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Uists and Barra Trip Report
10th - 17th May 2008
Leader: Stephen Duffield
Participants: Valerie Nuttall, Sandra Gould, Allen and Janet Bethel
Sites:
North Uist: Sound of Harris; Balranald; Committee Road; Loch Euport; Griminish; Lochmaddy; Oban Trumisgarry / Newton; Scolpaig; Loch Paible; Loch Portain.
Benbecula: Gramsdale; Loch Mor / Loch Fada; Coot Loch
South Uist: Loch Eynort; Grogarry Lodge; Loch Druidibeg; Ardvule; South Ford; Ardivachar; Loch Bee; Reuval; Howmore.
Barra: Brehvig; Vatersay; Eoligarry, North Bay; Loch Tagusdale; Allasdale.
Daily dairy:
11th May: We headed north this morning via west Benbecula where we called in at Coot Loch and Loch Fada / Loch Mor. Coot Loch held Gadwall, Shoveler and Little Grebe whilst there was a male Garganey on Loch Fada. We briefly stopped on the road at the Westford Inn where we spotted a male Whinchat feeding along the fence. The Committee Road was quite active with 4 Short-eared Owls, a distant female Hen Harrier and a male Merlin calling. A couple of herds of Red Deer were also seen. At the north end of the Committee Road we stopped at Claddach Vallay and got good looks at Cuckoo and Twite, down to a few metres as well as a displaying Short-eared Owl. Our next destination was Grenitote where a male Snowy Owl had been reported the previous day but our search drew a blank on this occasion although we did see a female Merlin and a few Bar-tailed Godwits still in winter plumage. We had lunch at the picnic site at Grenitote in the lovely sunny weather before heading to Loch Portain / Strome. We stopped quickly to look at a family of Ravens before having a wander at Strome where we picked up 2 Otters feeding in the tidal channel and a single Wood Pigeon in the wooded garden here. Langass was our final destination although it proved fairly quiet apart from a couple of singing Siskin.
12th May: We headed south this morning and called in at Grogarry Lodge where we managed to see a singing Wood Warbler and 2 Wood Pigeons. Loch Druidibeg was quiet although we did have excellent views of a Whooper Swan at the roadside. Our next port of call was Loch Eynort, a large sea loch stretching almost across the width of South Uist and opening out into the Minch. The area was full of Common Seals resting on exposed rocks and we had brief views of an Otter once we had walked through the wooded garden which held Lesser Redpoll, Goldcrest, Hebridean Song Thrush and a blackcap (only heard). Once we were in the open we saw a female Hen Harrier, 2 Red-throated Divers and Black Guillemot. We then headed for Ardvule, a peninsula on the west coast where in the calm conditions we saw 6 Bottle-nosed Dolphins quite a distance off-shore. Birds included Manx Shearwater, Great Northern Diver, Razorbill and a distant Great Skua. We walked back along the shoreline to the car to catch up with Purple Sandpipers and had a close encounter with a Peregrine Falcon as it hunted the waders we were watching. Lunch was enjoyed along the coast at Stoneybridge whilst a summer plumage Great Northern Diver fed close in-shore. We travelled back north from here to Balgarva where we saw 7 pale-bellied Brent Geese on the salt-marsh. Nearby Ardivachar Point had a selection of waders, Great Northern Diver and a male Hen Harrier. Little Tern and a Whooper Swan were at Ardkenneth and a Short-eared Owl was showing well on a post by the main road.
