Corncrakes and Skua Tour

9^th – 15^th May 2009

                                                                Birding on Berneray - looking across the Sound of Pabbay

Leader: Steve Duffield

Participants: Brian Lythgoe, Ben Lythgoe and Jenny (on two dates)

The weather was generally sunny with light winds throughout the week; excellent for general birding but not conducive for observing the passage of skuas. Never-the-less we had an excellent week’s birding with 114 species recorded. This total included some scarce visitors to the islands such as Bluethroat, Tree Pipit, Little Gull, Avocet and Dotterel. We also saw all three species of divers, 3 White-tailed Eagles and 11 Golden Eagles during the six days tour.

Daily Dairy:

9^th May: Ben and Jenny made their own way to the islands whilst I picked up Brian at the airport in Benbecula after his arrival on the 16:00 flight from Glasgow.  After all getting together for an evening meal we arranged a pick up time for Brian and retired for the evening.

10thMay:

Weather – Northerly force 3 – 4; sunny all day.

This morning we started the tour at Stinky Bay where we spotted Long-tailed Duck, Great Northern Divers and hordes of Eiders off-shore whilst waders on the tide line included masses of Sanderling, Turnstone and Dunlin. Nearby Culla Bay held 4 Long-tailed Ducks and a few Eiders. We spotted a distant skein of grey geese heading north but far too far away to be identified. We drove north onto the island of North Uist and around the fringes of Loch Sandary. This small loch proved very productive with a male Garganey, Shoveler, Tufted Ducks and 12 Whooper Swans. 14 Whimbrel were also present and a Sedge Warbler sang from the small reed bed. A few miles away we turned into the RSPB reserve at Balranald where we had excellent views of 2 Corncrakes from the roadside and Corn Bunting singing on the machair. The coast provided us with Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling and White Wagtail on the beach whilst Gannets plunge dived off-shore and Great Northern Divers bobbed on the calm sea. A Common Redpoll flew over us at Balranald before we headed north once more. We had a brief stop at Scolpaig where we saw Teal, Kestrel and a couple of Twite. Our next port of call was the pier at Griminish. We weren’t here long before Brian spotted an Otter that swam to the Vallay Island side of the sea straight to munch on its catch. Birds here included Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, 12 Golden Plover, Arctic Tern, Little Tern, 1^st yr Iceland Gull, Wigeon, 6 Barnacle Geese and a lone pale-bellied Brent Goose; a very good lunch stop. After lunch we headed for the Committee Road which was also good with our first stop producing 3 Hen Harriers with a male making a food drop to a female; a male Merlin and a Kestrel. Red Deer were present in large numbers and a Stonechat fed near our parked car. Once we had finished here we moved on to Langass. Not long after arriving we had brief views of a Raven chasing a Golden Eagle as well as a number of commoner garden birds that aren’t so common in the islands such as Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch plus island races of Wren and Song Thrush. Finally as we headed back to the guest house we spotted 2 Short-eared Owls apparently involved in a dispute over their hunting grounds at Griminish, Benbecula. A total of 81 species on the first day was very good.

11^th May:

Weather – Light easterly winds and sunny throughout the day.

Ben and Jenny joined us today for our exploration of South Uist. We parked in a small car park on Druidibeg National Nature Reserve and walked along the road to the plantation. The short walk provided us with no fewer than 3 Golden Eagles, 5 Hen Harriers, a Peregrine Falcon and a distant pair of Black-throated Divers. Moving on we called in at Grogarry Lodge and had excellent views of a pristine, singing Wood Warbler – a scarce visitor to the Outer Hebrides. 12 Whimbrel showed well in the fields here before we moved on to Peninerine. Great Northern Divers were spotted off-shore whilst hordes of waders fed along the beach with masses of Dunlin and Sanderling. Heading further south we visited Loch Eynort where we had a short walk through the wooded garden and to a vantage point over-looking this tidal loch snuggled between the South Uist hills. Willow Warblers and Chaffinch sang from the trees whilst out on the water we could see Cormorants, Shags and a number of Red-throated Divers. Grey Heron and Common Tern were also present. Over head we spotted an immature Golden Eagle and a distant White-tailed Eagle before gaining excellent views of an adult sea eagle heading north and a short while later back towards its nest sight, apparently carrying prey. We had lunch at Loch Eynort before heading over to the west coast. At the road end we spotted a Cuckoo being mobbed by 2 Meadow Pipits. At Ardvule we went for a short walk out onto the headland picking up more Whimbrel, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Dunlin. A number of Arctic Tern were present as well as a single Barnacle Goose and a few Gannets and Great Northern Divers off-shore. We also got to compare both Harbour (Common) and Grey Seals in quick succession here at Ardvule. Moving on to Loch Skipport we had Red-throated Divers and a Kestrel en route. Finally we called in at Loch Mor / Loch Fada where we saw a selection of the commoner wildfowl and waders. Another good day with exceptional numbers of Wheatears recorded at virtually every site.

