, causing no end of frustration as they repeatedly thwart all attempts to keep them out of the fields.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvwSOC2PcfOyvj3H7DaxBOVdCmmJpZjurH13PHpdyfYS2rDZhJYPS1b2yjDr8JeXaEdrfaEbycvzIFWWb3bW9skl6TQqxXNZ70lnNWRNbDxD9ZlciJX7fZ77h7Rrq8NXUJI38gzktN9ge/s1600/beth+shearing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvwSOC2PcfOyvj3H7DaxBOVdCmmJpZjurH13PHpdyfYS2rDZhJYPS1b2yjDr8JeXaEdrfaEbycvzIFWWb3bW9skl6TQqxXNZ70lnNWRNbDxD9ZlciJX7fZ77h7Rrq8NXUJI38gzktN9ge/s320/beth+shearing.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The revamping of the NRBO website, my own little project/obsession at the moment, is coming along slowly as I become inured to the idiosyncrasies of the software and the monitor in the staff office. I’ll shamelessly take this opportunity to plug the site (again), and remind you all to keep checking back as I’ll be adding more pages whenever I get the time to make them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Both Fleur and Heather celebrated birthdays during the week. A Barbecue on the beer terrace was organised, with a vast spread of food for us all to overindulge on until we could barely move enough to embark upon the towering pile of washing up. Pictionary was the evening entertainment of choice on both occasions, providing all the ‘quick draw fun’ that was claimed on the box, as well as a little bit of controversy over my drawing of ‘radial tyre’, which should <i>definitely </i>have won the game for me, Mark and Alex.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdYSioKH4KLlpO98zXBfz6zxymnll5mF0Zfj2py_9CEB_xuvo_QpJEts_zZ5MHSCIvZen8Mg4HfbctUi8tCBzGlBYu908g1QZq0Z8pCD8aNT1d9ik_jDrgr53dKKRjAFeOJ2WCqXLIloc/s1600/raydial+tyre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdYSioKH4KLlpO98zXBfz6zxymnll5mF0Zfj2py_9CEB_xuvo_QpJEts_zZ5MHSCIvZen8Mg4HfbctUi8tCBzGlBYu908g1QZq0Z8pCD8aNT1d9ik_jDrgr53dKKRjAFeOJ2WCqXLIloc/s320/raydial+tyre.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">Radial Tyre, Ray-Dial-Tyre: that's close enough, surely! Who ever uses the term 'radial tyre' anyway?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">All that remains for this blog post is the obligatory weekly updates on the issues that you all tune in to hear about. The potatoes are fine. Check. The trees are also fine. Check. The puppies are fine (and rapidly becoming a boot-chewing, floor-dirtying nuisance). Check.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Catriona has promised a grammatically flawless write-up for next week, which I look forward to not having to edit for you. For now though, folks, that’s all.</span></span><br />
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</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-5130560841809464982011-06-28T12:40:00.000-07:002011-06-28T12:40:30.098-07:00Beth: “Life as a volunteer” – twitch madness and nine men + a dog fail to round up two sheepI have been volunteering at the Obs now for 2 weeks and have been kept very busy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a volunteer there is always something to do, and if you are ever short of jobs to occupy you, Mark is always on hand to recruit new potato weeders to his plight as, of course, no volunteer would have truly experienced life at NRBO without a bit (or a lot) of potato weeding. However, be assured they are coming along beautifully (...I hope the birds appreciate the effort).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBPjw6AzcNm0xGxOLRlXCUVrBifMmqYwBkCRNzbLRlVgLBQkzdeytlQCp79svTRJfiUUFhTdKVWLcaPrs7b2-zylzcZ5AWWD5c5ox7vEzM9pK9SXWaLKO5bbQZV9hO_zR0wT01DQyki33/s1600/tatties.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmBPjw6AzcNm0xGxOLRlXCUVrBifMmqYwBkCRNzbLRlVgLBQkzdeytlQCp79svTRJfiUUFhTdKVWLcaPrs7b2-zylzcZ5AWWD5c5ox7vEzM9pK9SXWaLKO5bbQZV9hO_zR0wT01DQyki33/s320/tatties.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The arrival of a Blyth’s Reed Warbler last week was an interesting experience for a ‘non-birder’ such as myself. Paul received a call from Mark who was on mist net duty at Holland and suddenly everybody (including a handful of guests) jumped up out of their seats, cameras and binoculars at the ready, and dived into the Landrover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alex and I (the only ‘non-birders’) quickly followed, excited at the prospect of seeing something really interesting. On arrival at Holland the paparazzi quickly made their way to the ringing hut and patiently waited in anticipation for this fascinating bird to be brought out for viewing. I have to say the bird was not as exciting as I’d expected and listening to everyone discussing the “emarginations on P4” (-birding is like another language) was a little baffling. However I can now say that I have actually seen a rare Blyth’s Reed Warbler (not that I would be able to recognise it from any other small, brown, indistinct warbler species).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckWwRuu1curhMxiYnqYP8CuJgA_NEF28HC5VvUMfeX19D9fwMBgeDLnjnAWuzNF8KWVAnB523BOCsFvlCsVklxD7DMgDml05bRlBIGuEb2EXQvv2nE90Q8zrXnxG6Q__OhaFGQuC5sW9T/s1600/twitch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckWwRuu1curhMxiYnqYP8CuJgA_NEF28HC5VvUMfeX19D9fwMBgeDLnjnAWuzNF8KWVAnB523BOCsFvlCsVklxD7DMgDml05bRlBIGuEb2EXQvv2nE90Q8zrXnxG6Q__OhaFGQuC5sW9T/s320/twitch.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
As a volunteer, the best jobs (for me anyway) are helping the boys catching and ringing the birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've helped catch and ring Common Gull chicks in the fields and Great Black-backed Gulls in the gull trap. The boys also took Alex and me to Hooking Loch to help them look for and ring Greylag Geese, however, they failed to mention that to catch these geese we would have to wade through the 5ft tall iris beds that surround the loch which are usually about a foot deep in swampy water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Taking on the challenge, we set off boldly into the irises, but it wasn’t long before I came across a ditch, deeper than anticipated, and I ended up taking an unexpected dip in the swamp. Funnily enough it wasn't long before, in an attempt to grab some geese, both Mark and Ric also ended up waist high in swamp water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this, the excursion was a success and we manage to ring about 11 geese and 9 Black-headed Gull chicks - and thoroughly enjoyed it!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzX-FrInaoDpvCE49MT0QnbYLJpKd3oYvohYhTgL7atR9o7XZU9flYVEKUdhZy0vGCRSxuO-PaWwqunGqWU-FzyjvzNJFnGSM2vJtu-ajm8h7UcBmXcJBOUUSfrpWCt7jXEF1u89rozUJ/s1600/geese.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzX-FrInaoDpvCE49MT0QnbYLJpKd3oYvohYhTgL7atR9o7XZU9flYVEKUdhZy0vGCRSxuO-PaWwqunGqWU-FzyjvzNJFnGSM2vJtu-ajm8h7UcBmXcJBOUUSfrpWCt7jXEF1u89rozUJ/s320/geese.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br />
But it’s not all about the birds. Help is always appreciated in the guesthouse and Fleur, Catrina and Alex have been hard at work taking care of the guests and making the most amazing puddings – the most important job! Ric has spent the vast majority of his time in the last week improving (and slightly obsessing over) the NRBO website and has spent many hours tucked away in the office or photographing various facilities around the site (I think it is just an excuse to get off potato weeding duty).<br />