13th May: An early morning start for Barra produced 3 Short-eared Owls on route for the ferry. From the ferry we had a number of Great Northern Divers, Razorbill, Guillemots; good views of Black Guillemots and plenty of Gannets. Grey Seals were hauled out on a small island not far from Barra with lots of Eider. On Barra itself we first visited Eoligarry where we spotted a Golden Eagle over the island of Fuday and 2 summer plumage Black-throated Divers showed well on the sea. We also had Red-throated Divers and lots of Arctic Terns from here. A male Whinchat was in song and 2 Sand Martin were seen hawking over a reed bed that held good numbers of displaying Sedge Warblers. At Ardmor / North Bay we saw a couple of Cuckoos; had brief views of a Turtle Dove and heard 2 Blackcaps in song although the star of the show was another Golden Eagle at close range being mobbed by a Raven and 2 Hooded Crows. Our next stop was Brehvig which is one of the few places on the island where there are mature trees. This spot held a couple of Whitethroats plus another Blackcap was heard in song. We carried on our circuit of the island with our next destination being just around the corner at Gleann. Two more Whitethroats were seen here plus a number of Common Redpolls. At the end of the road we paused to listen to the distant liquid call of a bird approaching our position. Although not a familiar sound in the islands it became clear that the call was coming from the Outer Hebrides first Bee-eater! In a desperate struggle to see this Mediterranean stray we scanned the sky above but just two of us briefly glimpsed the bird as it dipped over a hillside to the north-east. Our only hope was that the tired migrant would need a rest and so we returned to Brehvig where we were rewarded with a good view of this stunning bird through the telescope as it perched on a treetop. We watched the Bee-eater for around 10 minutes until it dropped from view and was not seen again until being picked up in Lochmaddy on North Uist by a lucky visitor later that evening. We headed back round to North Bay and then down the west side of the island stopping for lunch at Allasdale. After lunch we continued towards Vatersay with a stop at Loch Tangusdale where we had a male Pochard. A Corncrake remained frustratingly invisible despite sounding very close to the road to the west of Castle Bay. After a walk on Vatersay we headed back for the ferry seeing 2 more Golden Eagles and 2 Red-throated Divers on the reservoir at the north end of the island. As we sailed out of the pier at Ardmor we spotted an Otter clambering around on rocks lying to the east; a fitting end to a very eventful and exciting day.
14th May:
Our quest for Corncrake continued with an early morning start for
Balranald. On route an Otter ran across the road leading across the
North Ford causeway. At Balranald Corncrakes remained frustratingly
elusive although we did see a male Ruff and the female
Snowy Owl at Aird
an Runair. We returned to the B&B for breakfast and were back in the
field for 10:30 touring west Benbecula where we all managed to get a
look at a calling Corncrake close to the roadside at Loch Fada. Other
species here included a Black-tailed Godwit and Arctic Terns. On Coot
Loch we spotted a male Gadwall and on east Benbecula a female Merlin. We
then headed onto North Uist and looked for a Green-winged Teal without
much success although we did see a nesting Buzzard,
2 Red-throated Divers and Black Guillemot at Loch Euport. On the west
side of North Uist we were driving round to Loch Sandary
when to our surprise a Corncrake slowly stalked across the road in front
of the car in the middle of the afternoon. We watc
15th May: This morning we headed off around Loch Bee and managed to pick up Grey Plover in the South Ford off Hebridean Jewellery and a couple of Little Terns. To the west of Loch Bee we had a couple of Corn Buntings singing on the machair, one of which had been ringed the previous winter at Balranald in North Uist and proved to be the furthest travelled of all Corn Bunting movements known in the Uists. On Loch Bee itself besides the large gathering of Mute Swans we had a single male Scaup amongst a flock of Tufted Ducks. Tea break was had up on a the relatively small hill known as Reuval which afforded us excellent views of the surrounding countryside and good views of both Peregrine Falcon and a male Hen Harrier. We enjoyed a packed lunch on the coast at Stoneybridge with a Great Northern Diver before we drove south to Daliburgh where we saw more Corn Buntings, Sedge Warblers and another male Hen Harrier. Loch Eynort was our final destination to look for raptors and it didn’t disappoint with 2 adult White-tailed Eagles, a Golden Eagle and a male Hen Harrier. This was all supported by a cast of numerous Willow Warblers in song and 4 summer plumage Red-throated Divers.