12^th May:

Weather – Variable winds generally force 3; sunny and warm all day

We first visited Loch Mor and the adjacent Loch Fada where we saw the usual array of wildfowl and waders including 3 Gadwall. Heading north to Berneray we stopped en route to check Clachan Sands and Clachan Farm. The former haunt held little but the latter provided us with 3 Cuckoos and a Golden Eagle over the nearby hills. Once on Berneray we drove out to the north-west corner pausing to have a look at the Harbour Seals hauled out close to the road. Loch Brusda in the north-west had Tufted Duck, Shoveler plus both Arctic and Little Terns. Walking beyond this freshwater loch, good numbers of Skylarks and Lapwing displayed across the machair and dunes until we came out on the coast at a vantage point over-looking the Sound of Pabbay. On the calm waters we spotted numerous summer plumage Great Northern Divers, Shags, Guillemots, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Gannets, Little Terns and 2 Harbour Porpoise. Returning to the car we drove to the north-east side of the island where we spotted Arctic and Little Terns, Great Northern Divers, Black Guillemots, Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Rock Pipits and 2 Twite. Heading back across to North Uist we saw both Red-throated and Great Northern Divers close in to the causeway, providing us with good views of these birds in summer plumage. On North Uist we investigated the area around Blathaisbhal to look at a thrush that turned out to be a late Fieldfare and whilst here managed to spot a distant Golden Eagle. We had lunch at Grenitote following which we went to search the machair and spotted a pair of Belted Beauty moths mating at Sollas. We returned once more to the Committee Road where we witnessed a skirmish between a male Hen Harrier and a Short-eared Owl. Finally we headed down the Loch Euport road to the very end, seeing a good number of Red Deer en route close to the road. We walked a short distance onto the moorland and sat for a while. Over the loch we had Great Northern Diver, Common Terns, Black Guillemots, Cormorant, Shags, 4 Buzzards and a single adult White-tailed Eagle.  

13^th May:

Weather – Easterly force 5, decreasing to force 3 in the afternoon. Sunny all day

Ben and Jenny joined us again today as we headed once more onto South Uist. Our first stop today was to view the South Ford from the Hebridean Jewellery track. From here we spotted a good variety of waders including summer plumage Grey Plover, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Ringed Plover etc. We heard a few Corncrakes around Kilauley but all remained hidden whilst both Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler showed in the rushes by Loch an-t’Saile. We drove across the Range which held a few Golden Plover with some of us briefly spotting a Swift. We continued our journey south to the river at Howmore to get a look at 2 Avocets that were busy feeding in the shallows of the tidal end of the river. These charismatic waders are very rare in the Outer Hebrides and these two birds constitute only the 6^th record for the islands. The now familiar Great Northern Divers, Dunlin and Sanderling were present at Peninerine although shortly after leaving this site we were to get a real surprise. A collection of waders and gulls were mobbing something unseen behind a small mound so we pulled over and waited in the car. This turned out to be an immature Golden Eagle that actually flew towards our stationary vehicle landing within 40 feet of us, giving us a superb view before heading off and being chased finally by a Raven, when we lost sight of it. On the south coast we explored a good area around Smerclate which held a selection of waders including Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone, Sanderling and Dunlin. More Great Northern Divers were seen off-shore whilst 2 Whooper Swans relaxed on a fresh water loch. Another Corncrake was heard but could not be located in the thick vegetation. We moved across to the small island of Eriskay for our lunch and then scanned from the south side of the causeway for divers. Our luck was in again as we located 2 summer plumage Black-throated Divers, Great Northern Divers, Red-breasted Mergansers and an Arctic Skua. We returned to South Uist and took a short walk up the relatively sheltered valley of South Glendale where we spotted a male Hen Harrier and family of Stonechats with recently fledged young. From here we drove to Lochboisdale and walked across to an island where we spent some time looking for Otters and to our delight spotted one at first swimming and then curled up on top of a rock in the middle of a tidal channel. We watched the animal in total for around an hour and although quite distant, the views were good through the telescope. Before returning to the guest house we stopped off at Grogarry Lodge where 2 House Martins were found hawking in the shelter of the trees. Finally we checked some of the lochs in west Benbecula and had a good selection of wildfowl and waders plus 2 pale-phase Arctic Skuas.

