• 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, 7th May 2021. Updated throughout the day

Clettreval, North Uist
80 Barnacle Geese were in fields by the road to the St Kilda viewpoint. Two Glaucous Gulls were also in the vicinity

Aird an Runair, South Uist
A Ruff and an immature Iceland Gull was seen there this evening. Five Whooper Swans flew north offshore

Rubh' Arnal, North Uist
Two juvenile Iceland Gulls and two Pale-bellied Brent Geese were there this afternoon. A juvenile Iceland and a juvenile Glaucous Gull were nearby at Loch Sandary

Baleshare, North Uist
5 Black-tailed Godwits were by Loch Mor

South Glendale, South Uist
Two Siskins were visiting a garden there

Rubha Ardvule, South Uist
Counting period: 06:15-10:20
Weather: Wind WNW f3, veering N f1 then backing W f2. 7/8 cloud clearing to sunny conditions. Temp 3c rising to 7c.

A 4 hour seawatch this morning produced 5 Red-throated Divers (2S 3N), 148 Gannets (32S 116N), 9 Shag (3S 6N), 5 Cormorants (3S 2N), 48 Kittiwakes (N), 4 Arctic Terns (N), 3 Great Skuas (N), 2 Razorbills (N), 2 Razorbills (N), 6 Puffin (N) and 74 auk sp (7S 67N). One Great Skua was seen chasing a Shelduck for over a mile before giving up the chase.
Also present in the area were Greylag Goose 9, Shelduck 1, Shoveler 1, Teal 2, Tufted Duck 8, Eider 17, Red-breasted Merganser 2, Great Northern Diver 9, Cormorant 17, Ringed Plover 65, Whimbrel 9, Turnstone 25, Sanderling 50, Dunlin 90, Little Tern 2, Arctic Tern 25, Sand Martin 15, Wheatear 6, White Wagtail 1, Pied Wagtail 2 and Meadow Pipit 8
 

MisterT

Always Birding
It has been very noticeable that there has been a marked increase in the number of Goldfinch visiting the garden here in Askernish during the winter months which has continued to the present day. During that time, circa 200 individuals have been ringed, one of which was controlled on 4th March having travelled from Kent, details of which were posted here at the time, and now another has been found on Hungladder, Skye. Originally ringed here in Askernish on 15th December 2020, it was controlled there on 1st April 2021, having travelled a distance of 79 km (49.9 miles), a duration of 107 days

goldf - highland recovery.JPG GOLDF_RingingRecovery.JPG
 
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