• 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

    New - now available as an ebook

Hawkeye

Eyes and Ears Everywhere
Western Isles / Outer Hebrides bird sightings for today, 18th August 2019. Updated throughout the day

Lower Barvas Isle of Lewis
14 Woodpigeon were seen there today

Bragar Bay, Isle of Lewis
3 Great Northern Divers and a Ruff were seen there this morning

Sound of Taransay, Isle of Harris
110 Common Scoters were there today

Loch Sandary, North Uist
63 Black-tailed Godwits were there today

Locheport, North Uist
The Rose-coloured Starling is still visiting a garden there

Triagh Mhor, Barra
A Little Stint was there this morning

Brevig, Barra
2264 Manx Shearwaters flew south in 1 hour this morning [see @Bruce post below]

Aird a Chaolis, Vatersay
20 Sooty Shearwaters flew south in a 2 hours today [see @Bruce post below]

Ruhba Ardvule, South Uist
Counting period: 05:35 - 08:45
Weather: Wind S veering SSW then W F3-4. Heavy rain initially, gradually easing off. Very dull. Temp 12-14C.

A 3+ hour seawatch this morning produced 1 Red-throated Diver (S), 24 Storm Petrels (S), 99 Fulmars (96S 3N), 1 Sooty Shearwater (S), 94 Manx Shearwaters (S), 113 Gannets (111S 2N), 3 Shag (N), 42 Kittiwakes (S), 1 Arctic Tern (S), 1 Great Skua (N), 1 Arctic Skua (S), 1 Black Guillemot (S), and 1 Puffin (S).
Also present in the area were Greylag Goose 34, Eider 2, Great Black-backed Gull 21, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Rock Dove 6, Raven 11, White Wagtail 2, Pied Wagtail 5 and Meadow Pipit 32

Two Ruff were still nearby on Bornish machair

5F22CE4D-9164-4175-94DE-5C8F0BEE1912.jpeg l stint.jpg
Rose-coloured Starling & Little Stint (c) and courtesy of Ani George & Ian Ricketts
 

Bruce

Senior Member
What a difference a day makes. After yesterdays poor showing, Manx Shearwaters were moving in large numbers today. 2264 flew south past Brevig in the hour up to 8am. A 2 hour watch off the west side of Vatersay around mid morning produced 352 Manx per hour along with 168 Fulmars per hour, plus 20 Sooty Shearwaters, a Puffin, 6 Great Skuas and a flock of 15 Oystercatchers all going south. An Arctic Tern was on East Beach. Back on Barra the Iceland Gull was still at Craigston.
 
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