14^th May:

Weather – Easterly force 4 to 5, decreasing late in the afternoon. Sunny although cloud increasing in the late afternoon

We drove straight to Balranald this morning and soon managed to locate a Corncrake close to the visitor centre where we also spotted a Carrion Crow feeding on a dung heap. This corvid is quite uncommon in the islands with usually only one or two records a year.

As we approached the coastal car park at Aird an Runair we spotted a couple of Corn Buntings in song before taking a walk out onto the headland. The usual Great Northern Divers and Arctic Terns were fishing off-shore although a pipit creeping along the edge of the turf and rocks drew our attention. This turned out to be a Tree Pipit that showed remarkably well for a while. We were enjoying views of this very scarce visitor to the islands when news came through of an even rarer visitor at Clachan Farm. Deciding not to waste any time we headed off to the plantation and eventually got quite good views of a female Bluethroat feeding in the shelter of the trees. Sedge Warblers and Willow Warblers were in song and a Golden Eagle made a low pass over the hillside behind us, apparently hunting for wader chicks. After all the excitement we returned west calling in at Scolpaig where we found a Whitethroat in the Gorse bushes and a 2^nd yr Glaucous Gull resting on the grass with a number of other large gulls. Off-shore we spotted 5 Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Razorbills and Black Guillemots. As we headed back to Benbecula we called in at Loch Paible and Loch Sandary with the latter loch still holding a few Whooper Swans. Another excellent day’s birding.

15^th May:

Weather – Easterly force 5 to 6. Cloudy and cool with rain later

For the final day we headed down to Daliburgh collecting 2 House Martins en route, hawking in the shelter of the plantation here. At Daliburgh we scanned the field to the north of the cemetery which revealed the 4 Dotterel we had come to see. These showed very well and were a delight to watch. Back on the main road we stopped to scan the loch behind the Co-op at Daliburgh which held 4 House Martins and 4 Sand Martins, both of which are uncommon passage visitors to the islands. The garden adjacent to us held singing Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler and a Lesser Redpoll. Further north we called in at Ardvule where we had good views of a Peregrine Falcon that streaked passed sending the masses of migratory waders into the air. Amongst the throng were Whimbrel and Sanderling. Great Northern Divers fished off-shore whilst Grey and Harbour Seals bobbed around in the sea as buoyant as a cork. Another 2 Sand Martins flew passed us at Peninerine taking our totals to 6 each for both species of martin. We took lunch at Druidibeg, shortly after which we spotted 2 Golden Eagles over the ridge lying to the south being attacked by a Raven. A Common Sandpiper gave excellent views at the road side as we returned to the main road north to Benbecula. Before reaching here we took a tour around the west side of Loch Bee. An immature Black-tailed Godwit fed in a wet area on the machair and hordes of Dunlin and Ringed Plover scurried across the ploughed and short grass areas. Once on Benbecula we took a look at Loch Fada; which held a 1^st summer Little Gull another scarce bird for the islands. Finally Stinky Bay provided us with a fitting finale as a Red-throated Diver flew south and 2 Arctic Skuas bombed through the bay hunting waders.

