BASKING SHARKS 25TH JUNE 2012

A phenomenal 52 Basking Sharks off Hynish last night. There have been 6-8 present since mid April (along with 4 Bottle-nosed Dolphins) but they haven't been seen for the last two weeks since the weather changed a wee bit. But now they're back with a vengeance!!!!

GREAT DAY TOUR 24TH JUNE 2012

Having collected my two guests from the Millhouse Hostel, from where several Corncrakes could be heard, we headed to the fields near Loch Bhasapol to look at orchids. Common Spotted and Early Marsh were seen along with the ubiquitous Oystercatchers, Lapwing and Redshank and we were treated to several 'drumming' Snipe over the marsh and a multitude of Sylarks singing over the meadows. We had no luck seeing Otter on the loch, often a very good location for them, but a superb Snipe landed just in front of the hide there whilst a Grasshopper Warbler and dozens of Sedge Warblers were in song.
The dunes at Balephetrish were yellow with Lady's Bedstraw, Kidney Vetch and Bird's-foot Trefoil in sharp contrast to the dazzling azure of dozens of Common Blue Butterflies. We also found an active colony of Northern Colletes here, this tiny mining bee being abundant on the dunes and machair of Tiree. Further along we stopped at an area of heath where hundreds of Heath Spotted Orchids and a variety of Heath x Common Spotted hybrids were in flower, along with Mountain Everlasting, Lousewort, Zigzag Clover, Slender St John's-wort and Butterwort. We added Moss Carder, Red-shanked Carder and Heath Bumblebee to the list here too.
Next stop was the spectacular broch at Vaul and the 13th century chapel at Kirkapol before heading over to Hynish where we had great views of Corncrake calling from the top of a wall and then flying into the adjacent field. We had lunch overlookig the beach at Hynish where offshore Arctic Terns and a Great Northern Diver fished and on the shore a flock of 29 Bar-tailed Godwits (seemingly summering here) joined the usual Sanderlings, Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Common Sandpipers.
We then headed out across The Reef, a stunning area of flower-rich machair where there were many hundreds of Hebridean Spotted Orchids and Common Twayblades and 100+ Frog Orchids, as well as Early Marsh Orchids and an abundance of hybrids. Breeding Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Arctic Tern and Little Tern all gave wonderful views too. Balephul and East Hynish, as well as providing spectacular scenery, had more calling Corncrakes but they were not for showing! Several 'aunty' Eiders protected broods of small ducklings in the shallows and offshore a dozen or so Gannets were diving for prey.
At Moss we stopped at a wonderful stream filled with Round-leaved Sundew, Marsh Lousewort and the rare Pale Butterwort, whilst a little further along, beside bog pools filled with Bogbean, Marsh Cinquefoil and Marsh St John's-wort, four pairs of Dunlin serenaded us and gave exceptionally close views.
A wonderful day indeed, and I'm sure I've missed a few things from the list too.

Corncrake in flight

Common Twayblade

Frog Orchid

Round-leaved Sundew

Dunlin

Dunlin

Northern Colletes

A FEW MORE IMAGES OF SPRING WILDLIFE ON TIREE

Great Northern Diver

Whimbrels

Sanderling & Ringed Plover

Dunlin & Ringed Plover

Great Northern Diver

Norhern Colletes (Colletes floralis)

Bar-tailed Godwits

Corncrake

TIREE SPRING

It's been a glorious spring with some absolutely fantastic weather up here. Indeed, Tiree was recorded as having the most sunshine hours in the UK for both April and May.
I haven't been running any holidays and tours of late due to other commitments but there's certainly been no shortage of spectacular wildlife to view.
My wildlife tours have now started for the season on Tiree, charged at £10 per person per hour.

Sanderlings

Corncrake

Great Northern Diver

Brown Hares

Basking Sharks

Hynish sunset

WINTER SUMMARY

A very long winter has finally drawn to an end, and now the air is filled with the song of Skylarks, the displays of Lapwing, Redshank & Snipe, and the first crex-crex of the Corncrake. Celandines, Marsh Marigolds, Daisies and Dandelions are attracting the first  bumblebees emerging from hibernation, and a few butterflies are on the wing.