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We have recently been having trouble with the Obs’ sheep and no matter what lengths we go to to keep them in our fields they somehow manage to escape and end up in a neighbouring field of cows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul and Alex spent some time rebuilding the gaps in the dyke where the sheep have been spotted escaping from, but that appears to have had no impact on the genius mastermind sheep’s ability to break free. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two sheep appear particularly cunning and have learnt to seek refuge in the cow fields in which we are unable to retrieve them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This afternoon an army of staff, volunteers, guests and Rhianey the sheep dog set off in an effort to herd these two back from a field at Holland. With people stationed at each corner and gate of the field, ready to usher the animals the right direction, the operation began, however, the adroit sheep made a quick getaway in the opposite direction and leapt the wall into the nearest cow field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The disheartened army of herders returned to the Obs defeated.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>And finally, I have to mention the Obs’ biggest tourist attraction this month – the puppies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both mum and pups are doing very well, they have grown an unbelievable amount in the last week and in the last couple of days have started opening their eyes for the first time. Rhianey, the once proud mum of five, seems to have started to get a little bored of her tiring and demanding offspring and is taking any opportunity to get out and get some fresh air...can you blame her?!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNDXQ6Z8y3jeAzUecQLcmfdXfD9sBqC6uBu3UgVsXIAjrX8mtdLgGkfSCr30Hn-i4ObI7tEKcInXtEyb1WVh_iwm7DpkL0VxsTRbl1UefY-C1R8cOFaoYlWKuMP5o7_IovasYW4geXfQi/s1600/puppies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNDXQ6Z8y3jeAzUecQLcmfdXfD9sBqC6uBu3UgVsXIAjrX8mtdLgGkfSCr30Hn-i4ObI7tEKcInXtEyb1WVh_iwm7DpkL0VxsTRbl1UefY-C1R8cOFaoYlWKuMP5o7_IovasYW4geXfQi/s320/puppies.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-5830086894044495772011-06-21T01:01:00.000-07:002011-06-21T01:01:26.681-07:00Fleur: Puppies, People and More Orcas Arrive<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So it has fallen to me again to do this week’s blog. This is a good thing as plenty has been going on this week! We have had several new arrivals in the form of staff and puppies. Other events this week include more Orca sightings, a Sunday Boat Trip, Goose ringing and, yes, you guessed it, potato and tree weeding!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">But first to our new additions at the Obs - Catriona is back with us again (which I am very thankful for!) and helping out in the kitchen and keeping everything ship shape. She is doing an excellent job and has produced some amazing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">home-made</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;"> and hand decorated biscuits – much to the delight of the boys, who, if anything, seem to have an increased appetite at the moment. Especially for anything sweet! Also new to the team is Beth, Rick’s sister. Beth is joining us for a month as a volunteer and has already been drafted into the exciting world of potato weeding. She has also been sharing various anecdotes and stories about her older brother – much to his delight! Our other new member is Alex - Kevin’s (exceptionally tall) nephew. He has been with us for only a few days and already has made himself indispensible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And finally, our other new additions! Rhianey the Obs dog has had puppies!! 7 beautiful Collie cross Springer Spaniels. Sadly we have lost two of them but the other five are bouncing beautiful pups – not unlike they boys here, they also seem to have an insatiable appetites. Poor Rhianey can’t go very far without the pups squealing for her. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that 4 out of 5 of the pups are boys!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We have had another two sightings of the Orcas this week. Sunday saw them in Nouster Bay and then moving around to the Links. We also sighted them on Friday in the distance just off the west side of the island. I’m still getting used to the fact that we can see killer whales from the kitchen window!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnIHuOCV8YmBqGj-w1HjDyh-yb2hhSB42Yu74R_2WHIzTblm6DOMd4kycJ9uJHvovER_-hzMKSs7TtiSTmB1BIBETrwjPV5vo2X7BuK7-RVPhMQafMYxzdnXbYe5Psx-wd9Ks5c9ARYVC/s1600/orca7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnIHuOCV8YmBqGj-w1HjDyh-yb2hhSB42Yu74R_2WHIzTblm6DOMd4kycJ9uJHvovER_-hzMKSs7TtiSTmB1BIBETrwjPV5vo2X7BuK7-RVPhMQafMYxzdnXbYe5Psx-wd9Ks5c9ARYVC/s320/orca7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The big event for me this week was the Sunday boat trip. This was my first experience of ‘day trippers’ coming over to the island and I am pleased to say that I think it went without a hitch. Alison was away from the island so Catriona and I tackled the cooking side of things, while the wonderful Louis, Beth, Gavin and Heather dealt with the running around and serving the customers. It also saw the start of our Sunday day trip Wildlife Tours. This is a free tour of the area surrounding the Obs with one of the assistant wardens looking at the indigenous species of flowers, insects, animals and of course, birds! We also include ringing demonstrations in the tour. This week saw Mark take the tour and by all accounts it was enjoyed by all. Guests staying at the Ob’s can also arrange to join the boys when they go ringing – even if it’s not a Sunday!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The boys have also been putting the crow trap to good use this week with many gulls and starlings being caught and ringed. They have also been out trying to catch and ring Geese at Hooking, with about 30 being ringed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_mIAkfVszZ5cNycEeeWYqAISqG07aVN1-mWExka7nJDczya9wiaie-cKpHeYK-Hizau5iClYTr0mYmZzK0XiJcNC_iGc2Z6IFfTx7cXldeg2BbuBrkO4Nnwa5qVNRtqyw980mLTpA1si/s1600/HERGU_9+1c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_mIAkfVszZ5cNycEeeWYqAISqG07aVN1-mWExka7nJDczya9wiaie-cKpHeYK-Hizau5iClYTr0mYmZzK0XiJcNC_iGc2Z6IFfTx7cXldeg2BbuBrkO4Nnwa5qVNRtqyw980mLTpA1si/s320/HERGU_9+1c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And of course it wouldn’t be a very good blog if I didn’t mention the potatoes. I am not sure what has happened but some members of staff seemed to have developed a slight obsession with weeding the potatoes and trees. Even poor Beth has been dragged into it and I have a feeling it won’t be long before Alex is recruited. But, for all of you that are concerned, both trees and potatoes are doing fine!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-VXA46b_lWqB-0ZiHIOc-apivTDk97LapOz_m9c9l4DHunv89eAHhi5VpDTXa9w4RmtKtHGml5579vjv0d7PLY3BPxF4qeXuroNrgrMdLGEnQxS1gJ22l4PJ9eUy_WxuoEOOJGesoP3Q/s1600/north+ron+june+2011+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-VXA46b_lWqB-0ZiHIOc-apivTDk97LapOz_m9c9l4DHunv89eAHhi5VpDTXa9w4RmtKtHGml5579vjv0d7PLY3BPxF4qeXuroNrgrMdLGEnQxS1gJ22l4PJ9eUy_WxuoEOOJGesoP3Q/s320/north+ron+june+2011+040.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-41364560525059008902011-06-07T11:46:00.000-07:002011-06-11T15:49:25.984-07:00Mark:<div class="MsoNoSpacing">It seems to have been a pretty frustrating end to the spring here on North Ronaldsay with the weather definitely not helping the latter stages of migration. To make matters worse the various metrological websites have continuously been tempting us by forecasting easterly winds a few days ahead, only to push them further ahead and for them to eventually not materialise at all! So with day after day of westerly winds, work around the observatory has continued apace, with a few ongoing projects nearing their climax and some new ones beginning.