• 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, 31st March 2021. Updated throughout the day

Rubh' Arnal, North Uist
Four 2CY Iceland Gulls and two 2CY Glaucous Gulls and eight Grenland White-fronts flew north there this afteroon

Loch nam Feithean, North Uist
17 White-fronted Geese were there today

Askernish, South Uist
Good numbers of Greenland White-fronts heading north offshore this morning. Some Greylag Geese in the flocks too. Circa 35 also seen flying north over Kilbride and another 70 flew north off Garrynamonie.

Loch Hallan, South Uist
The *Green-winged Teal* was present this afternoon. An immature Iceland Gull was nearby in Daliburgh on Loch nam Faoileann.

Orosay, South Uist
An immature Glaucous Gull was seen there this evening

South Glendale, South Uist
35 Redwings were there today

Rubha Ardvule, South Uist
Counting period: 08:20-10:40
Weather: Wind NE f 7-8, 8/8 cloud very dull with persistent rain. Temp 6c.

A 2+ hour seawatch this morning produced 2 Barnacle Geese (N), 2 Greenland White-fronted Geese (N), 4 Long-tailed Ducks (N), 3 Red-throated Divers (N), 4 Fulmars (S), 10 Gannets (7S 3N), 2 Purple Sandpipers (N), 2 Kittiwakes (N), 9 Black-headed Gulls (N) and 1 Guillemot (N).
Also present in the area were Greylag Goose 6, Mute Swan 2, Whooper Swan 249, Shelduck 2, Wigeon 2, Tufted Duck 6, Eider 3, Red-breasted Merganser 1, Great Northern Diver 3, Cormorant 34, Turnstone 160, Purple Sandpiper 26, Redshank 18, Black-headed Gull 59 and Meadow Pipit 2
 

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
Nipped out late morning and again in the afternoon.

Late morning - Askernish
234 Greenland White-fronted Geese flying north in groups, often with small numbers of Greylags in the groups. 25 Eider were offshore. c200 Golden Plover were on the machair. 16 Black-headed Gulls were flying up and down the beach. 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 4 on the fields and another 3 on the beach. 2 Great Northern Divers offshore. Large number of Starlings on the crofts. 1 Pied Wagtail.

Afternoon - Askernish and Loch Hallan
Over 300 Greenland White-fronts - 106 were on the field near the golf course, two with neck collars, of which I managed to get the letters on one and 2 out of 3 letter on the other before they were disturbed by a quad bike. All the other geese were heading north over the dunes and the sea. 85 Whooper Swans were resting up on the sea just offshore. A few groups of Barwits came in to the beach, totaling c130 birds. There were c60 Oystercatchers on Loch Hallan and a good number of Teal with one Green-winged Teal picked up when I 'scoped through. 3 Shoveler and only 1 Whooper Swan remaining there.

Loch nam Faoileann, Daliburgh
One Iceland Gull there on the way home.

20210331-IN8A4145_Geese.jpg
Just a few of the hundreds of geese heading north today

20210331-IN8A4157_Geese.jpg
Mostly Greenland White-fronts resting up / feeding on the field down the road this afternoon. Two had neck collars, i'll see if I can get some information and let you know :)
(You can click to see larger photos)
 

Bruce

Senior Member
Barra.
Greenland White-fronts were on the move here too. 290 flew north over Eoligarry in an hour this afternoon along with 2 flocks of Whooper Swans totalling c100 birds. A Sandwich Tern was on the beach and more surprisingly an exceptionally early Little Tern. A single Snow Bunting was still present. My first Kestrel since early winter flew north at Morghan where there were also 6 Woodpigeons.
DSCN3242 (4).JPG
 
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