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Monthly Bird Information - 2008

by John Bowler RSPB
01879 220748

Many thanks to those of you who keep me posted with your latest observations. If anyone would like to report unusual sightings of birds
or other wildlife on Tiree, please contact me at the above telephone number. All photographs in this section are by Tom Marshall.

JANUARY 2008

The colder conditions in January meant that garden birds were forced to search harder for food and it is likely that numbers of birds recorded in gardens on the Big Garden Birdwatch (26th-27th) will be higher than in previous years. Numbers of finches for example, increased in the New Year with peaks of 7 Goldfinches at West Hynish, 8 Greenfinches at Meningie and 6 Chaffinches at Balephuil. Up to 300 Redwings remained in January to feed on the island in scattered groups but Fieldfares were very scarce, and none were seen after 3 at Cornaigbeg on18th December.

The mid-January goose count (14th-15th) found a high count (3,439) of Barnacle Geese, whilst Greylags dropped to 3,376 from a high count of 3,995 in December but Greenland White-fronted Goose numbers (752) remained lower than normal. Two Pale-bellied Brent Goose wintered with the Barnacle Geese at Ruaig and Caoles, whilst 3 Pink-footed Geese remained at Barrapol, plus a lone Canada Goose paired to a Greylag with two hybrid offspring at Greenhill/Kilkenneth. The January count also found high island totals of 135 Whooper Swans, 4,180 Golden Plovers and 4,406 Lapwing –all benefiting from the largely
frost-free conditions. Other wildfowl included up to 4 Scaup on the lochs throughout, 2 Pochard, 4 Pintail and 23 Shoveler, whilst a dead Puffin was noted at Sorobaidh Bay. Shelducks returned to the coast and lochs from late December and Fulmars started busying themselves at their breeding colonies once more.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2008

The wet weather from January continued into February, with frequent bouts of heavy rain bringing much flooding across the island. March on the other hand was mostly drier, with some warmer days early on but it became colder, with northerly winds prevailing late in the month, stopping most signs of spring in their tracks. As a result, the few early breeding birds such as Lapwings lost their first clutches of eggs and there were very few spring migrants about by the end of the period.

The first Black-headed Gulls started returning in their full summer plumage from mid-February and Lesser Black-backed Gulls followed suit later in the month with good numbers of both species back by the end of March. The first signs of spring amongst our resident birds, included the singing of Skylarks once more on brighter days above the dunes and grasslands, the “chipping” and “drumming” sounds of Snipe emanating from the wet grasslands on the odd still evening, plus the more widespread displays of pairs of Lapwing and noisy groups of Oystercatchers. Other birds to return to the rich grasslands included big numbers of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits, the latter with their distinctive descending parachute song-flight. Other spring migrants were in very short supply in March, with just single Wheatears noted at Hynish and Baugh (25th), 3 White Wagtails at Traigh nan Gilean (27th) and a handful of Goldcrests (from 26th), although the best bird was a Great Tit which appeared on a garden peanut-feeder at Moss (17th). As a result of the cold northerly airflow, there were no Chiffchaffs, Linnets or passage Black-tailed Godwits, which would normally be expected in late March. The only obvious migration was that of the Whooper Swan, which passed through in larger numbers than normal this spring. Flocks of up to 75 birds were seen flying over the islands on several days in the second half of March, some dropping in to feed and rest at the lochs before struggling on against the headwind to reach the Uists before making the perilous crossing to Iceland.

Scarcer wintering birds included the long-staying female Surf Scoter, which remained with the flock of up to 26 Long-tailed Ducks at Hough Bay from January until 23rd March and more unexpectedly a smart male Black Redstart wintered near Scarinish Pier (2nd February-3rd March). Winter gulls included a scattering of up to 6 Glaucous Gulls and 3 different Iceland Gulls around the island but rarer still was a 1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull at Cornaig (28th-29th March) – just the second for the island if confirmed. Other unusual wintering birds included a Short-eared Owl in the Cornaigbeg-Kenovay area, a handful of Woodcock and some early skua records including a recently dead Great Skua at Hough Bay (13th February). Goose counts in the two months found up to 3,430 Barnacle Geese, 3,509 Greylags and 803 Greenland White-fronts, as well as 4 Pink-footed Geese at Middleton and 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Ruaig, whilst over 4,000 each of Golden Plover and Lapwing were present in February.

Corncrakes

After the rains in June, the Corncrakes will have benefited from the often warm and still conditions in July. Birds continued to call all over the island during the month, including from areas where they had been absent in June. The final count total this year for the island was 413 calling males, up on the total of 391 recorded in 2007, itself a record count, and pushes the Tiree population to around one third of the total UK population – a fitting testament to all the Corncrake-friendly measures employed by crofters and farmers on the island.

Other birds

Despite the dry conditions in May and the rather wetter ones in June. Most of our breeding birds appeared to have a good breeding season. Ducks did very well in the calm conditions, with large broods of Mallard, Shelduck, Red-breasted Merganser and Shoveler noted on several of the island’s wetlands, as well as Tufted Duck broods at Loch Bhasapol. Pintail fledglings were again noted and Gadwall raised at least one brood for the second year running, but best of all was a brood of Wigeon, the first ever proven breeding by this species on the island! The waders and gulls all produced good numbers of young, but the Arctic Terns and cliff-nesting seabirds fared badly once more, presumably as a result of food shortages at sea. Arctic Terns only managed to raise a handful of fledglings from over 300 nests around the island, whilst at Ceann a’ Mhara, the Kittiwakes suffered a complete breeding failure and the Fulmars, Razorbills and Guillemots raised only very small numbers of chicks. Shags however, had an excellent breeding season with a bumper 131 pairs raising dozens of fledglings.

July is normally a quiet month for scarce migrant birds but there were several birds of note. A brilliant yellow adult male Golden Oriole appeared briefly at Balephuil (5th), a Quail called from deep grass at Barrapol (16th), a Crane was reported from Vaul (13th), an all-white Iceland Gull visited Loch a’ Phuill (17th), whilst a fall of migrants in foggy conditions at Carnan Mor (27th) produced an unseasonal Lesser Whitethroat, as well as a Woodpigeon, a Lesser Redpoll, a Swift and no less than 6 juvenile Goldrcests – none of which breed on Tiree.  Waders began returning once more from their northern breeding grounds - mostly adults which, had failed to breed successfully. These included 9 Red Knot (from 22nd), 20 Black-tailed Godwits (26th), hundreds of Sanderling (from 14th), 2 Whimbrel (from 24th), 2 Common Sandpipers (from 18th) and up to 9 Greenshanks at Loch a’ Phuill. Large flocks of gulls, Lapwing, Curlew and Starlings began to gather once more on the first cut silage fields. Offshore, there were regular sightings of Storm Petrels, Bonxies and Arctic Skuas, together with very large numbers of Basking Sharks, regular pods of Common Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises and the odd Minke Whale, whilst 4 Killer Whales between Tiree and Coll (21st) were a nice surprise for some!