Thursday 1st May 2025

Some rain overnight and a few very light showers in the morning, before clearing to mostly overcast, while it was noticeably cooler during the day.

Visitors Alan and Karami reported a flock of about 15 Whooper Swans on the Gruinart Flats, which are quite late migrants, considering that the first birds seen moving north this spring were in the middle of March.

Whimbrels were present in record numbers, with Dave Wood  counting 126 at Laggan Point, which would have been a a new record flock, the previous highest being 106, if visitor Ian Mears hadn't seen, at almost the same time, no less than 232 at Ardnave, made up of a single flock of 150 feeding among the cattle, plus another 70 on Nave Island and 12 other heading north. In addition to all those, Gary had earlier seen 30-40 in the fields behind Gortain. We've probably had over 200 on the island before, but not, I'm certain, nearly 400.