• 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

BBRC Latest BBRC decisions - July 2017

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
BBRC are no longer emailing people when a decision has been made to inform them of the committee's decision. They are producing a quarterly Work In Progress (WIP) file and announcing the decision on Twitter (their account is @_BBRC

Below are the decisions in the latest WIP file (July 2017). Apologies to those of you who have not received notification of the decision - as i'm playing catch up on all the records since taking over as county bird recorder earlier this year i'm not sure, at this stage who has been informed of BBRC decisions and who hasn't! From now onwards I have a system set up and will be able to contact people as soon as I know the decision.

Ref. No Progress First Seen Last Seen Name Scientific Name Location

6486 OK 05-Nov-15 15-Jan-16 King Eider Somateria spectabilis Sound of Harris

6826 OK 11-Nov-16 12-Jan-17 American Coot Fulica americana Loch nam Feithean, North Uist

6518 OK 06-Sep-16 07-Sep-16 Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii Frobost then Boisdale, South Uist

6764 OK 31-Aug-16 04-Sep-16 Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri Aird an Runair, North Uist

6520 OK 18-Aug-16 20-Aug-16 Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla Balgarva, South Uist

6979 OK 07-Sep-16 08-Sep-16 Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes Loch Staipabhat

6921 OK 10-Sep-16 11-Sep-16 Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes Gob Steinis

6808 OK 24-Feb-16 22-Apr-16 American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus Garrygall, Craigston and surrounds, Barra

6407 OK 22-May-16 31-May-16 Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus Near Loch Sandary, North Uist

6699 OK 28-Nov-13 28-Nov-13 Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus Balelone, North Uist

6563 OK 29-Sep-16 30-Sep-16 Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus Eoligarry, Barra

6747 OK 13-Oct-16 13-Oct-16 Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis Cuidhir, Barra

5555 NP 27-May-14 27-May-14 Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum Solas, North Uist

7042 OK 22-Sep-16 25-Sep-16 Swainson’s Thrush Catharus ustulatus Bornish, South Uist

6447 OK 13-Jun-16 13-Jun-16 Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris Near Kildonan, South Uist

6429 OK 03-May-16 04-May-16 White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys Port of Ness, Lewis

6763 NP 01-Oct-16 29-Oct-16 White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis Lochmaddy, North Uist

OK = Accepted
NP = Not proven

If you have any queries or questions at all please email me recorder@outerhebridesbirds.org.uk
Cheers - Yvonne Benting, County Bird Recorder
 

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
And as of July 2017 these are the records that are currently in consideration (some of them date back to the year dot!)

Ref.No Progress First Seen Last Seen Name Scientific Name Location

917 IC 15-Nov-06 15-Nov-06 Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii Balemore, North Uist

919 IC 08-May-07 08-May-07 Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii Unknown location

2154 IC 19-May-07 27-May-07 Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii Hirta, St Kilda

5570 IC 17-Dec-14 24-Dec-14 Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii Baleshare, North Uist

566 IC 04-Nov-07 15-Feb-08 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Bernary, Barra Isles

3959 IC 15-Apr-12 15-Apr-12 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Malacleit, North Uist

3956 IC 21-Apr-12 21-Apr-12 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Aird an Rùnair, North Uist

4552 IC 10-Feb-13 10-Apr-13 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Balranald, North Uist

3956.1 IC 20-Apr-13 20-Apr-13 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Balelone

3959.1 IC 20-Apr-13 20-Apr-13 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Balelone

5760 IC 15-Oct-14 15-Oct-14 Richardson’s Cackling Goose B. h. hutchinsii Eoligarry, Barra

6248 IC 29-Jul-90 29-Jul-90 Macaronesian Shearwater Puffinus baroli Butt of Lewis, Lewis

7077 IC 26-Mar-17 26-Mar-17 Allen’s Gallinule Porphyrio alleni Hirta, St Kilda

7079 IC 28-Sep-16 28-Sep-16 Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus South Dell, Lewis

6924.1 IC 21-Jan-17 29-Jan-17 Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus Balranald, North Uist

6924 IC 05-Feb-17 05-Feb-17 Gyr Falcon Falco rusticolus Toe Head, South Harris

5815 IC 09-Oct-14 11-Oct-14 N. American Horned Lark E. a. alpestris Askernish, South Uist

277 IC 23-Oct-04 23-Oct-04 Western Bonelli’s Warbler Phylloscopus bonelli Vatersay, Barra Isles

6765 IC 11-Oct-16 11-Oct-16 Eastern Yellow Wagtails (group) M. f. plexa/tschutschensis/taivana/macronyx Carinish, North Uist
 

YvonneB

OH Bird Recorder
Waiting for Info: Used for taxa where research is in progress, often this revolves around taxonomy and which races are valid. Until that is resolved they won't be assessed.

Currently Lesser Whitethroats, some Gull races and Grey-bellied Brant are in this category.
All "waiting for info" records for OH are in excess of 10 years old!

Ref.No Progress First Seen Last Seen Name Scientific Name Location

1467 Waiting for info 29-Jan-05 03-Apr-05 Grey-bellied Brant B. b. hrota/nigricans (?) Balranald, North Uist

102 Waiting for info 13-Oct-05 13-Oct-05 Russian Mew Gull L. c. heinei Traigh Hamara, Borve, Barra

1464 Waiting for info 04-Dec-04 04-Dec-04 Desert Lesser Whitethroat S. c. minula Mangersta, Lewis
 
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