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Spud update -The potatoes are still growing, but the weeds are growing more. Rick and I have been paying daily visits to the potato field and our efforts are starting to pay off - we can actually see them now! Fleur thinks I’ve become a little obsessed with the spuds, but it’s become a case of mind over matter - just don’t look behind you and you don't realise how little you’ve actually done! It also seems the weeds are catching us up as we work our way across the field! And that’s just the first half! We’ve also put in a fair bit of effort into weeding our trees, with those in the various plantations and planned Heligoland trap sites near the observatory all doing reasonably well, although like the weeds, the North Ronaldsay grass also seems to thrive - I guess that’s why there’s so many sheep!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquO3XfUVSAfD7uz5BOWTF46eZpNf24xvV8Fu83PQzC3p-Y9b2jBbGWEFx7TBjLdqMvBF47K6d2bVThaDLwlXpggKr5r67Y5ASALp8MM8aOqw2DLR84eCWjyMzvXQfZDyei7H6c-cFue67/s1600/obs+life+pic1+tatties.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquO3XfUVSAfD7uz5BOWTF46eZpNf24xvV8Fu83PQzC3p-Y9b2jBbGWEFx7TBjLdqMvBF47K6d2bVThaDLwlXpggKr5r67Y5ASALp8MM8aOqw2DLR84eCWjyMzvXQfZDyei7H6c-cFue67/s320/obs+life+pic1+tatties.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">The spuds are in there somewhere - underneath all that other nasty stuff!</span><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The crow trap has had a serious makeover too in the last couple of weeks. I wonder if there’s much demand for a Nick Knowles presented Heligoland Trap DIY TV show - we’re becoming quite the experts! It’s been completely stripped down, the timber work put back together properly (with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NAILS</b> this time rather than blue-tooth!) and Rick and I have spent the last week re-wiring and sewing it all back together to a R.A.S.O.T (Rael Approved Standard of Tension)! Although Gavin the trainee (Alison and Kevin’s son) still isn’t happy as the million or so newly fledged Starlings keep escaping as we haven’t got round to putting the door on yet - even though he caught 4 Black-headed Gulls yesterday which all walked in through the big gap where the door will go.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Farmer Rael meanwhile has been ploughing on with the ploughing (when it’s not been raining), with the Barley and Oats both going in this week. Fingers crossed the bird crops will do well and bring the migrants and rarities to our doorstep in the autumn. I have to admire his patience with the somewhat temperamental tractor; I would probably have driven it off the pier by now in frustration - had I been able to get it started that is!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">With the breeding birds in full swing we paid our first visit of the season into Hooking Loch to ring Greylag Goslings and check up on the Black-headed Gulls and other breeding wildfowl. A thrash through the Irises searching for nests and chicks was a highly entertaining affair which always involves someone falling in a ditch, and everyone getting wellies full of water! The Greylags are doing well, and we ringed plenty. We also found a few Mallard and Shoveler chicks which were too small to ring, plus it’s still a bit early for the Black-headed Gulls, with the only chicks found being a day or two old and most still on eggs.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZrPcRuO3mzebDckbewYR6lNTkteJrAUkcWYD4EMdmi95bRZNIUDIsCe0YVviJOh5tOCG3-NSG601tfkD0GO7o3tMOO_BL44IzKnRcvkXuo_VI6asa-Mkk2iV9t7OEwtbjFqVRBLeEmOq/s1600/obs+life+pic2+hookingthrash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZrPcRuO3mzebDckbewYR6lNTkteJrAUkcWYD4EMdmi95bRZNIUDIsCe0YVviJOh5tOCG3-NSG601tfkD0GO7o3tMOO_BL44IzKnRcvkXuo_VI6asa-Mkk2iV9t7OEwtbjFqVRBLeEmOq/s320/obs+life+pic2+hookingthrash.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">An (almost) methodical thrash around Hooking Loch.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWo-juXN9iXpRSkRDfoJNE1D2UGA71HXu5AVbP_Jsv3ZOqJuRVJHuPSGqLH5zS2KoQL9_u5eMCOsgAi2iPYhguxM4-jpjqbyZVff6esx1fd7UOnKxklZi3aZ9lH_FkyzXmz3dXoXAYcJRJ/s1600/GREGO_P+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWo-juXN9iXpRSkRDfoJNE1D2UGA71HXu5AVbP_Jsv3ZOqJuRVJHuPSGqLH5zS2KoQL9_u5eMCOsgAi2iPYhguxM4-jpjqbyZVff6esx1fd7UOnKxklZi3aZ9lH_FkyzXmz3dXoXAYcJRJ/s320/GREGO_P+1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">One of the many Greylag Chicks being ringed.</span><o:p></o:p></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgzIR4yZalVtwEg7_yqW4ljbeXuKLM1jVYmISgDKKZ28xdg3NK2YAQe3Gg_RhBLGQTaJsJIdQ9YMHUpWMqnHP2IpOMr3zIJPyMkxFkVSFju9OO7he8QNzn3Tp4efPT9ckGDSRfCmtqvNm/s1600/obs+life+pic4+bhg+chick.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgzIR4yZalVtwEg7_yqW4ljbeXuKLM1jVYmISgDKKZ28xdg3NK2YAQe3Gg_RhBLGQTaJsJIdQ9YMHUpWMqnHP2IpOMr3zIJPyMkxFkVSFju9OO7he8QNzn3Tp4efPT9ckGDSRfCmtqvNm/s320/obs+life+pic4+bhg+chick.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">This Black-headed Gull chick’s not quite big enough for ringing just yet.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The Observatory has been a busy place in the last few weeks, with plenty of guests and even a few birders. We also hosted an 80<sup>th</sup> birthday party for one of the Island’s residents. Everyone mucked in and the busy event went down without a hitch with Fleur’s superb buffet (and the copious amount of leftovers) a definite highlight. The first of the Summer's Sunday boatloads of Day-trippers also visited the Island yesterday, and with glorious sunshine plenty popped into the Obs cafe for a Mutton dinner and we did a roaring trade in Ice-creams. Right on cue the first Killer Whales of the season appeared off the north end of the Island with plenty of the day trippers, Observatory guests and a few folk on visiting Yachts enjoying spectacular close up views.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUDSL5HqIdzS9UxkfJk3g2xTAmdOqD48xmpO4LMpSrYT3LpygQHoiQT7oIa2pcY7dk56Kz2GRZY70SPRLRdvt_DgWsBxOyh6OYGSodYGmk5ZGPJu2Kvznkai_RZhW7PDNnVAP0GaKTiKx/s1600/obs+life+pic5+buffet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUDSL5HqIdzS9UxkfJk3g2xTAmdOqD48xmpO4LMpSrYT3LpygQHoiQT7oIa2pcY7dk56Kz2GRZY70SPRLRdvt_DgWsBxOyh6OYGSodYGmk5ZGPJu2Kvznkai_RZhW7PDNnVAP0GaKTiKx/s320/obs+life+pic5+buffet.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Party time at the Observatory.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Any of you reading this may also have noticed we’ve ‘tarted’ up the website a bit this week. Or rather we’ve all come up with lots of ideas on how to tart it up and Rick’s actually done it. Luckily in Rick we have a resident computer whizz (there’s not much to do in Bolton in the winter) as it would probably take the rest of us all year to work out the joys of internet blogging! We still have various forms of availability at the Obs for both the summer and autumn so give us a ring and book in-there’s always something to see on North Ronaldsay.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">And finally things weren’t so good for our resident Man U fan base as Barcelona made them look like a bunch of amateurs, running Rooney et al all over the pitch in the European Cup Final. Thankfully that’s the football season over - when does the Rugby World Cup start...?</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-30118038912328675082011-05-22T10:23:00.000-07:002011-11-29T04:55:12.163-08:00Ric: Potatoes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrSb0G6nsczuygFsKgYVQjXAwmDE6meeZLNdyKebFm5zMLBshqbNy83ZYvx19lK6k82nb-d6kLQgHokaFGowrvyCHA7C9Q0O7HD00Y31UEtaAydPeId5PzOgw2JGy4uuNDkLhyoLd6etd/s1600/potato+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrSb0G6nsczuygFsKgYVQjXAwmDE6meeZLNdyKebFm5zMLBshqbNy83ZYvx19lK6k82nb-d6kLQgHokaFGowrvyCHA7C9Q0O7HD00Y31UEtaAydPeId5PzOgw2JGy4uuNDkLhyoLd6etd/s400/potato+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Our potatoes are growing! Against all odds – including barren, sandy soil; the persistent, unstoppable encroachment of dense carpets of unwelcome thistles and other weeds; less than ideal weather; and a distinct lack of any genuine potato farming knowledge – the spuds are sprouting up in our industriously dug furrows: our efforts have not been as futile as we dreaded, and we should have a plentiful source of chips for the autumn after all.