Late autumn brought two more surprises in the form of a Little Egret in early Nov then a Cattle Egret later in the month. It has been a horrendous winter for weather but a very interesting one ornithologically. Daily sightings of Merlin, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk & Hen Harrier are always welcomed, as are the Internationally Important numbers of Greenland White-fronted & Barnacle Geese. Other geese of note included a blue-phase Snow Goose and three vagrant Canada Geese (a hutchinsii and 2 medium-sized parvipes). A Green-winged Teal has given intermittant views at Loch a-Phuill throughout the winter months amongst the plethora of wildfowl there. Gulls have dominated the winter scene however, with peaks of 13 Iceland Gulls and 9 Glaucous Gulls as well as 2 Kumlien's Gulls (1st-winter & adult) and a 1st-winter Ring-billed. Thanks to John Bowler for providing some of these records.

MORE BROWN SHRIKE NEWS

The Brown Shrike has continued to show on and off for the last couple of days although the weather has generally been foul. Jim Dickson came over from mainland Argyll to see it today. Almost the first bird he saw was a Yellow-browed Warbler at Balephuil Farm along with a couple of Blackcaps and a few Goldcrests. He then managed reasonable views of the shrike before it went missing for some time. Great views of Hen Harriers, Merlin and Sparrowhawk were had as well as hundreds of newly arrived Fieldfares and Redwings. Jim and I headed over to Hynish where I had seen a Black Redstart earlier in the day but we had no success. We then returned to Balephuil and quite soon after got excellent views of the shrike once more, with Jim managing this series of lovely shots.

Brown Shrike (Jim Dickson)

Brown Shrike (Jim Dickson)

Brown Shrike (Jim Dickson)

Brown Shrike (Jim Dickson)

BROWN SHRIKE 11TH FOR BRITAIN

John Bowler found a 1st-winter Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus at Balephuil, Tiree late on the 21st October. Brown Shrikes breed in northern Asia from Mongolia to Siberia and winter in South Asia, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula. This is only the 11th record for Britain. There are five previous records for Scotland, all from Shetland bar the 2008 record on North Uist. 

On Sunday 22nd it showed very well for periods, but often disappeared for hours at a time. At lunchtime on Sunday John and I had fabulous views and he took the images shown below.

Brown Shrike (John Bowler)

Brown Shrike (John Bowler)

Brown Shrike (John Bowler)

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS & THE BIG MOVE

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. It's certainly not been due to a lack of birds as there have been a plethora of interesting records which are summarised below. No, the reason for the lack of activity has been our BIG MOVE!!! Yes, after a long wait the relocation to Tiree is now complete.

So, here's that promised summary of recent Tiree sightings, with as ever, many thanks to John Bowler for the information.

22nd Sept
Blyth's Reed Warbler and Common Rosefinch still at Balephuil.
24th Sept
Blyth's Reed Warbler and Common Rosefinch still at Balephuil. Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at Sandaig.
25th Sept
Blyth's Reed Warbler still at Balephuil. Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at Sandaig & juvenile Dotterel at Ruaig.
26th Sept
Blyth's Reed Warbler still at Balephuil and the juvenile Dotterel at Ruaig. At Sandaig there was a juvenile Baird's Sandpiper and a juvenile American Golden Plover.
27th Sept
The juvenile Baird's Sandpiper and a Pectoral Sandpiper were at Sandaig and another Pec at Barrapol.
28th Sept
Grey Phalarope off Soa
29th Sept
Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Barrapol
30th Sept
Hoopoe at Balemartine and a new Common Rosefinch at Balephuil.
2nd October
Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at Balinoe and a very late Corncrake at The Manse.
4th October
Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper at Barrapol and Slavonian Grebe at Hynish.
5th October
Morning seawatch off Aird produced 6 Sooty Shearwaters whilst in the afternoon a 2-hour session included a juvenile Sabine's Gull, 5 Leach's Petrels and 4 Sooty Shearwaters.
6th October
A juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was at Greenacres.
7th October
A juvenile Sabine's Gull was the highlight of a seawatch from Balevullin this morning and a juvenile American Golden Plover was found at Kilmoluaig.

Meanwhile, on Coll recent highlights have included a Yellow-browed Warbler, The Lodge, Arinagour on 26th Sept (my last days birding on the old island) and a Long-tailed Skua off Arinagour Pier on 4th Oct (Jim Dickson / Ross Ahmed).

Baird's Sandpiper, Sandaig 26th Sept (Jim Dickson)

Pectoral Sandpiper, Sandaig 24th Sept (Jim Dickson)

Blyth's Reed Warbler, Balephuil 26th Sept (John Bowler)

American Golden Plover, Kilmoluaig 7th Oct (John Bolwer)

MORE YANKY WADERS 16TH SEPTEMBER 2011

I had a phone message this morning from a visiting botanist to Coll who was just leaving on the ferry. He was reporting four Sabine's Gulls off the pier. I went down not long after but there was no sign.

