Tuesday 11 October 2022

Tuesday 11th October

The Barnies keep on coming! James H. counted 24,200 at Gruinart this morning. There were also 113 Greenland White-fronts, 5 Pink-footed and 2 large Todd’s/parvipes type Canada Geese along with a couple of White-tailed Eagles and 355 Golden Plover.

Richard Belter was also out and about enjoying the spectacular sight at Gruinart of thousands of Barnacle Geese, plus a ringtail Hen Harrier, the Marsh Harrier, 6 Pintail and a Greenshank. Up at Ardnave was a lone Whooper Swan (most of yesterday’s birds have seemingly moved on to the south?) and later 12 Common Scoter at Uiskentuie.

There are various contributions and observations from “the other side of the island”:

 Mary-Ann Featherstone found 25 Whooper Swans at Loch Dubh, just north of the airport and later a possible Hobby back near Kildalton. Liam Price who was disturbed by a racket outside his house that turned out to be two Choughs pecking at some solar panels on his next door neighbour’s roof by Carraig Fhada Lighthouse – hopefully they are not that hard up for food? He also reports single Slavonian Grebe and Great Northern Diver in Kilnaughton Bay. Mick Highfield over at Kinnabus had a few Barnies mixed in with Greylags and a mixed flock of a couple of hundred Linnet with a few Twite, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats thrown in for variety – also noted by David D.

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