• When here in the Outer Hebrides and looking at a bird, have you ever wondered how rare it is? The status of all species can vary enormously from island to island. How rare is Shoveler on Barra, has Stock Dove been seen on Harris, does Dotterel occur on Benbecula in the autumn, and how common is Blue Tit on North Uist? Well, fret no longer! The Status and Distribution of birds here on the Outer Hebrides has been completely updated and summarised for every species and each of the main islands and outliers. Available as an online resource at https://status.outerhebrides-birdreports.org/ or via our shop

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Hawkeye

Eyes and Ears Everywhere
Ness, Isle of Lewis
The 19 Snow Buntings were still present there this morning

Ruhba Ardvule, South Uist
A 1.5 hour seawatch this morning produced 1 Eider (S), 2 Long-tailed Ducks (S), 1 Red-breasted Merganser (S), 14 Shag (3S 11N), 1 Cormorant (S) and 1 Razorbill (S).
Also present in the area were Greylag Goose 26, Mute Swan 2, Shelduck 1, Wigeon 57, Teal 4, Tufted Duck 8, Goldeneye 4, Red-throated Diver 2, Great Northern Diver 3, Cormorant 27, Common Buzzard 1, Lapwing 12, Black-headed Gull 1, Glaucous Gull 1 (juvenile) and Rock Dove 15
 
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Hawkeye

Eyes and Ears Everywhere
News from Tristan:-
At least 30 Iceland Gulls around Stornoway harbour and nearby Goat Island this morning, together with 5 Glaucous Gulls. Mostly juvs as usual but a few 2nd-winters and 2 of the Iceland Gulls were adults.

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Bruce

Senior Member
On Barra, a juvenile glaucous gull at Cleat, another juvenile on the machair at Allasdale and a very pale juvenile and second winter on the beach at Craigston. There seems to have been a big turnover of birds in the past week.

I didn't see the red-necked grebe this morning, though as the sea was very choppy and the visibility poor due to the snow, it's probably still out there. As I've mentioned previously, this is an interesting and educational bird. I've spent about 4 hours watching it in the past few days and one of the most striking things I've noticed is how different it looks depending on its mood. When it's been disturbed by the ferry coming and going it looks long-necked and rakish with tight looking plumage and a long bill. However when there's no disturbance and the bird is more relaxed it loses the long-necked look and its figure and plumage look somehow fuller. This in turn affects the apparent length of the bill, making it look shorter as the head feathers puff out. Its bill is very yellow which is a pro American race feature, however this can also be shown by British birds. It may of course be American, but that's not the feeling I've got after spending time watching it; without biometrics or a DNA sample it would be impossible to prove one way or the other. Personally though, I think the current 'probable American red-necked grebe' tag with which it is being labelled elsewhere is highly misleading.

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BrianR

Senior Member
Paiblesgarry, North Uist: Peter Murray photographed a Tree Sparrow in his garden today. The bird does however appear to have black extending to breast which a true Tree Sparrow does not show.
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