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, besides the triumphant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tuberosum</i>, what else has been going on at the Northern Isles’ best bird observatory since the last update?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The small Heligoland trap on the track up to the obs has now been completed, to an admirable level of neatness and precision, and is ready and waiting for the day when the wind finally goes back to the east and we get some birds. Rael and Mark enjoyed building it so much that they have already been out measuring up sites where we can build more traps and working out exactly how much wood we will need.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Paul and I, meanwhile, took on the job of creating a much-needed new footpath to the Gretchen Loch bird hide, which involved building some new stiles and creating a new map to replace the existing one. No longer will visitors be directed through the boggy field margins, through the clamorous gauntlet of agitated nesting Lapwings and Oystercatchers, and along the edge of the loch to reach the hide, only to find that there are no birds to see because they’ve scared them all off in their efforts to get there.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_hhxeXCEt3yJ6s1iq6X8RT_QcQqYEfxshmA8rDRNIMIiE82CiGGMJnC_ENZKbwsaQyn-MLvGCjQtD9u-l29cGXrmd3LMGKUga6hiXnvsapTDPdAP15azOkGbKVT5Gw_pKa95Kos3_AGq/s1600/stileblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_hhxeXCEt3yJ6s1iq6X8RT_QcQqYEfxshmA8rDRNIMIiE82CiGGMJnC_ENZKbwsaQyn-MLvGCjQtD9u-l29cGXrmd3LMGKUga6hiXnvsapTDPdAP15azOkGbKVT5Gw_pKa95Kos3_AGq/s400/stileblog.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Another job this week was to clear all the bits of bed frame, broken pianos and other items of miscellaneous furniture out of the conservatory. The red Land Rover, with a repaired gearbox (but still with doors that won’t shut), came back on the boat, so we were able to transport everything out to a container or, in some cases, the skip. Meals have been eaten in the bar so far this year, but the more convenient conservatory will be used as the dining room from now on.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The tractor has also been working again this week, allowing Rael to crack on with harrowing the oat field. The various other things that we have planted are also coming on encouragingly well, including our patches of fuchsia, willows and irises.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Manchester United winning the league went down well with North Ronaldsay’s resident MUFC fan base, and Manchester City’s F.A. Cup victory was popular with the island’s outnumbered blues supporter. Fleur made sure she took control of the staff room TV on the Saturday evening, which meant that we all ended up watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Eurovision Song Contest</i>. I’m not sure it would have been anyone else’s choice of evening entertainment, but it made a welcome change from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Fat Gypsy Child Beauty Pageant</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poodle Weddings with Katie Price</i>, which is the sort of thing we usually end up having to sit through.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We have quite a busy week coming up, with lots of visitors booked in and a vague possibility of improving weather and better prospects for birding. Not to mention the Champions League final.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d better leave it at that for now: those potatoes need weeding. Again.</div><br />
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</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-50347688819209633142011-05-10T05:49:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:18:32.606-07:00Alison: Panto Week<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, it’s my turn to give you some news this week. My name is Alison Duncan and I’ve been at the Obs here since 1987, almost since it started. This last week began with the island pantomime a week last Saturday – a locally written amalgamation of the Sleeping Beauty Meets the Student Prince. Kevin and I have taken part in this annual event for several years, but as Kevin has been working in the hospital lately and been unable to attend rehearsals, Mark quickly volunteered to do Kevin’s two roles. Mark was first on as the Bad Fairy (see photo) though he complained the other (supposedly good) fairies kept stabbing him with their wands. In fact Heather (who was playing the doctor) had to repair the wands before the dress rehearsal even started and again while the actual performance was about to begin. Mark wasn’t the only one wearing tights. We almost needed sunglasses to look at Igor the Evil Henchman’s dazzling outfit. Despite various hitches at the rehearsal the day before, it all went alright on the night and the audience even managed to laugh at the right places. A dance followed to music by Orkney band “Three in a Bar” (though only 2 of them could be there) and a few other musicians including Heather who played her own piece “The Auld Hut” and the Hardanger fiddle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeRHrx6LSviuu9oL27ehGA9Q3h-iA4pk9pZJndeg-uIm9szgGOxJMbRnMqLMZwFvOxCDIxnRnRza3b6xgqHchk6tfdSoIikHC6hvoiMeWXFK_NP_UVGK15_9B1Ky2BfJ0hZNbs0TnQNHm/s1600/fairies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeRHrx6LSviuu9oL27ehGA9Q3h-iA4pk9pZJndeg-uIm9szgGOxJMbRnMqLMZwFvOxCDIxnRnRza3b6xgqHchk6tfdSoIikHC6hvoiMeWXFK_NP_UVGK15_9B1Ky2BfJ0hZNbs0TnQNHm/s320/fairies.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtrKGxpiqSqV5to-YKntjaLrsdwPYG2B_phLjBvfzZRAvpk8aMQOq4zykxrFpz6p6YZ7GuqlpPKahw-JiaGEQXQcB_2I5fJ6q4WIzHspRKFvB4pjCEYhTCwUSZlYEsrhv72l9uw-fxcAe/s1600/fairy+and+doctor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtrKGxpiqSqV5to-YKntjaLrsdwPYG2B_phLjBvfzZRAvpk8aMQOq4zykxrFpz6p6YZ7GuqlpPKahw-JiaGEQXQcB_2I5fJ6q4WIzHspRKFvB4pjCEYhTCwUSZlYEsrhv72l9uw-fxcAe/s320/fairy+and+doctor.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSeKIA_IODyS-4ZOlzrSXU32C4wl7JeL8QjO4SPLnARL3Rg_tydixiWrXwsnC3D_yzkpZKYnyiX8fa6NGDVDGrht8D4oWha7lFuRajrA2vjkrwK7UkM4gLdUx4eIMQRQygGSyGAioQRBL/s1600/igor+and+prince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSeKIA_IODyS-4ZOlzrSXU32C4wl7JeL8QjO4SPLnARL3Rg_tydixiWrXwsnC3D_yzkpZKYnyiX8fa6NGDVDGrht8D4oWha7lFuRajrA2vjkrwK7UkM4gLdUx4eIMQRQygGSyGAioQRBL/s320/igor+and+prince.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back at the Obs, Rael had the front park almost harrowed, despite difficulties with the tractor (fuel blockages and air in the fuel pump, or was it fuel in the air pump? Or I think it might have been both). Kevin managed to sort these (temporarily anyway) and once we got the varispreader on, Kevin sowed the kale seed. Then we started on ploughing the next field, to be split between oats and bere – plenty of time to sow these yet. Fortunately I was free to help Kevin as Fleur is managing brilliantly in the kitchen. Meanwhile Mark, Rael and Ric put in some more tatties. We just needed to wait for some rain now to germinate the kale and tatties – it eventually came late on Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJyhy9Ij-sH-THAyDnwZhIhhIN9VKqT7-ynaUj8wZvj347faYHJWaep-vMDWZ_GfM9gis7RmYRmIekoq07hBrS54Rq7xPHVkx1TiSB9qP0AUkK6PDOR_hT65EvCOXiLOjyZ5eq5vSEHTf/s1600/kevin+sowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJyhy9Ij-sH-THAyDnwZhIhhIN9VKqT7-ynaUj8wZvj347faYHJWaep-vMDWZ_GfM9gis7RmYRmIekoq07hBrS54Rq7xPHVkx1TiSB9qP0AUkK6PDOR_hT65EvCOXiLOjyZ5eq5vSEHTf/s320/kevin+sowing.