LATE DECEMBER - EARLY JANUARY 2013

Much of this period was spent birding my local patch at Hynish along with Whiskey, our new Beaglador (Beagle x Labrador cross). There have been daily sightings of  Oystercatcher, Sanderling, Dunlin, Turnstone, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, and a lovely and very obliging flock of 20+ Purple Sandpipers. In addition there have been 3-5 Great Northern Divers offshore along with variable numbers of Shag, Cormorant, Gannet and Fulmar. Raven and Buzzard are seen daily and there have been regular small groups of Twite. Merlin and Hen Harrier have been regular and in addition to both Grey & Common Seals there have been almost daily sightings of Otter.

An interesting sighting over the weekend was a Buzzard eating the remains of a 1m long Conger Eel ain the seaweed at Hynish. Very strange indeed!

Elsewhere on the island the RSPB's John Bowler counted 3424 Barnacle Geese, 662 Greenland White-fronts, 149 Whooper Swans, 4130 Golden Plovers and 3640 Lapwing.

'Whiskey' the Beaglador in one of her less manic moments

Purple Sandpiper

Great Northern Diver

Merlin

Hen Harrier



Otter

Crossapol sunrise

Early morning mist

AUTUMN 2012

Citrine Wagtail (Jim Dickson)

Buff-bellied Pipit (Jim Dickson)

It was a strange autumn for birding on Tiree in 2012. At times it seemed fairly quiet, but when you look at the list of rare and scarce birds seen, it looks pretty darn good. Many thanks as ever to John Bowler (RSPB Tiree Officer) for providing much of this data.

The best birds of September were found on 27^th and were both county firsts. They were a 1st-winter Citrine Wagtail at Loch a’ Phuill and a Buff-bellied Pipit at Ruaig. Sadly the pipit didn’t linger but the Citrine Wagtail remained near the Loch a’ Phuill hide until the 29th.

Scarce passerines in September included a Common Rosefinch at Hynish (5^th-7th) followed by two more at Balephuil (7th-8th), Lesser Whitethroats at Balephuil (8th, 12th-13th and 19th) and Carnan Mor (9th), 2 Mealy Redpolls, 7 NW Redpolls, and 10+ Lapland Buntings.

The annual autumn influx of American waders included a juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper at Gott Bay (2nd-7th), juvenile Buff-breasted Sandpipers at Sandaig (10th-12th) and Loch a’ Phuill (19th) and groups of 3 juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers at Kirkapol (2nd) and Loch a’ Phuill (8^th-9th), followed by singles at Vaul (11^th) and The Reef (20th).

October once again produced some superb birding on the island. The best birds were the 1st-winter Red-breasted Flycatchers at Balephuil (13th) and Balinoe (20th) – the first records for Tiree. Other good birds included a juvenile American Golden Plover at Barrapol and Sandaig (1st-10th), two Yellow-browed Warblers at Balephuil (3rd-6th and 13th-19th), up to 2 Siberian Chiffchaffs at Balephuil (15th-23rd), a female Ring-necked Duck at Loch a’ Phuill (19th), a Red Kite at Balemartine (24th) and a Tree Sparrow again at Hynish (24th). Easterly winds brought a good selection of scarce passerines including 25 NW Redpolls (5th), Lesser Whitethroats at Balephuil (13th-14th and 16th), 2 Garden Warblers at Balephuil (13th-14th), 3 Ring Ouzels at Carnan Mor (13th), 8 Mealy Redpolls (18th-20th), a Coal Tit at Loch a’ Phuill (20th), a very late Spotted Flycatcher at Balinoe (24th-25th), 4 Waxwings around West Tiree (28th-31st) and a record influx of 38 Long-tailed Tits (14th). More regular fare included 22 Lapland Buntings, 6 Snow Buntings, and 20 Chiffchaffs including at least 4 abietinus-type birds. There was a peak count of 326 Whooper Swans at Loch a’ Phuill (18th) whilst an all-island count (23rd-24th) found 2758 Barnacle Geese, 459 Greenland White-fronts, 2724 Greylags, 4050 Golden Plovers and 2765 Lapwing.

In November the best birds were a drake Green-winged Teal at Loch a’ Phuill (18th-21st), and a very late Barred Warbler at Balephuil (16th). Other late migrants included at least 17 Waxwings and a tristis Chiffchaff at Balephuil. An all-island count (19^th-21^st) found 2914 Barnacle Geese, 2409 Greylags and 532 Greenland White-fronts with 207 Whooper Swans, 5390 Golden Plovers and 3380 Lapwings.

Yellow-browed Warbler

NW Common Redpoll

 

Citrine Wagtail (Jim Dickson)



Lapland Bunting

Lesser Whitethroat

A BIT OF NEWS

Coll Of The Wild is no more and Wild Tiree is born. To reflect our relocation to Tiree we have decided finally to rebrand the business. The new name, Wild Tiree, whilst not quite so catchy, does exactly as it says on the tin, so to speak. We will still be offering the same quality of tours and the same outstanding wildlife experiences, just that we are now entirely focused on Tiree and its amazing machair and sealife.

There has been a noticeable absence of blogs of late - mostly down to time constraints - but that is all about to change. Look out for regular updates which will hoefully show the beauty of the island and its amazing wildlife. Below are a few recent images from just on our doorstep at Hynish.



Otter at Hynish



Otter at Hynish



Purple Sandpipers at Hynish

Hynish winter sunrise



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)