At around 13:15 I was driving past the flooded field at Arnabost when two waders dropped in. It was immediately apparent that they were juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpipers. They remained for a while then flew off to the south at 13:25 never to be seen again. Later on, at high tide, I checked out the waders at Cliad and was very pleased to find the juvenile White-rumped Sandpiper was still on the shore at southern end of the beach with 18 Sanderling, 4 Dunlin, 6 Turnstone, 11 Barwits and 3 juv Ruff. There were also 300+ Twite at Cliad.

I checked out the pier again late afternoon but still no sign of any Sab's. There were 200+ Kittiwakes (50:50 ad:juv) off shore feeding along with over 400 Shags. I did a half-hour seawatch whilst there from 1700:1730. Highlights were 37 Manx Shearwaters, 5 Bonxies & 2 Arctic Skuas.
The Long-eared Owl story continues. It seems that the bird seen and photographed in the garden near Arnabost on 12th was not the only one. One was found long-dead just 200m from there on the same day and another was seen well at Friesland on 14th. Where have they come from?
John Bowler on Tiree reported that he couldn’t relocate the White-rumped Sand on 16th in wet and blustery conditions at The Reef although 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 16 Ruff still present.

YANKY WADERS & LONG-EARED OWL

The islands were home to FOUR American waders today (15th Sept 2011). On Coll I found a superb juvenile White-rumped Sandpiper at Cliad feeding with Sanderlings and a few Dunlin and the regular flock of 12 Bar-tailed Godwits. I managed to get a few horrible photos by holding the camera of my mobile phone up to the scope - my DSLR is currently out of action sadly. Meanwhile, at the same time John Bowler the RSPB warden over on Tiree was watching an adult White-rumped Sandpiper and two Pectoral Sandpipers at The Reef. John also had 34 Ruff, 12 Black-tailed Godwits and a Curlew Sandpiper on Tiree today, whilst other birds of note on Coll included the first Barnacle Geese of the autumn (16 over mid-morning) and an adult Black-throated Diver off the pier for its 3rd day.



White-rumped Sandpiper on Coll



White-rumped Sandpiper on Tiree (John Bowler)



White-rumped Sandpiper on Tiree (John Bowler)

Both islands have neen excellent for Merlin and Hen Harrier this week, possibly due to the huge numbers of Meadow Pipits passing through. Belated news came through of a Long-eared Owl at Arnabost on Monday 12th. Apparently it fell out of the sky completely drenched in the hideous rain and winds.



SEAWATCHING 13TH SEPTEMBER 2011

Tried a seawatch off Cliad early afternoon but other than good numbers of Gannets moving W and 4 Common Scoters heading NE it was very slow. Much better this eveing though off the Arinagour Pier with 1 juv Sabine's Gull, 6 Leach's Petrels, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 97 Manx Shearwaters, 74 Arctic Terns, 2 Pomarine Skuas, 11 Arctic Skuas, 18 Great Skuas, 53 Kittiwakes, 19 Fulmars, c150 Gannets and 16 Pale-bellied Brent Geese. Earlier on (1.30pm) there was an Osprey over Toraston heading SW, possibly the one subsequently seen on Tiree.

 

juvenile Pomarine Skua



Meanwhile, on Tiree an evening seawatch by John Bowler produced 3 juv Sabine’s Gulls, 9 Leach’s Petrels, 4 Storm Petrel, 2 Sooties, 2 Pomarine Skua, 14 Arctic Skua, 30 Bonxie, 19 Arctic Tern, 41 Kits, 51 Fulmar,138 Manxies, 205 Gannet and 96 large auks. An Osprey was seen distantly at Moss perched on a ruin late afternoon. 

