Thursday 23rd January 2025

The only bird records received today were from Morven Laurie of NatureScot sending the results of the goose census covering the whole island carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, 21st and 22nd January. The totals, averaging the counts of the two days, were 28,669 Barnacle Geese, 4066 Greenland Whitefronts and 1192 Greylags. The comparable count in December found 27,585 Barnacles, 4852 Whitefronts and 1434 Greylags. The drop in the Whitefront total is disappointing as this population is struggling, and not helped by there only being about 3.5% young in the flocks this winter, following a very poor breeding season in west Greenland. This is well below the 10+% needed just to stop the population declining further.

The weather today was bright and breezy from the south-west with occasional showers. The forecast for tomorrow is for Storm Eowyn to arrive in the very early morning with increasing storm-force south-west winds with gusts between 95 and 100 mph, the strongest being from about 9am to 2pm. Winds of this strength are not unheard of here but definitely rare and we must hope that any damage is limited. Please take great care if you venture outside.