Outer Hebrides: Divers, Seaducks and Shorebirds

 

26th April – 3rd May 2008

 

 

This trip took us from the most northerly point of the Butt of Lewis to Eriskay, which lies at the southern tip of South Uist.

 

 

Leader:

 

Stephen Duffield

 

Participants:

 

Karen Manyak and Michael Yusak

 

 

Sites:

 

Lewis: Skigersta; Butt of Lewis; Loch Stiapavat; Skigersta; Port of Ness; Lewes Castle Grounds; Loch Branhuie.

           

Harris: Sound of Taransay.

 

North Uist: Sound of Harris; Balranald; Committee Road; Griminish; Loch Sandary.

 

Benbecula: Coot Loch; Loch Mor / Loch Fada; Torlum machair.

 

South Uist: South Ford; Loch Bee; Ardvule; Peninerine; Loch Eynort.

 

 

Daily dairy:

 

26th April: I met Karen and Michael off the Uig – Lochmaddy ferry at 15:45 and headed south to Borve Guest House in Benbecula. On route to the guesthouse we passed a 1st yr Iceland Gull feeding by the roadside at Gramsdale and picked up a few species on Coot Loch including Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon as well as a male Scaup and of course Coot. A short walk in the evening on the machair across the road from the guest house introduced us to the machair and some of the waders that utilise it at this time of year for refuelling before heading further north. Most notable were 100’s of Golden Plover, Lapwing, plus 6 Whimbrel and 4 Barnacle Geese. We also saw a handful of Common Seals on the rocks off Torlum machair before retiring for an evening meal at the Dark Island Hotel.

 

27th April: Our destination this morning was North Uist via the lochs on west Benbecula which proved productive with a single Sandwich Tern (scarce on the islands), Arctic Terns and 14 Black-tailed Godwits at the roadside. As we drove onto North Uist we had our first sightings of Red Deer at Clachan na Luib. Loch Sandary produced 24 more Black-tailed Godwits and Shoveler whilst at Balranald we spotted 150 Twite, White Wagtails, Wheatears, Corn Buntings, 14 Whimbrel and a Merlin. From here we headed north stopping to look at some very close Whimbrel (30) at Tigharry. Lunch was a little breezy but at the wonderful location of Scolpaig in the far north-west of North Uist. We watched a fine summer plumage Great Northern Diver fishing just a few yards off-shore in the sheltered bay here. Nearby Griminish produced 13 Barnacle Geese and some fresh Otter prints outside a holt but no sign of the culprits, this time. A Golden Eagle was spotted in the distance and a pair of Hen Harriers were over the plantation on the Committee Road. Our final destination was Loch Euport to look for Otters and possibly eagles. There was a brief sighting of an Otter but the female was very secretive and did not allow us all to get views before disappearing.  

 

 

28th April: An early morning start for Lewis today in the hope of catching up with White-billed Divers. On the way for the ferry to cross the Sound of Harris we stopped to scan a couple of large lochs near Langass in North Uist which produced 2 immaculate summer plumage Black-throated Divers, occasionally calling in the still morning light. A good start! We also heard Greenshank and Red-throated Diver calling. From the ferry we had around 70 Great Northern Divers, a single Black-throated Diver and 8 Red-throated Divers, plus 40 Long-tailed Duck, Black Guillemots and Gannets amongst others on the crossing. We drove straight up to Lewis first checking Port of Ness where we had Manx Shearwaters, Fulmar and Black Guillemot off-shore. No luck here and with the onset of a shower we headed to the Butt of Lewis where the lighthouse compound provided a little shelter for a migrant Chiffchaff and a Wheatear. Lunch was taken at Loch Stiapavat in the only hide in the Outer Hebrides. A Corncrake called from close by but remained hidden despite our best efforts. Around the loch were 16 Black-tailed Godwits and 600 Golden Plover as well as 4 White-fronted Geese and 2 Pink-footed Geese amongst the ubiquitous Greylags.  Finally we checked Skigersta where we managed to spot a distant White-billed Diver before locating a closer bird that was seen defending its catch from a marauding Great Skua. Four diver species in one day! An evening meal at the Thai ended an excellent day out.

 

29th April: Just east of Stornoway we visited Loch Branahuie which held over 300 Long-tailed Duck. In the Castle Grounds in Stornoway we found Chiffchaff, 2 male Blackcap and a selection of woodland species only seen rarely in the southern islands such as Blue Tit and Treecreeper. From the woods we also spotted an immature Iceland Gull in Stronoway harbour. We headed across the moor to the Callanish Stones where besides our dose of culture we also had 70 Pink-footed Geese flying over, a Redwing in a nearby garden and an adult Golden Eagle overhead. Nearby Linshader proved productive with 3 Otters performing on the edge of a small island in the tidal loch for 15 minutes before falling asleep in the sunshine. A walk up one of the valleys in Harris was scenically superb but quiet for birds. The crossing back to Uist produced good views of Great Skua plus Long-tailed Duck, Great Northern and Red-throated Divers.

