Friday 13th and Saturday 14th November

Both days were mainly overcast with showers and a fresh southerly breeze.

The complete absence of bird records for Friday was followed by a better day on Saturday, starting off with Ed B seeing a European White-fronted Goose at Cornabus/Ballivicar, while Ken White saw a ringtail Hen Harrier near Carnduncan and later a male in the same area. About 40 pairs breed on the island, but the majority leave for the winter, with marked birds recovered from as far away as northern France and southern Ireland, leaving a winter population of, at most, a few tens.

James H was on the ferry returning home and spotted 4 Black-throated Divers, while Ken White found a mixed flock  of Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares at Ballinaby. Clive Mck had a good count of 320 Bar-tailed Godwits on Loch Gruinart together with a Grey Plover and 4 to 6 White-tailed Eagles. Between 1230 and 1515, Clive counted 61 Greenland White-fronted Geese in 7 flocks arriving from the north-west which included one of Ed B's tagged birds which had overflown Skye, Mull and Colonsay on its journey here.

Here's Ed's map of the tagged Greenland Whitefront, while the second photo is a "back-of-the-camera" shot of the male Hen Harrier taken by Ken White.