• 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
Western Isles / Outer Hebrides bird sightings for today, 18th October 2021. Updated throughout the day.

Loch Stiapabhat, Isle of Lewis
The Little Egret was seen there again this morning

Tong, Isle of Lewis
Three Snow Buntings were there today

Stinky Bay, Benbecula
The ***Buff-bellied Pipit*** was still there this morning and seen again this evening

Eochar, South Uist
A *Snow Goose* and three Lapland Buntings were seen on the machair early afternoon

Morghan, Barra
The Red-breasted Flycatcher was still at North Bay House. A Ring Ouzel and circa 12 Fieldfares were also on the island. (See Bruce's post below)

Rubha Ardvule, Isle of South Uist
A 1CY *Mediterranean Gull* seen there this morning and a Grey Phalarope, Pomarine Skua and Arctic Skua flew south just offshore
Alaso a 4 hour seawatch produced 8 Eider (7S 1N), 4 Red-breasted Merganser (S), 7 Red-throated Divers (S), 11 Great Northern Divers (S), 1 Sooty Shearwater (S), 1 Manx Shearwater (S), 815 Gannets (813S 2N), 3 Shag (1S 2N), 1 Bar-tailed Godwit (S), 605 Kittiwakes (S), 6 Common Gulls (S), 1 Great Skua (S), 1 Arctic Skua (S), 2 Guillemots (S), 8 Razorbill (S), 2 Black Guillemots (S), and 64 auk sp (S).
Also in the area were Greylag Goose 12, Tufted Duck 8, Red-throated Diver 1, Black-tailed Godwit 64, Turnstone 8, and Rock Dove 80. 150 Black-tailed Godwits were also in the area
 

Bruce

Senior Member
Barra
A decent arrival of thrushes today. Both Icelandic and Scandinavian Redwings were widespread in good numbers, Ring Ouzels were at Morghan and Creachan along with a scattering of Fieldfares. At least one of the Little Egrets remained at Morghan as did the RB Flycatcher. I had an interesting hours seawatch off Borve this afternoon, immediately before the wind veered north and the rain hit. A minimum of 56 Sooty Shearwaters and 2000 Kittiwakes flew south during the hour, although at times visibility was poor, so the true numbers may have been higher. 13 Whooper Swans dropped in at Brevig Bay in the late afternoon, presumably seeking shelter from the northerly gale. A further 12 joined them at dusk.
 
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