• 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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MisterT

Always Birding
Redwings again on the move through Askernish this morning with the air filled with their song and chatter in the township. Too numerous to count but 73 passed the front of the house in a ten minute period while I was drinking tea.

Early afternoon there were 196 Whooper Swans on 2 lochs at Frobost and were joined late afternoon by another 132 who flew in from the south. A further 47 settled on Keepers Loch late in the day. 200+ Redwings were again in 2 gardens in the afternoon and a further 200+ were in fields around the township.

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Hawkeye

Eyes and Ears Everywhere
Western Isles / Outer Hebrides bird sightings for today, 30th March 2019. Updated throughout the day

Loch Stiapavat, Ness, Isle of Lewis
A male Hen Harrier was seen there today

Clachan Sands, North Uist
19 Greenland White- fronted Geese and a single Pink-footed Goose were there today

Loch Scolpaig, North Uist
92 Whooper Swans were there with 83 leaving to the NW at 16.30, 148 Greenland White-fronted Geese were also present

Balranald, North Uist
A Wheatear was seen near the church. An Iceland Gull was at Aird an Runair

Balivanich, Benbecula
104+ Greenland White-fronted Geese were in fields opposite the airport

Loch Mor, Benbecula
76 Greenland White-froned Geese and 85 Redwing were there today. A single Gadwall and 6 Shoveler were nearby on Loch Fada and 19 Gadwall, a pair of Pintail, 4 Shoveler and at least 12 Black-tailed Godwit were on Coot Loch. A Wheatear was at Muir of Aird

Loch-an-t-Saile, South Uist
9 Black-tailed Godwit were there today

Ruhba Ardvule, South Uist
Counting period: 07:05 - 09:50
Weather: Wind WNW - NW F4, mostly bright and sunny, single light shower. Temp 6.3 - 7C.

A near 3 hour seawatch this morning produced 183 Whooper Swans (N), 2 Eider (N), 26 Gannets (N), 3 Redshank (N) and 1 Glaucous Gull[2CY] (N).
Also present in the area were Greylag Goose 5, Shelduck 18, Great Northern Diver 3, White-tailed Eagle 1, Common Buzzard 1, Sanderling 73, Purple Sandpiper 87, Great Black-backed Gull 21, Raven 3, Skylark 1, Pied Wagtail 2 and Meadow Pipit 3
 
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Bruce

Senior Member
It was a busy day on Barra. As soon as I opened my door at first light, it was obvious there had been a big arrival of Redwings. The sound of Redwings pretty much drowned out other bird song for the first hour at Brevig. Hard to estimate the nu;mber of birds involved and this is by no means the biggest fall I've seen here, but there must of been at least 1500 around the island. My first Linnets of the year were at Creachan and Glen. There were also 4 Chiffchaffs at Glen and another at Ardmhor. Whooper Swans were on the move again this morning; a flock of 71 came in from the south over Castlebay before settling on Loch Tangasdale, followed by a further 9 half an hour later. 9 more flew north over Eoligarry early afternoon where the 3 wintering birds were still present. The parvipes Canada Goose remained on Borve Point.

An early House Martin was hanging around Brevig mid afternoon and had been joined by a second bird by early evening. Bird of the day though was the Great Tit that appeared at Creachan this evening. A new Barra species for me after missing the bird in my own garden in Jan '16!

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