 

30th April: A lovely start to the day with light north-easterly winds and sunny spells. The cloud gathered during the day until the rain set in at around 16:30. We spent the day in South Uist with Short-eared Owl seen well at the roadside as we headed south. Grogarry Lodge held little but Peninerine was good with a variety of waders including Purple Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel amongst others. We also had Great Northern Diver off-shore and lots of Eider. Close by at Loch Roag we spotted a female Snow Bunting at the side of the loch whilst looking at a pair of Shoveler. At Loch Eynort we hoped to see White-tailed Eagle and before too long had distant views of an adult but this was shortly followed by a party of 5 immatures that hung over the hills to the south of our view point for around 30 minutes whilst occasionally practising talon-grappling! This was all too much for the Golden Eagle nesting nearby that decided to attack each of the immatures in turn whilst also having a go at a Merlin that joined in the fray.  After all this excitement we headed to Ardvule catching up with 40 Pink-footed Geese heading north on route; once there we saw a variety of waders including Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit plus close views of a female Merlin. From here we returned north catching up with Little Tern, 15 Scaup, a distant Peregrine and a male Pintail before heading home.

 

1st May: Today was cut rather short due to illness.

 

2nd May: We ventured onto North Uist today first stopping on the Committee Road where we had excellent views of an immature Golden Eagle hunting close to the road and another two distant birds circling. 2 Greenshank were seen at the north end of the Committee Road before we stopped off at Griminish. This lovely site produced a summer plumage Great Northern Diver, Arctic Tern and a singing Cuckoo as well as good views of a female Otter with two kits. Our next stop was Balranald but surely our luck would not continue; little did we know as things got even better with prolonged views of a calling Corncrake for around 20 minutes and then to our surprise a Killdeer flew passed the car calling. This very rare North American wader settled on the ploughed machair allowing us to get reasonable views before skipping off to a number of other fields as it loosely associated with a flock of Ringed Plover. It caused a great deal of excitement locally being only the thirteenth record for Scotland. Finally we popped onto Baleshare on the way home picking up a lone Pink-footed Goose and another male Pintail.

 

3rd May: An early morning drop off at the ferry from Lochmaddy to Uig.

 

 

  

Species list:

1. Red-throated Diver

2. Black-throated Diver

3. Great Northern Diver

4. White-billed Diver

5. Little Grebe

6. Northern Fulmar

7. Manx Shearwater

8. Northern Gannet

9. European Shag

10. Grey Heron

11. Mute Swan

12. Whooper Swan

13. Pink-footed Goose

14. Greylag Goose

15. Barnacle Goose

16. White-fronted Goose

17. Common Shelduck

18. Mallard

19. Pintail

20. Gadwall

21. Northern Shoveler

22. Eurasian Wigeon

23. Common Teal

24. Greater Scaup

25. Long-tailed Duck

26. Red-breasted Merganser

27. White-tailed Eagle

28. Golden Eagle

29. Hen Harrier

30. Common Buzzard

31. Common Kestrel

32. Merlin

33. Peregrine Falcon

34. Corncrake

35. Common Moorhen

36. Common Coot

37. European Oystercatcher

38. Ringed Plover

39. Killdeer

40. Grey Plover

41. European Golden Plover

42. Northern Lapwing

43. Red Knot

44. Sanderling

45. Purple Sandpiper

46. Ruddy Turnstone

47. Dunlin

48. Common Sandpiper

49. Common Redshank

50. Common Greenshank

51. Black-tailed Godwit

52. Bar-tailed Godwit

53. Eurasian Curlew

54. Whimbrel

55. Common Snipe

56. Great Skua

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

64. Black-legged Kittiwake

65. Little Tern

66. Common Tern

67. Arctic Tern

68. Sandwich Tern

69. Black Guillemot

70. Puffin

71. Common Guillemot

72. Razorbill

73. Rock Dove

74. Wood Pigeon

75. Collared Dove

76. Common Cuckoo

77. Short-eared Owl

78. Skylark

79. Barn Swallow

80. Rock Pipit

81. Meadow Pipit

82. White / Pied Wagtail

83. Hebridean Wren

84. Hebridean Dunnock

85. European Robin

86. Northern Wheatear

87. Common Stonechat

88. Hebridean Song Thrush

89. Blackbird

90. Blackcap

91. Willow Warbler

92. Common Chiffchaff

93. Goldcrest

94. Blue Tit

95. Coal Tit

96. Treecreeper

97. Hebridean Starling

98. House Sparrow

99. Hooded Crow

100. Rook

101. Common Raven

102. Chaffinch

103. Linnet

104. Lesser Redpoll

105. Twite

106. Goldfinch

107. Greenfinch

108. Eurasian Siskin

109. Reed Bunting

110. Snow Bunting

111. Corn Bunting

 

Other:

Red Deer

Otter

Grey Seal

Common Seal

 

Green-veined White

Small Tortoiseshell

Common Heath moth