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After ten dry days, rain and south-easterly winds, Friday morning was misty, and as there was no flight, unfortunately Gavin could not get to school, but he did get a new bird (Green-winged Teal – he missed the last one as it was during school time), had a chance to go birding, and his darts game is improving.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a wait for materials to arrive, work is continuing on the small heligoland trap on the track – it’s great to have such an enthusiastic crew. Here Rael (The Perfectionist) is making sure Mark (The Builder) is doing it correctly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-55071544974277863012011-04-29T12:52:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:19:14.983-07:00Mark: Doing Our Best to Break Everything<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems to be my turn again to update the world on life at North Ronaldsay Bird Obs, and I guess the best way to sum up the week is to say we ‘broke stuff’ and ran around like headless chickens looking for big things that eat chickens!!! As Fleur mentioned in the last update, the tractor was very much stuck in a field; our attempts to tow it out failed and then the Land Rover suddenly wouldn’t start. Two Mars bars later and we fixed everything (or so we thought) as suddenly the tractor got itself free and the Landrover started once more. Hurray!!! Ploughing was finished and a celebratory cup of tea was had by all. However, when Rick took the Landrover to open the nets up for an evening ringing session at a maximum speed of 2 miles an hour, it would seem I’ve managed to burn out the clutch and it’s subsequently been whisked off on last Friday’s boat to spend some time in a Kirkwall garage!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So.... we decided to steer clear of heavy machinery at the start of the this week and resorted to some manual labour instead. We spent a morning re-rotivating, digging into furrows, meticulously weeding and planting one third of our potato patch outside the Obs. As all this was done by hand the resulting few days has seen Paul, Rick, Rael and I struggling with bad backs and sore thighs – I really don’t know how they did it in the olden days. But the results of our labour will hopefully prove to be worth the effort, providing spuds for our meals and cover for the birds. The bad news is we’ve got another two days at it when the rest of the potatoes arrive – we can’t wait!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs7weXkz_pTAK4MrO7WwGiaGP-F50VkiRGCJVKh617OAEt2MhWBKWJwAVGEub4SUGVo4aZ-nRV4lhMsZ_wjeBvkioNnK1wn3VuUdGIAi6EjejqSGzxq4ik0QbhEff1_DFhfL7JYxV8FyN/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs7weXkz_pTAK4MrO7WwGiaGP-F50VkiRGCJVKh617OAEt2MhWBKWJwAVGEub4SUGVo4aZ-nRV4lhMsZ_wjeBvkioNnK1wn3VuUdGIAi6EjejqSGzxq4ik0QbhEff1_DFhfL7JYxV8FyN/s400/007.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">The neatly furrowed Obs potato patch. Rael wanted to use a ‘string-line’ but the rest of us think it’s pretty straight?!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I guess the other main talking point of the week has been the weather, with glorious (Cornish like!) sunshine on a near daily basis resulting in everyone having pretty good tans. We’re trying not to talk about birding on this page, but it has been a decent weeks for birds so we’ve found ourselves out doing census routes both morning and afternoon. It really is starting to look like having four wardens and more intensive coverage is paying off, with five out of seven days this week yielding a rarity. We think that’s a pretty good success rate, and twice now I’ve found myself running all over the Island for a big bird of prey. In fact, with May approaching we’re running out of time to get things done. We had planned to put Rick’s mobile heligoland trap to the test, and try and catch some of the many waders on Bridesness, but haven’t had a chance yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnu4yJHxN4v73Q_03-VUwUTwgkexK8ev-WxCm8N32gYkb5FepTBMY2LfsocP7wDWMp57wGE-AqeVZ059dx7Uv7phYkhvJe-f1rV2Ii7hM38KbN_IKuWR1RT8U2E3alZax9PfFsGRlbQEHx/s1600/mobile+heligoland1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnu4yJHxN4v73Q_03-VUwUTwgkexK8ev-WxCm8N32gYkb5FepTBMY2LfsocP7wDWMp57wGE-AqeVZ059dx7Uv7phYkhvJe-f1rV2Ii7hM38KbN_IKuWR1RT8U2E3alZax9PfFsGRlbQEHx/s400/mobile+heligoland1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">The mobile heligoland still awaits its debut!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the last few days we have also done a few things around the Obs. We dug up and weeded an area near the Observatory and planted it with sunflower seeds, in another attempt to get some cover for autumn migrants. We have been busy stripping the grass and watering our newly planted trees and Rael began harrowing the ploughed field. Unfortunately the tractor really has broken this time and currently sits at the bottom of the field awaiting the delivery of a part on Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guests are starting to arrive and with a full Observatory this weekend for the North Ronaldsay annual pantomime everyone has been busy. I’ve somehow found myself, along with Alison, with a role in said pantomime and the nerves are starting to kick in. I only have 6 lines but am finding it difficult (as is everyone else) to remember things in the right order, and with practice sessions running out, the big night is less than 24 hours away! Watch this space...<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38hZ3RLGDDe3nxZ3JJAPsqbkZDM3FbENO_lTpelzODO_EYSjxBQbZSeuwhHzK71ecBHb3KA3B7YC7LLPok0PEYTN86hkBXLoh9wdzogHgUaBGoLv0n9gfI3bvO_So2zdaLC-YVLdzCfv6/s1600/041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38hZ3RLGDDe3nxZ3JJAPsqbkZDM3FbENO_lTpelzODO_EYSjxBQbZSeuwhHzK71ecBHb3KA3B7YC7LLPok0PEYTN86hkBXLoh9wdzogHgUaBGoLv0n9gfI3bvO_So2zdaLC-YVLdzCfv6/s400/041.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">The sun setting over North Ronaldsay.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-41887566664922259902011-04-21T13:31:00.000-07:002011-04-21T14:15:53.383-07:00Fleur: The Week of the Sheep Conference, and Pumpkin Meets the Locals.<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; " >Well it’s time for the next instalment on here, and this week it is my turn. I should start with an introduction – I’m Fleur, and I am engaged to Mark. And in my previous life I was a teacher. I should probably take this opportunity to say that Mark is the reason that Pumpkin and myself have decided to relocate to North Ronaldsay. For him to be able to legitimately go out birding all day is his idea of heaven, and so far he has been making the most of it!</span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " >Being the only ‘non birder’ in residence has made for an interesting time for me over the last 5 weeks. I’m fairly certain that birding is not a hobby that you can catch but even I find myself asking what certain birds are or scanning the sky for something ‘unusual’. Sadly, being as I know pretty much nothing about birds, the likelihood of me actually being able to identify a ‘rare’ bird is fairly slim, but I feel as though I should make the effort to join in!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " ></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " >While the boys are birding/ building and doing general manly things, I am employed with the task of feeding them (and the guests). This is no mean feat! Rick seems to have the most impressive appetite and douses everything with chilli sauce. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken to putting it in the mammoth portions of porridge that he has for breakfast!!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnKCAocIMJmQ2IPvhCZC8nVsV5ZcmK7NOfkTydK06v1UpF-djuv9X3IxXWchAb7aArd6KPzTVhyJQy07vv9H2gjbMfnVro3ZJzbUrkMaQ7hKUs4NUtmoQAeNOVtwW_UhBKVZlu8G5q15-/s400/porridge.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598143177701429714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; " >Myself and Pumpkin have spent some of our time exploring and meeting the neighbours.