• 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
Carinish, North Uist
10 Whooper Swans flew in high from the south this morning.

Balivanich, Benbecula
An immature Glaucous Gull was seen on the beach from the town.

Rubha Ardvule, South Uist
During a seawatch of just over 2 hours this morning the following birds were recorded: Whooper Swan 24 seen flying north over the sea, Eider 25(S) 3(N), Long-tailed Duck 2(S) 6(N), Red-breasted Merganser 1(S) 1(N), Red-throated Diver 2(S), Great Northern Diver 1(S), Gannet 14(S) 12(N), Shag 13(S) 33(N), Cormorant 3(S), Kittiwake 4(S) 1(N), Razorbill 64(S)

Also present in the area were: Greylag Goose 14, Wigeon 9, Teal 13, Tufted Duck 3, Goldeneye 1, Red-throated Diver 2, Great Northern Diver 2, Shag 18, Cormorant 26, Common Buzzard 1, Lapwing 19, Golden Plover 33, Black-headed Gull 2, Glaucous Gull 1 (juv), Hooded Crow 2, Raven 4, Twite 300
 

Chris Johnson

Senior Member
Walking home across the Range' machair this afternoon, after doing the beach bird survey, we encountered a large flock of passerines. They were fairly settle, busy feeding, so I had a good vantage point to get a decent estimate of numbers. There were 600 Skylarks and 300 Twites. I looked hard for pipits but there was none. Twites are expected in varying numbers but the Skylarks were exceptional. I can only deduce that these are easterly migrants moving in front of the cold weather.
 

BrianR

Senior Member
Not much was found on the second leg of the RSPB Beached Bird Survey for Baleshare beach, North Uist (Eachkamish). Remains of Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Iceland Gull. Another Iceland Gull flew over near the S end of the beach where the Sperm Whale has been washed up - three Glaucous Gulls were disturbed from it but although I waited a while to try and get a photo of them on the carcass they remained some distance away. Eight Ravens were engaged in making their half rolls over the high dunes (a pair have nested here in the past but there was no sign of any nest today).
_DSC2954.JPGPart of Sperm Whale in the foreground._DSC2968.JPG
 
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