• 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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Local Rarity 1st January 2018

Hawkeye

Eyes and Ears Everywhere
Borve, Berneray
The *Crane* is still to be found on the machair

Kilaulay, South Uist
A *Glossy Ibis* seen late afternoon - See YvonneB's post below

Loch Mor, Benbecula
3 Little Egrets were seen on the loch today.

Loch Sandary, North Uist
A drake *Green-winged Teal* and 3 Coots were on the loch today

Rubh' Arnal, North Uist
A juvenile and 3rd winter Iceland Gulls were seen today. 62 Pale-bellied Brent Geese and 2 Pied Wagtails were also present plus a Lapland Bunting was nearby

Loch an Duin, North Uist
The drake *American Wigeon* was on the loch today

Hougharry, North Uist
An Iceland Gull seen today

Loch Mor, Baleshare.
A drake Pintail was there today

Ness, Isle of Lewis
6 Snow Buntings present this morning

South Glendale, South Uist
The Brambling is still to be found in a garden there

Ruhba Ardvule, South Uist
A brief seawatch this morning produced 22 Shag (3S 19N) and 5 Kittiwakes (N). Also present in the area were Wigeon 8, Tufted Duck 12, Goldeneye 1, Great Northern Diver 1, Cormorant 17, White-tailed Eagle 1, Common Buzzard 1, Golden Plover 2, Iceland Gull 1 (Adult), Hooded Crow 1, Raven 25, Pied Wagtail 1, Meadow Pipit 1, Rock Pipit 5, Twite 50

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Snow Buntings courtesy of Sam Hawkins
 

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
As usual the first day of the new year was spent birding from dawn until dusk - a total of 54 species were seen, including 37 on the local patch (giving a great start to this years Patchwork Challenge).

At the north end of South Uist a nice surprise was a Glossy Ibis that got up out of a ditch near Kilaulay. Nearby there was a large flock of Twite including one very pale individual. There was also a large flock of Skylarks near Kildonan - at least 70 birds and at Bornish there was a flock of at least 200 Twite present. At Frobost there was a group of 18 Meadow Pipits.

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Glossy Ibis & White Twite
 
As usual the first day of the new year was spent birding from dawn until dusk - a total of 54 species were seen, including 37 on the local patch (giving a great start to this years Patchwork Challenge).

At the north end of South Uist a nice surprise was a Glossy Ibis that got up out of a ditch near Kilaulay. Nearby there was a large flock of Twite including one very pale individual. There was also a large flock of Skylarks near Kildonan - at least 70 birds and at Bornish there was a flock of at least 200 Twite present. At Frobost there was a group of 18 Meadow Pipits.

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Glossy Ibis & White Twite
I also spent most of yesterday out in the field and when I entered my records on BirdTrack it told me i’d seen 60 species and considering I didn’t see lots of easy ones I was most impressed.
 

MisterT

Always Birding
Hi Paul, that is an impressive total. We too dipped on many of the common species and ended with a similar tally. Did you see anything interesting?
 
No I didn’t have anything unusual but did pick up almost all of the wader species one could reasonably expect in Uist in winter with the exception of Snipe and had the three Little Egrets at Loch Mor. I was most impressed with the total as I only visited Loch Bee and Benbecula so could have easily got more species if i’d gone north as well.What was better was the total of five otters seen during the morning.
 

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
No I didn’t have anything unusual but did pick up almost all of the wader species one could reasonably expect in Uist in winter with the exception of Snipe and had the three Little Egrets at Loch Mor. I was most impressed with the total as I only visited Loch Bee and Benbecula so could have easily got more species if i’d gone north as well.What was better was the total of five otters seen during the morning.

Yes, it's surprising what you can see without venturing out too far - like you we didn't venture too far and didn't leave South Uist. We also didn't see Snipe.
Excellent to see 5 Otters in one morning! :D
 
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