<span> </span>The seals on the west side have introduced themselves to us but can seem a little on the shy side. The Fulmars have met Pumpkin and we can safely say that they are not very impressed with her at all! We have also had a nasty little incident today where Pup almost got carried away by a Bonxy!!</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAncRdZzFN08K9Vta_f8HSLjDe8AYohTNbDurzDb0wmh_6mcL6y5LdalAeYKLD0YzkRxkSD3nP3qMkVLO5ztVW8tsHg0jMqdD-yR2lYM0CWkWlI1uNK3Ld0C5DEKYN6ivDnuiLS6UkzsB/s400/013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598144031516692258" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; " >We’ve had a fairly busy weekend at the Obs due to the sheep conference that was held on the island. The conference looked at combining knowledge and stories of local residents about North Ronaldsay sheep farming with information and experiences from our Norwegian guests. Workshops went on throughout the weekend from felting to a presentation that involved listening to voice and sound recordings of the local residents talking about the past. A good weekend was had by all really (even those who don’t know anything about sheep!) and it made a lovely change from bird-related issues!!</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMUWGVUyZwkrxIHsIG41S_1o0s2ex9a4GBIL1YTkJGQdaVnyezCSky9MaB0Wno2bGUlZWZw7pHrBTNMj6ZjmH9jPQe3KRKSqYaxSglVaY1j9NVnkytt-NEoHPywlEnr9sp8a53ebTWxah/s400/057.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598147429950544050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; " >The boys have been busy around the Obs with readying the fences for the sheep punding that is going on this week, although the use of some of the tools caused some issues and tempers ended up frayed when the correct tension on the wire wasn’t achieved!</span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " >Rael has also been intent on using the tractor to plough the fields ready for the potato planting. Sadly, as I am writing this I have had news that this task hasn’t been going too smoothly. Firstly, the tractor has got stuck. Secondly, the rescue attempt using the Land Rover has er... also failed, with the Land Rover breaking down! I sure that all of this will please our resident perfectionist immensely!! The awful thing is he only has about 20 yards of field left to do!! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " >I have learnt quite quickly that in these matters it is best to observe from a distance and not comment!!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznvdm_TLgMR60QNtpnpcDZaIL9Ia6QXs3fwxewZcCoJi_YfMQR7-8dRVORkh_GJz3oQWivjqMy2HDgC7YKsB0NRIwtoKxql3CfsLNOaUhrpgZAKW-wda6lo7IXFuYXxPiHvXFzhpYKKM_/s400/SAM_0274.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598144712308067394" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></p><div><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" > Other news this week is that Mark has been drafted into the Pantomime. Although he professed he doesn’t really want to do it he seems ridiculously excited about the prospect of his acting debut. He’s already talking about ad libbing and changing his 2 lines!! I’m not exactly sure what you can alter in 2 lines! The thing that worries me the most is I think he is more excited at being allowed to wear tights and a tiara than anything else.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; " ><span class="Apple-style-span">Anyway, Pumpkin awaits her walk to see which other neighbours she can disturb! So long for now!! </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; " ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-EZBho8-u7NQ-70L70fGtH3LXYPVo6H6O39iTcK-gNMvZoCP5Fsm-DAujY7K3WnFHv6PJ8MctZIkM2mmNCnS03c6O7wsUAjpO_U8RSac41LlA654JT_i8bPAkSpl3k19co1NUmwLPSSJ/s400/011.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598148136071955602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; line-height: normal; "><br /></span></span></span></div><p></p>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-15199559388952745362011-04-09T13:23:00.000-07:002011-04-09T14:56:58.907-07:00Rael: More trap building, a birthday party and a short trip to Mainland.<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Arriving in 2007 and having two fantastic seasons birding on North Ronaldsay, I was massively frustrated to miss most of 2010 to illness, but luckily managed to return for the final and most exciting 3 months of the year. With added coverage by a few birding friends I’d dragged in, one of which being newly appointed Mark Warren, we had a very successful autumn. So finding out in the early part of this year that he, his fiancé Fleur and Richard Else would joining the team was a huge boost and something I’d been nagging about since my arrival – extra birding staff (excluding Fleur). With double the usual coverage 2011 should be one to remember and make up for my absence last year.</div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">The first event of this past week was the re-building of the small trackside heligoland trap (‘Lancie trap’), where my perfectionist ways conflicted with Mark “The Builder” Warren’s more rustic style; but the final outcome was an acceptable compromise and structurally level enough to concrete in the main framework and ramp, leaving just a little left to go and eventually the wiring.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593701262836881890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHpmwPDyvuq2wr2I4_LHC-iLJaaGZ27jwmwGfrzbi8FRb_rHxud7z3Vh7xMzxo3Yf7glqu7lUwDgDTdE02iW_cuB0Q6iM2BiZrHWk_HX4LwpW0iUo0lnxHqGsYWM4fovNDarMFDF4Tkrg/s400/SNV30105.JPG" /></span></span></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFq5KzqSMpczl-DMz2uRr2dF9CkIilG-HL5tQOduheDhJGmR5WjPLwJQvRK2_26qck616jfFmCbAc-IWas78hMuVFJS3-iRRkHL0BtW7LdU_H1TuV-IgrQbmMEUkqU7OOd2UXuRFxe4iG/s1600/SNV30111.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593701960722947618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFq5KzqSMpczl-DMz2uRr2dF9CkIilG-HL5tQOduheDhJGmR5WjPLwJQvRK2_26qck616jfFmCbAc-IWas78hMuVFJS3-iRRkHL0BtW7LdU_H1TuV-IgrQbmMEUkqU7OOd2UXuRFxe4iG/s400/SNV30111.JPG" /></a><span style="color:#003333;">The trap in progress.</span></span></span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">Mark woke up a year older on the 5<sup>th</sup>, so his 31<sup>st</sup> was duly celebrated by a good turnout of staff and locals. All 8 of us enjoyed a good night, despite Real Madrid spoiling the early part of the evening. The beers, shandies, Irn Bru’s and even champagne were flowing well, and the same could have been said of Fleurs homemade chocolate birthday cake, created whilst battling power cuts – but as the old saying goes, it’s the thought that counts!</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593697500351504290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCEka2_Jfxrj4p6jLI0jLHpa5E25qncQJLyPj9bK9e7rWwqoGN5tblgIXQdSP-3cyqh3xMA-ZrWDK47ouP7a2zc_3n9MfLl3Bf8aaI5YHtZmQfj_OU4uVfdD2rTSRkPLk-8NV3jTNWBzJ/s400/SNV30117.JPG" /></span></span></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003333;">The cake may have been a touch heavier than intended, but that didn't stop us polishing it off in no time.</span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">The remainder of the night involved the usual bird-related chat, only to be interrupted by a stray Norwegian girl in need of nicotine, cider and a piano – Honest! Fleur now had an excuse to abandon the birding politics debate, as did young Gavin who sensibly turned down a 10<sup>th</sup> Irn Bru.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">By 2am Rick was sleeping, Paul’s head and eyes were dropping (maybe dreaming about tennis coaching or something…), Fleur had drunk most of her engagement presents and Mark had staggered off to bed; it seemed reasonable to call it a night.