An excellent week’s birding.

Species List:

1. Red-throated Diver            

2. Black-throated Diver          

3. Great Northern Diver         

4. Little Grebe                        

5. Northern Fulmar                

6. Manx Shearwater              

7. Northern Gannet

8. Cormorant

9. European Shag

11. Grey Heron

12. Mute Swan

13. Whooper Swan

14. Greylag Goose

15. Barnacle Goose

16. Brent Goose (pale-bellied)

17. Common Shelduck

18. Mallard

19. Gadwall

20. Northern Shoveler

21. Eurasion Wigeon

22. Common Teal

23. Garganey

24. Tufted Duck

25. Eider

26. Long-tailed Duck

27. Red-breasted Merganser

28. White-tailed Eagle

29. Golden Eagle

30. Hen Harrier

31. Common Buzzard

32. Common Kestrel

33. Merlin

34. Peregrine Falcon

35. Corncrake

36. Common Moorhen

37. Common Coot

38. Oystercatcher

39. Ringed Plover

40. Grey Plover

41. European Golden Plover

42. Dotterel                 4 at Daliburgh, South Uist

43. Lapwing

43. Knot

44. Sanderling

45. Purple Sandpiper

46. Ruddy Turnstone

47. Dunlin

48. Common Sandpiper

49. Redshank

50. Greenshank

51. Black-tailed Godwit

52. Bar-tailed Godwit

53. Curlew

54. Whimbrel

55. Common Snipe

56. Avocet                   2 on the river at Howmore = 6^th record for the islands

57. Arctic Skua

58. Black-headed Gull

59. Common Gull

60. Herring Gull

61. Lesser Black-backed Gull

62. Great Black-backed Gull

63. Iceland Gull           1^st yr at Griminish, North Uist

64. Glaucous Gull       2^nd yr at Scolpaig

65. Kittiwake

66. Little Gull

67. Little Tern

68. Common Tern

69. Arctic Tern

70. Black Guillemot

71. Common Guillemot

72. Razorbill

73. Rock Dove

74. Wood Pigeon

75. Collared Dove

76. Cuckoo

77. Short-eared Owl

78. Swift

79. Skylark

80. Swallow

81. Sand Martin          4 at Daliburgh and 2 at Peninerine

82. House Martin        2 at Grogarry Lodge, 2 at Snishival and 4 at Daliburgh

83. Rock Pipit

84. Meadow Pipit

85. Tree Pipit               1 on Aird an Runair – a rare spring migrant

86. Pied Wagtail / White Wagtail

87. Hebridean Wren

88. Hebridean Dunnock

89. Robin

90. Bluethroat              A female at Clachan Farm – very rare spring migrant

91. Northern Wheatear

92. Common Stonechat

93. Hebridean Song Thrush

94. Blackbird

95. Fieldfare

96. Whitethroat

97. Sedge Warbler

98. Wood Warbler       1 at Grogarry Lodge – a scarce spring migrant

99. Willow Warbler

100. Goldcrest

101. Hebridean Starling

102. House Sparrow

103. Hooded Crow

104. Carrion Crow      1 at Balranald – a scarce bird in the islands

105. Common Raven

106. Chaffinch

107. Linnet

108. Lesser Redpoll

109. Common Redpoll           

110. Twite

111. Goldfinch            

112. Greenfinch

113. Reed Bunting

114. Corn Bunting

Mammals:

Otter                                                    seen on two dates

Harbour (Common) Seal                    Common

Atlantic Grey Seal                               Common

Harbour Porpoise                               2 seen off Berneray

Red Deer                                            Very common on the moorland

Other:

Moths included the restricted Belted Beauty as well as Common Heath and Emperor Moth.

Butterflies recorded a couple of Red Admirals and plenty of Green-veined Whites

Steve Duffield

Western Isles Wildlife

5 Drimsdale, Isle of South Uist, Western Isles, HS8 5RT

Tel. 01870 620214 / Mobile 07867 555971