Saturday 31st January & Sunday 1st February

The easterly wind blew all day Saturday and finally relented on Sunday when it was actually almost calm during the afternoon, though the relief was short-lived and the easterlies are set to return.

First, a Friday observation which I overlooked of the first Glaucous Gull of the winter, a juvenile among the gulls at the Gartbreck tip, seen by Gary T.

No records were submitted on Saturday, but, on Sunday morning, Dave W. saw 4 Bullfinches at Lenavore on The Oa, quite a long way from what one would regard as typical habitat for this species. Then, in the afternoon, Clive McK. photographed a very pale White-tailed Eagle which was sat waiting for a Barnacle Goose that it had hit in mid-air to reappear from the rushes into which it tumbled. His highlights of the day were a very unexpected flock of 45 Meadow Pipits in a field below his house at Craig Mhor, and a brief burst of song from a Mistle Thrush in Gruinart Wood, perhaps celebrating the (temporary) disappearance of the wind. 

Also on Sunday, following Friday's report of about 6 Yellowhammers just outside Bowmore, Billy S. had 4 in his garden at Caol Ila, 3 of which are shown below.