 

COLL SEAWATCH 10TH SEPTEMBER 2011

A superb sea-watch again this evening from 1830-1930. At times I didn't know where to look there was so much going on. All the shearwaters were moving SW-NE whilst pretty much everything else was moving into the wind in a NE-SW direction. Highlights were a flock of 3 adult & 4 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas which passed within 100m of the pier then banked up high and headed off inland in a westerly direction. Other best bits were at least 3 Sabine's Gulls (1 adult & 2 juveniles) with probably two others that were just too far out to be 100% certain. Totals were c.1000 Manx Shearwaters, 146 Sooty Shearwaters, c.50 Fulmars, c.300 Gannets, 19 Arctic Skuas, 14 Bonxies, 7 Long-tailed Skuas, c.1100 Kittiwakes (mostly adults), 3-5 Sabine's Gulls, 260 Arctic Terns including one flock of 160+, 100+ auk spp, 2 Red-throated Divers, 7 Great Northern Divers and 5 Common Scoters. Amazingly, not a single petrel!
Earlier in the day I went looking for waders and despite the huge numbers of Yanks around just now was disappointed that the best bird was a single Little Stint amongst the Sanderlings & Turnstones at Cliad.

juvenile Arctic Skua

Manx Shearwater

TIREE 7TH-9TH SEPTEMBER 2011

An exciting few days on Tiree although I can't help feeling this is just the beginning of yet another amazing autumn for the island. Many thanks to John Bowler for the following update.

A 2-hr seawatch off Aird in the morning of the 7th produced highlights of 1 juv Sabine’s Gull, 1 Leach’s Petrel and 5 Sooty Shearwaters, as well as 790 Manx Shearwaters, 510 Gannets, 135 Fulmars, 8 Bonxies and 3 Common Scoters. In the afternoon, Mark Fanshawe found another juv Sabine’s Gull at Traigh nan Gilean.
Best bird of the 8th was the Nightingale at Vaul first seen on the 3rd, and a long-dead 10m long Sperm Whale was discovered at Traigh nan Gilean. The 9th saw large arrivals of Golden Plovers and Snipe as well as a confiding juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper on a flooded field at Balinoe.

Sabine's Gull by Mark Fanshawe

Nightingale by Mark Fanshawe

Pectoral Sandpiper by John Bowler

Pectoral Sandpiper by John Bowler

7TH SEPTEMBER STUNNING SEA-WATCHING OFF COLL

With all these winds I decided to step up the seawatching today. I tried an hour off Cliad early afternoon with some success. An adult Pomarine Skua was the highlight but there were also five Arctic Skuas harrassing a migrating flock of 50+ "Commic" Terns.
This evening was much more rewarding. The first hour (1630-1730) saw two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas amongst a flock of over 300 Kittiwakes, Gannets moving SW at 15 birds per minute, Manx Shearwaters moving NE at 20 birds per minute and Fulmars at 10 birds per minute. Amongst the Manxies were 6 Sooty Shearwaters and one Balearic Shearwater. The second hour was even better with totals of 7 Leach's Petrels, 4 Storm Petrels, 1100 Fulmars, 600+ Gannets, 300+ Kittiwakes, 4000 Manx Shearwaters, 22 Sooties, another Balearic, a probable Great Shearwater, 11 Arctic Skuas and 34 Bonxies.
In summary then, the two hour session from 1630-1830 produced estimates of 1500 Gannets, 800 Kittiwakes, 1700 Fulmars, 5200 Manx Shearwaters, 28 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 1 probable Great Shearwater, 7 Leach's Petrels, 4 Storm Petrels, 2 Long-tailed Skuas, 11 Arctic Skuas and 34 Bonxies.

SW GALES AND SEAWATCHING 6TH SEPTEMBER

Tried two seawatches this afternoon in SW 4-5 winds, firstly off Arinagour where the highlights of an hour were 6 Sooty Shearwaters amongst 36 Manxies and then off Cliad where the only birds of significance were 2 Storm Petrels. There was however a Pectoral Sandpiper in a huddle with 2 Curlews and a Barwit on the golf course there sheltering from the storm.

 

Meanwhile, over on Tiree the Nightingale was still present on 5th and John Bowler had two successful seawatches off Aird with highlights being 12 Leach’s Petrels, 9 Sooties, 10 Arctic Skuas and 21 Bonxies on the evening of 6th and a juvenile Sabine’s Gull, 1 Leach’s Petrel & 5 Sooty Shearwaters on the morning of 7th. Many thanks to John Bowler for the Tiree update.

WILDLIFE TOURS 4TH-5TH SEPTEMBER

A couple of really good tours this last few days. Bird highlight yesterday was a juvenile Little Gull off Cliad. Seven Bar-tailed Godwits flew in off the sea and there were good numbers of Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstones. Bumblebees there included a Great Yellow and numerous Red-shanked and Moss Carders. Botanical highlights were a single Irish Ladies Tresses and still thousands of Grass of Parnassus in bloom. A superb hunting Hen Harrier brought the tour to a nice end as it harried a flock of 200+ Twite.