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">More planting continued in what feels like a long week, though planting of more Flag Iris and ditch digging was left to Rick and Mark on Friday as I headed for the comparatively bustling Kirkwall for an occupational health check. But I was also armed with a shopping list: Dog biscuits and chocolate digestives for Mark, shampoo and shower gel for Paul, toothpaste and biscuits for Rick and more Listerine (they were on offer), two plants and a duvet set for me, as I recently acquired a second-hand double bed for my room. A touch optimistic on an island of 60 folk with similar figure for average age, but at least I’ve more space.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593696102866221618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqh6ZN7y5nepm9jujZaNZDbcazYMO_T0Hfx2ZHxkSSi0kWwvR-hmi8n3yH3fTwjZpXmmYKUeLAOqqBun3kL3_VdmKHVWkIgnVhbhHx-djA7x4jTfdXV9RqxySUbE-NOdB4sL-T-U3ISof/s400/SNV30140.JPG" /></span></span></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003333;">Fortunately, the plane's luggage allowance could just about cope with Rick and Mark's demand for biscuits.</span></span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-US">The seven-seater Islander planes clearly pose too big a challenge for terrorists, as I climbed aboard unhindered despite hand luggage crammed with nothing but gels, creams and liquids, returning to the observatory just in time for tea and bar duty.</span></p><br /><p></p>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-45673755590832236372011-04-02T11:59:00.000-07:002011-04-02T12:42:27.932-07:00Rick: Dark Skies, Bright Trousers and a Minor Haircut Accident at NRBO<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">First of all, this being my first post on this new blog, a quick introduction is required: I’m Richard, usually known as Rick or, if you know me from my previous job at Bardsey Bird Observatory, ‘Rich E’. I’ve been on North Ronaldsay since late January (I arrived to find the island in the drowsy and possibly hung-over aftermath of the previous night’s Burns Supper), and I’ll be working at the obs for the whole season. This is my first time on the island, but everything has been great so far and I – along with the rest of the staff here – look forward to what we anticipate will be a fantastic year ahead.</div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">With Rael back, Mark and Fleur settled in and Paul returning from his holiday in Manchester, the obs was able to field a full-strength birding team from the start of the week; and it didn’t take long for the increased coverage of the island to produce some decent birds (details of which are on the sightings blog, via which you probably came to reach this page). Having eventually settled on what we believe to be the most effective rotational system for conducting the daily census, organised systematic coverage of the island has now commenced.</p><p class="MsoNormal">As well as the birding, we have an extensive to-do list of jobs at and around the observatory that should keep us all busy for the foreseeable future. This week we’ve continued planting various patches of shrubbery that we hope will survive the Orcadian weather long enough to provide shelter from said Orcadian weather for all the autumn’s expected mega rarities. The potato patch has been re-rotivated and continues to be an attractive lure to Twites, Linnets and any passing yellow buntings; and we have been able to trap and ring several finches there during occasional windows of mist-nettable conditions.</p><p class="MsoNormal">While Rael and Paul were turning the tattie patch, Mark and I had a go at rebuilding the collapsed dyke by the Heligoland trap. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but I think the finished wall looks suitably tidy and homogenous with respect to the adjacent stonework, which is pretty much the effect we were going for; and we even incorporated a stile that is almost<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </i>completely solid to stand on.</p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591063975837409970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeG4jBipVfG01_aV0mqosDh6OmmbXfyy8TuyossnS-_1TzVRr3JBToATNGMmO_AQ499tP6RyGgPHlNIZu3s685KECqOg1FKKsKa3lhQwmxteXF6A6JFxp5lh6yCgNJh3Ru0UmyTrNK47mJ/s400/wall1.jpg" /> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591064460887438770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQg5g_1BnafniVSxn_umtGt6CIfRQFkEjN3nTZZQtyHmjxzN_OPbE6NBBFaG8_PqGZLwajHoAGJ8y9k0gHbpLZT89E5UqAEn-IFDPbpWSPiSzoodl-WuK8PG1E37ey04pKPOSpoZf1MBDT/s400/wall2.jpg" /> <div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="color:#003333;">The wall in progress, and after completion. Here Mark is also modelling a new line of birding trousers, guaranteed to scare all Lanceolated Warblers within a 50m radius out of hiding.</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><p class="MsoNormal">The most important job of week was undoubtedly the installation of Mark’s old dart board in the staff room. Once it was in place, it only took him a matter of minutes to hit the first 180; although nobody has yet managed to replicate this feat. As well as darts, the Scrabble set also got its first airing of the year this week. Modesty <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">almost</i> prevents me from disclosing who won, but it was an extremely close game and I did, admittedly, have to resort to my knowledge of Himalayan hybrid cattle (zo) and traditional Chinese life-forces (qi) to beat Rael.</p></div><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591065884561383074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DXB23pINSUwzeuYquDyHNWgnIka5dhAFzdttun8a3mRQShEZAMtKM5p8tTLvdsYU0tjxZwW-9B_X8Ll_lLKa7MOm5tpmLNsJwN3EkAkxwZrcw9IeQ4mPw4PPnKj6bQkW2yT5rwZCIM_d/s400/darts1.jpg" /></span><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#003333;">Although the quality of the above picture is terrible, there is one feature that demands explanation. Keen-eyed readers may notice Rael’s interesting, experimental new hair cut: the result of an accidental experiment into what happens when you start to cut your own hair without using a mirror, and forget to put the length-controlling comb on the clippers. We tried really hard not to laugh.</span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#003333;"></span><span style="color:#ffffff;">There was an interesting talk about astronomy during the week by Steve Owens of the Dark Sky Society, who was staying here to gather some data on how dark the North Ronaldsay night sky is. It is, apparently, especially dark, and we should soon be given official recognition of this and be designated the world’s first ‘dark sky island’. Steve will hopefully give a write-up of his visit, and on the pre-eminent inkiness of our firmament, on his </span><a href="http://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/"><span style="color:#003333;">Dark Sky Diary</span></a><span style="color:#ffffff;"> when he gets back home.</span></p><p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)" class="MsoNormal"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591068128805141570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxB2m1OO43rDu7MhNTVrA1FjLM2MviaLsYDHdmGnw9v55KqCEO6AF0YeAlH3tBllibaso7LgAueULYYQrI9gJ8j-rttyrzH4BYYHS7SairfV3j-D3eH4Vd9orr6z3RnsTM1jCZQJDUzUzT/s400/dark+sky.jpg" /></span></p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;color:#003333;" class="Apple-style-span">North Ronaldsay's dark sky.</span></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591068483449551074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbBhtk5DvrGhR7acZ7KVL6lOsc__MTScqiLA6cYPm4gaJdje5xpVeaBQa0JIaakxrmYrOk9DqkrUJwGos0q2h_CZO2Bef6uSjEuSNxXFecHVVBie1lhV4xYVnOcNbp868bgN8Ym7GVDa5/s400/aurora1.jpg" /></span></span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;color:#003333;" class="Apple-style-span">A slightly more interesting view of it, taken when the <i>aurora borealis</i> was visible in early March.