16th May: Our final full day took us to the northern end of North Uist via Lochmaddy although first we checked Loch Mor, Benbecula for phalaropes and despite them being conspicuous by the absence we did get excellent views of a calling Corncrake by the roadside. Lochmaddy produced Twite, Red-throated Divers, Arctic Terns and a Razorbill. We moved on to Oban Trumisgarry / Newton where we had a distant Golden Eagle being mobbed by 2 Hooded Crows. A Wood Sandpiper flew off from the back of a tidal loch before we could get good views and disappeared over the moor. Other species here included 2 Kestrels and Buzzards. In the north-west corner of North Uist we visited a Golden Eagle eerie where we got pretty good views of an adult perched on a hilltop to the south of our position. Nearby Griminish produced Little Tern and Red-throated Divers whilst at Balranald we heard more from the Corncrakes. We called in at Loch Paible and spotted a selection of waders, a distant falcon that was probably a hybrid falconer’s bird and a lone Barnacle Goose taking our weeks total to 112 species.
17th May: Called in at Loch Mor for a last attempt at Red-necked Phalarope as Sandra and Val were heading to the airport but there was still no sign. Alan and Janet both headed south later on in the day to catch the ferry to Oban.
Western Isles WildlifeSpecialise in trips throughout the main islands of the Outer Hebrides.
For further details please contact: Steve Duffield 5 Drimsdale Isle of South Uist Western Isles HS8 5RT Tel 01870 620241 07867 555971 www.western-isles-wildlife.co.uk
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. European Shag 9. Grey Heron 10. Mute Swan 11. Whooper Swan 12. Pink-footed Goose 13. Greylag Goose 14. Brent Goose (pale-bellied) 15. Common Shelduck 16. Mallard 17. Gadwall 18. Northern Shoveler 19. Eurasian Wigeon 20. Common Teal 21. Garganey 22. Tufted Duck 23. Pochard 24. Greater Scaup 25. Red-breasted Merganser 26. White-tailed Eagle 27. Golden Eagle 28. Hen Harrier 29. Common Buzzard 30. Common Kestrel 31. Merlin 32. Peregrine Falcon 33. Corncrake 34. Common Moorhen 35. Common Coot 36. European Oystercatcher 37. Ringed Plover 38. Grey Plover 39. European Golden Plover 40. Northern Lapwing 41. Sanderling 42. Purple Sandpiper 43. Ruddy Turnstone 44. Dunlin 45. Common Sandpiper 46. Wood Sandpiper 47. Common Redshank 48. Common Greenshank 49. Black-tailed Godwit 50. Bar-tailed Godwit 51. Ruff 52. Eurasian Curlew 53. Whimbrel 54. Common Snipe 55. Great Skua 56. Arctic Skua 57. Black-headed Gull 58. Common Gull 59. Herring Gull 60. Lesser Black-backed Gull 61. Great Black-backed Gull 62. Iceland Gull 63. Black-legged Kittiwake 64. Little Tern 65. Common Tern 66. Arctic Tern 67. Black Guillemot 68. Common Guillemot 69. Razorbill 70. Rock Dove 71. Wood Pigeon 72. Collared Dove 73. Turtle Dove 74. Common Cuckoo 75. Snowy Owl 76. Short-eared Owl 77. Bee-eater 78. Skylark 79. Barn Swallow 80. Sand Martin 81. Rock Pipit 82. Meadow Pipit 83. Pied Wagtail 84. Hebridean Wren 85. Hebridean Dunnock 86. European Robin 87. Northern Wheatear 88. Common Stonechat 89. Whinchat 90. Hebridean Song Thrush 91. Blackbird 92. Blackcap (H) 93. Sedge Warbler 94. Wood Warbler 95. Willow Warbler 96. Common Chiffchaff 97. Goldcrest 98. Hebridean Starling 99. House Sparrow 100. Hooded Crow 101. Common Raven 102. Chaffinch 103. Linnet 104. Lesser Redpoll 105. Common Redpoll 106. Twite 107. Goldfinch 108. Greenfinch 109. Eurasian Siskin 110. Reed Bunting 111. Snow Bunting 112. Corn Bunting
Other:
Red Deer Otter Common Seal Grey Seal Bottle-nosed Dolphin
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