Monday 13th October 2025

A dull and overcast day with light and variable winds.

The weather may be on the dull side, but the birding wasn't, with the appearance of what can only be termed a mega-rarity, a Veery, an American thrush about the size of a Song Thrush, which, if accepted by the British Birds Rarities Committee, and this photograph suggests that that won't be a problem, will be just the 12th time it has been found anywhere in the UK. The last one to appear was in Shetland in 2023, while the one before that was back in 2015 in Orkney. Its preferred habitat in the United States is wet woodland, which is exactly what it had found at Easter Ellister when it was spotted just after 14.00 by visitor Jack Morris. The last sighting of it was around 14.50 and, although searched for during the afternoon, it has not, so far, been seen again.

Back to more usual birds, David D. reported first thing in the morning that there were several Redwings and 2 Mistle Thrushes moving through Kinnabus and, a little later, a flock of 9 Greenfinches, now a relatively uncommon bird on the island. Apparently, there has been a small influx of them, with small numbers seen on Tiree and Rathlin. I had 2 in my garden in Bruichladdich at the end of last week, the first for 2-3 years. More Redwings were seen at Gruinart by Mike Taylor and at Creag Mhor by Clive McK., who also saw 9 Song Thrushes getting up from bushes, climb high and head SSE across the loch. Around 10.00, he watched a flock of 23 Choughs flying S down the loch before heading towards Sunderland Farm beside Loch Gorm. Back on The Oa, David had some other less common birds for the area, 8 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Coal Tit, 11 more Mistle Thrushes and 4 Redwings at Upper Killeyan and a pair of White-tailed Eagles at Lower Killeyan.

Teresa Morris, at Craigens Cottage around lunchtime, watched a WTE putting up the geese, had 4 Whoopers on the stubbles there, a Sparrowhawk in the garden and a Stonechat. Then, at 13.00, Theo spotted a Canada Goose among the Barnacles on the Gruinart sand, this time a Cackling Goose, about the size of the Barnacles (see photo below). He then moved to Sanaigmore and found a bright juvenile Willow Warbler in the bushes there, as well a Mistle Thrush, 4 Choughs and 4 Great Northern Divers. Meanwhile, Gary T. counted a large flock of 57 Collared Doves at Ardlarach, south of Bowmore. Mike Taylor saw a flock of Twite at The Oa carpark, while a Golden Eagle flew over.

Also at lunchtime, Steve R. carried out the monthly WeBS count at Loch an t-Sailein and found: Grey Heron, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Herring Gulls, 23 Curlews, 10 Shags, 17 Greylag Geese, Common Snipe, 8 Wigeons, 27 Knots, Oystercatcher, Redshank (call only), and a probable Little Grebe

Early afternoon sightings included 18 Whooper Swans at Gartmain, seen by Teresa, and a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap at Glen Astle, seen by David D. Later on, Teresa saw 25 Whooper Swans, with 6 juveniles, on the Rockmountain stubble field, and David D. watched 27 Fieldfares at Kinnabus which then flew S over Ben Mhor, while, shortly after, Clive had a flock of 55 flying south at Creag Mhor, by which time some mist had rolled in, having earlier seen a Kestrel on the lane over to Loch Gorm, his first for months, while 5 Common Snipes flew over very high, just below the cloud base. Mike Taylor was on the Big Strand north of Knockangle Point where he counted 25+ Red-throated Divers and 1 Great Northern Diver on the sea and 22 Sanderlings and 51 Golden Plovers on the shore.

Gary T., at Easter Ellister looking for the Veery at 18.35, didn't find it, but did see good numbers of Robins, Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrest, plus a Grey Wagtail minus its tail feathers, which must have looked rather strange. Teresa carried out a late afternoon count at Sanagmore and found: 2 Choughs, single Wren and Robin, 2 Meadow Pipits, 2 Rock Pipits, 7 Jackdaws, 40 Herring Gulls, 4 Oystercatchers, 28 Ringed Plovers, 38 Bar tailed Godwits, 1 Ringtail Hen Harrier, 1 Buzzard, 2 Sanderlings and 4 Cormorants.

Here's Theo's photo of the Cackling Goose, taken at extreme range but clear enough to identify.