</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><p style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238)" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#ffffff;">We’re now starting to get a few more visitors staying at the obs, including a sheep conference, whatever that involves, which is to be held here in the coming week. The new Heligoland trap is taking shape and should be nearing completion once we find what’s happened to the mesh we were going to use. A few more birds are starting to appear now, so the trap will be a priority job in the next few days. With a bit of luck, pictures of the finished, or nearly finished, article will be posted next week, when Rael will write-up his account of the week’s events.</span></p></span>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3096986844781494882.post-88811140564190622552011-03-25T07:03:00.000-07:002011-04-01T14:53:09.899-07:00Mark: Arriving on North Ronaldsay<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><span class="Apple-style-span">This new blog is to provide more of an insight into observatory life, its work and the staff. It’s a brief and fairly light-hearted summary of day to day goings on, and will be updated by a different member of staff each week. It’s also where we’ll be advertising up and coming Observatory and Island events.</span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">So I’m Mark, and I moved to North Ronaldsay last week along with my girlfriend Fleur and our dog Pumpkin. After much deliberation we made the decision to make the move north from Lands End to the northernmost of the Orkney Islands for the next year and will be living and working at the Obs.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">So why on earth did we decide to move to North Ronaldsay?</p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589504301873265922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvUX2eGViiNDVt2Zz5Yu0TYZY-ZVmvydD4NoEq8IVSD-ZTGTSvGAYF38ZkkDP5cDZBbvbSLV61BCGoFW_o6M0wbuEaHNwZJT7L74KTijjkLvsoo_iogfpsJK7DiMpKZ65otpgpN707e8fW/s400/PZ+night+out+and+North+Ron+March+2011+070.JPG" /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="color:#003333;">Pumpkin sniffing for <i>Locustellas</i>: <span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 18px" class="Apple-style-span">you may laugh, but how many dogs have Brown Shrike, Baird’s Sandpiper and Subalpine Warbler on their find list!</span></span></span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">The tale begins last autumn. Rael (one of the wardens and a good friend of mine) had been nagging me for ages to come to North Ron for some autumn birding and last autumn I did with another mate – Shetland birder Rory Tallack. We had a good couple of weeks with decent migrant numbers and plenty of scarcities, and we turned up a few rarities: Pied Wheatear, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers and Britain’s second Rufous-tailed Robin (ok, so the latter was picked up dead, but that’s not the point!) I was struck by the potential of what is very much an under-watched Island with a strong track record for rarities – I knew I’d be back.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">So... we arrived last Friday, were greeted by Alison off the boat, and quickly whisked up to the observatory for a cup of tea – I’m drinking my 50<sup>th</sup> brew of the week as I write this, but I promise I have done some work in between. I was running dangerously low on pants (It took four days to drive a van to Wick, get a boat to Orkney, load a container with 70 odd boxes and a bed onto another boat destined for North Ronaldsay, go sightseeing on Orkney mainland, have a cup of tea/pint and get the afore mentioned boat to North Ronaldsay!) so we spent our first couple of days unpacking boxes, having a bit of a sort out of our stuff and generally getting to know our way around the Observatory and parts of the Island. The highlight of Saturday was definitely Ireland thumping England in the rugby, but the low point was Wales being rubbish against France.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">From a birding point of view spring is only just starting around here, so for the past week we’ve been censusing the Island in the mornings and getting on with a few jobs in the afternoons. We’ve begun with trying to create some habitat in the Obs area for the mass of rarities we expect to find in the autumn, so Sunday afternoon was spent working on a new plantation near the heligoland traps. Plantations on a windswept Island don’t happen overnight, so this rather labour-intensive process requires assembling a network of old wooden pallets to act as a windbreak before planting our willow, fuscia and rosa cuttings in the sheltered areas. With this complete, Monday and Tuesday were spent stripping grass from around trees previously planted to give them a better chance of growing, and rotivating a field next to the observatory as part of the Twingness croft land plan for 2011. This area is to be planted with spuds in about 3 weeks time, and with a large flock of Twites, plus a few Linnets, Skylarks and Chaffinchs already occupying the field, a Pine Bunting seems likely to be in there this time next week! Finishing early on Tuesday an (unsuccessful) attempt was made to catch some of the Skylarks at Kirbest – if any ringers out there have any suggestions on how to catch, them I’m all ears.<!--?xml:namespace prefix = o /--><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589505329377388242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4ggAz47w8G6Ygjtf1D-1Ia6-7acQIVqy1nmCrjFV2OmWFoLvZxyy05M1DlsuL2pAxwIkH7NBPK4fTFpWarFapFNqcbL1NIvHEfVm9zogwsaWpwKCfkmvxAow71zLxkzYaNoaSEKnYZT-/s400/005.JPG" /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003333;">Rotivating near the Obs: hours of fun!</span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">On Wednesday, I was required to help with the punding of sheep over lunch (those which become the famous North Ronaldsay mutton, fed on sea-weed), so a few hours were spent in the morning assembling pallets in another plantation beside a small pool, again close to the observatory, before we did our census in the afternoon. Thursday was spent planting the many willow cuttings taken from the surgery, more rosa and fuscia, and some irises around the pond. We plan to build a new heligoland trap in this area once the cover begins to take; if only plants and trees grew like they do in Cornwall, we’d have Nuthatches breeding in no time! Onto Friday, and with the rain coming down outside, planned work to re-build one of the old heligoland traps progressed only to discussion stages and I’ve come inside to write this... and it’s time for my 51<sup>st</sup> cup of tea!<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589506163152824338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zLmMuL7x8pHgnG3i4XUiVPpQu1XVAOiGvGn80j1hT3KtSmse8eoE8or7Z5xTZaLC_GPbiC-RoW-FfAm2Xv619vbacex0hHmCZZfqMushAOFL5awJk4l-1fcpnLOVpFuubeGdKKg54Trs/s400/016.JPG" /></span></p><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline" class="Apple-style-span"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589506671246849474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvW6hpCo6hR4biKPn7hloo90Iwh4JznVjHAVqNhUdUCucIIexCD04g5vKkvW6PBQiJUMxyxJMUTQpz0CW9-3ABczqNHuYVTcrlEwlrHZynqie342imj6PgLbQwKXl7vnkmLygI_pw4fbD/s400/021.JPG" /></span></span><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003333;">Planting trees: it may not look pretty, but it works (sometimes)!</span></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Next week's update will be provided by Rick.</p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p>northronbirdobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15988624064711808257noreply@blogger.com1