Highlights of today's tours were Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper amongst the throngs of Sanderling and Dunlin at Crossapol. Great views of Otter and Grey & Common Seals were had there and a female Hen Harrier hunted the Twite flocks at Breacacha. A superb Osprey slowly drifted south over the Roadside Lochs.

Osprey

AUTUMN MIGRATION STARTING TO PICK UP

Following on from the long staying Hoopoe at Arnabost on Coll (22nd-30th August), reasonable numbers of Sooty Shearwaters and Pomarine Skuas and some good wader passage including Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit and Knot, the autumn is now beginning to really get going.
Reports from Tiree today included a Nightingale at Vaul and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Loch a' Phuill. What next? Many thanks to John Bowler for the Tiree update.
These two islands have a great record in autumn and Coll Of The Wild is now taking bookings for 5-day all-inclusive guided birding holidays in September and October. 

 

Nightingale (Keith Gillon)

OTTER & HOOPOE IN LATE AUGUST ON COLL!!!!

August 26th couldn't be described as a 'normal day' on Coll. The species at Crossapol were quite the usual mix - migrant Sanderlings along the shore, Red-breasted Mergansers offshore, a few dozen Gannets fishing and a couple of Basking Sharks. The highlight was watching an Otter at 100m for an hour feeding on a crab, diving and fishing, then cavorting with a couple of young bull Grey Seals. Awesome views! After dinner we popped rounnd to Arnabost and had reasonable views of the Hoopoe that has been frequenting Skerray since the 22nd. Otter and Hoopoe, not the usual species combination for a late summer trip out on the Hebrides.

MORE HOOPOE PHOTOS FROM 26TH AUGUST

The Hoopoe at Arnabost, Isle of Coll first seen on 22nd August was still present this morning and showing very well. Here are some of Jo Scott's photos taken in her garden at 0900 this morning.

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

HOOPOE ON COLL, 22ND AUGUST

Coll's third record of Hoopoe Upupa epops was found in the morning of 22nd August in the Arnabost area. Originally seen by Colin & Jo Scott in their garden at Skerray, it was later seen by Fay Anderson in her garden at Crannaig  and then at Druim Dearg. Both previous records have been in spring, in 1976 and then 2005.

AWESOME HALF-DAY TOUR 17TH AUGUST

Had a superb half-day tour today with my customers John & Rita Gray from Perth. We began at Cliad where there was a single Basking Shark offshore. The machair was alive with Red-shanked & Moss Carder Bees, a superb queen Garden Bumblebee (look at the length of that tongue in the photo below!) and a stunning Great Yellow Bumblebee. A nice range of plants included Frog Orchid, Devil's-bit Scabious, Fairy Flax, Field Gentian, Grass of Parnassus & Red Bartsia.

Great Yellow Bumblebee

Garden Bumblebee

Next stop was Grishipol where we saw seven Irish Ladies Tresses and a fabulous Brown Hare. We checked the machair at Hogh where we saw many more bumblebees including another Great Yellow amongst a carpet of Red Clover, Knapweed and Wild Carrot.

Brown Hare

Photographing Great Yellow Bumblebee

Offshore there were another five Basking Sharks whilst the drive through the Hogh dunes included Pyramidal Orchids and a couple of cracking Highland Darters. We found a large clump of the pale striatum form of Bloody Crane's-bill alongside the normal purple form and saw numerous newly fledged Wheatears.

Bloody Crane's-bill striatum

Highland Darter

Next stop was Crossapol where we drove along the 1.5 miles of golden beach with the azure sea lapping ashore. A group of Sanderling and Ringed Plovers were seen and then numerous Dunlin, more Ringed Plovers, a juvenile Knot and a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit. Offshore were Eiders, Mergansers, several Common Seals with new pups and another 5-6 Basking Sharks. The strandline was covered with several species of orache, Prickly Saltwort, Sea Rocket, Sea Mayweed, Celery-leaved Buttercup, Sea Sandwort and Sea Beet.



Bar-tailed Godwit



Near the airport a newly cut field held a large mixed flock of Curlew, Whimbrel and Black-tailed Godwits, a Buzzard soared overhead, Swallows and a Sand Martin feasted and the uncut field opposite secreted a feeding flock of 150+ Twite.