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    Birding the Orkney Islands
    Birding the Orkney Islands
    Birding the Orkney Islands
    Ebook181 pages38 minutes

    Birding the Orkney Islands

    By Harold Stiver

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Orkney contains some of the most amazing bird species in the world and this guide will help the visitor to find them.

    It is designed to do this in three different ways.

    1) A summary of some of the best areas, how to get there and what birds you might expect. This includes all of the RSPB Reserves.

    2) Three tours outlines to help you plan a productive visit. Included are:
    Tour 1- Searching for Seabirds
    Tour 2- Marshes and Moors
    Tour 3- Wonderful Westray

    3) A list of all the bird species and information on the likelihood of each one and where and when they are to be found

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarold Stiver
    Release dateMar 10, 2014
    ISBN9781927835180
    Birding the Orkney Islands
    Author

    Harold Stiver

    Harold Stiver was a partner in a financial services company who lives with his wife Elaine in Paris, Ontario. He has two daughters and three grandchildren who he spoils relentlessly. He has long had a fascination with the natural world and has traveled widely exploring and photographing it. You can see more of his images at https://haroldstiver.smugmug.com/. He is the author of a series of eBook Guides for Photographers and Explorers covering subjects like Waterfalls, Old Mills and Covered Bridges. They are available at Smashwords and other popular distributors.

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      Book preview

      Birding the Orkney Islands - Harold Stiver

      Other Books by Harold Stiver

      Unless noted, there are Print and eBook editions available for the following.

      Guide to Photographing Birds

      Ontario's Old Mills

      Ontario Waterfalls

      Connecticut Covered Bridges (eBook)

      Indiana Covered Bridges

      Maine Covered Bridges (eBook)

      Massachusetts Covered Bridges (eBook)

      Michigan Covered Bridges (eBook)

      New England Covered Bridges

      New Hampshire Covered Bridges

      New York Covered Bridges

      Ohio's Covered Bridges

      The Covered Bridges of Kentucky (eBook)

      The Covered Bridges of Kentucky and Tennessee

      The Covered bridges of the South

      The Covered Bridges of Tennessee (eBook)

      Vermont's Covered Bridges

      The Covered Bridges of Virginia (eBook)

      The Covered Bridges of Virginia and West Virginia

      The Covered Bridges of West Virginia (eBook)

      Introduction

      I first visited Orkney in 1974 when I got married to my wife Elaine there. I loved the islands and the people who lived there immediately, and I have made many trips there since.

      During that time I have spent a large amount of time exploring the islands and seeing the wildlife there especially the birds.

      I have written this book in the hope it will be helpful to the new traveller to Orkney as well as more experienced visitor. For those new to Orkney I recommend the Self-guided tour instructions. They are designed to get you to some of the best birding sites with a minimum of hassle. For the more experienced who may have target species they wish to see, the information in the citations of the bird list should give them an indication of the best places to go.

      There are 398 species accepted for Orkney at the end of 2012 based on the BBRC (British Bird Rarities Committee) This book includes basic information on all of these species but the visiting birder should have expectations of only a portion of this species with many being less than annual in occurrence. However there is often something rare to be found and there are resources under Rare Bird Alerts section which you might use to help you find them.

      Rare Bird Alerts

      Although many of the species in the Orkney list cannot be expected there are often rarities present. You can find out what is around and get location details by joining the the Yahoo group orkbird. It is located at:

      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Orkbird/

      There are also bird apps available from Birdguides and RBA. There may be a fee but look also for free trials.

      http://www.birdguides.com/home

      http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk

      Photo Credits

      All photographs are the copyright of the author Harold Stiver and may only be used with his written permission.

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      How to use this book

      This guide is designed to be used in three main ways.

      1) The first section deals with places to find birds, mainly RSPB areas, supplemented by additional destinations. Each area has a general description, information on how to get to it and a list of the birds that you might expect to find there.

      2) The second section has three self guided tours. It is intended for those who may only have a few days and want to get a good overview of the different habitat and a range of species.

      3) The third section is a systematic list of the species which have been recorded in Orkney. If you are targeting certain birds, you can look it up and get information on where and when it might be expected. It should also save you wasted time chasing birds which are not likely to be found due to rarity or season.

      tmp_b508e5921b3229effc63856980d44989_pAE6yK_html_m57f4bfb9.jpg

      Map of Orkney

      tmp_b508e5921b3229effc63856980d44989_pAE6yK_html_m2e2b63d9.jpg

      Orcadian Bird Names

      There are many interesting alternate names for birds in Orkney. Following is a list of some of them:

      Rain Goose, Loom- Red-throated Diver, Gavia stellata

      Immer Goose- Great Northern Diver, Gavia immer

      Dabchick- Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis

      Mallimack- Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis

      Lyrie- Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus

      Storm Finch- European Storm Petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus

      Solan Goose- Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus

      Great Scarf- Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo

      Scarf- European Shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis

      Sly-Goose- Common Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna

      Stock Duck- Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

      Dunter- Common Eider, Somateria mollissima

      Calloo- Long-tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis

      Sawbill- Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator

      Erne- White-tailed Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla

      Kattakally- Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus

      Moosie Hawk, Wind Cuffer- Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus

      Muir-hen- Red Grouse, Lagopus lagopus

      Water-hen- Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus

      Snaith- Common Coot, Fulica atra

      Chaldro- Eurasian Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus

      Sand Lark- Common Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula

      Pliver- Eurasian Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria

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