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Monthly Bird Information - 2009

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 John Bowler.

JANUARY 2009

January brought a real mix of weather, with a long cold dry spell as well as heavy rain with gales at times plus the odd snow flurry. Conditions were generally colder than average, although once more the island missed out on the more severe frosts and heavy snowfalls on the mainland and adjacent more mountainous islands. Probably the most dramatic event was the largest influx of Glaucous Gulls yet recorded on Tiree. These large pale gulls were forced south from the Arctic in higher numbers this year by the cold conditions and included good numbers of grey-backed adults as well as all-white immature birds. They found plenty of dead seals on the beaches to feast upon, with singles and groups of up to three birds scattered around the beaches in the western half of the island from 5th. Numbers built up further later in the month with five birds together at Balephetrish Bay plus four more at Traigh Ghrianal on 28th, whilst there were at least 15 birds on 31st including 14 together in the gull roost at Rubha Chraiginis.

The rarest bird of the period was the Kingfisher at Ard Ear on New Year’s Day, a remarkable find by a visiting birdwatcher. This was the first ever recorded on Tiree and presumably had been forced to leave the mainland in search of unfrozen waters to fish in. The bird was still present two days later and found a plentiful supply of sticklebacks to feed on in the ditches between Port Ban and Milton. Other rarities included the female Surf Scoter, which remained all month at Hough Bay, together with up to 15 Long-tailed Ducks. The drake Ring-necked Duck remained until 19th and became less faithful to Loch Bhasapol, visiting both Loch an Eilein and Loch a’ Phuill before moving on. More unexpectedly, two further Ring-necked Ducks, both immature male birds, appeared at Loch Riaghain on 12th after a westerly gale and remained there until 19th. Together with the lingering drake, these three birds represented the highest count to date of this North American diving duck for Argyll. Another rare species of wildfowl, this a time a goose, appeared amongst the Barnacle Geese in West Tiree. This was a small Canada Goose, only slightly larger than a Barnacle Goose, which was likely to have originated from breeding grounds in Greenland, and was seen on and off at Cornaigmore, Cornaigbeg and Kenovay from 8th.

Other unusual birds included a Sea Eagle briefly at Caoles (1st), a wintering Dunnock at Kenovay, 2 Woodcocks at Ard Ear (3rd), 2 Jack Snipe at Port Ban (3rd), 3 Snow Buntings at Hough Bay (4th), 5 scattered Fieldfares, up to 4 Pied Wagtails, a dead Carrion Crow at Traigh Ghrianal (23rd) and a hybrid CarrionxHooded Crow at Salum (26th). Some 120 Redwings remained with odd birds in sub-song on sunnier days, whilst wintering finches included at least 13 Greenfinches, 10 Chaffinches and 6 Goldfinches, all making the most of food put out in island gardens during the cold weather.

The mid-January goose count (12th-13th) found 3,118 Barnacle Geese and 690 Greenland White-fronts, with Greylags a little down in numbers at 3,620 birds. Five Pink-footed Geese remained at Heylipol, whilst a lone Canada Goose, paired to a Greylag with three hybrid offspring, was at Greenhill/Kilkenneth. The January count also found high island totals of 126 Whooper Swans, 3,120 Golden Plovers and 2,980 Lapwing –all benefiting from the mostly frost-free conditions. Scarce waterbirds included 2 Coot and a Little Grebe at Loch Bhasapol, a Gadwall at Loch an Eilein (4th-19th), 28 Shoveler, 6 Pintail at Loch Riaghain and 3 Grey Plovers. Early signs of spring included the first Shelduck pairs appearing at inland sites and large numbers of Fulmars busying themselves on brighter days at their breeding colonies.

FEBRUARY 2009

February was generally rather colder and a little drier than normal. High pressure dominated for much of the month resulting in fewer gales and less flooding than in recent years, although as always we missed out on the worst of the ice and snow that prevailed on the mainland and surrounding higher islands. The cold conditions might explain the continued record-breaking influx of Glaucous Gulls from the Arctic with a peak count of 16 of these large white gulls roosting at Rubha Chraiginis (2nd), with perhaps 20 birds around the island in the first week of the month. Of our wintering rarities, the drake Ring-necked Duck re-appeared at Loch an Eilein (16th) where it remained to the month-end, the small-race vagrant Canada Goose remained with Barnacle Geese in West Tiree throughout, whilst the female Surf Scoter remained at Hough Bay until 11th before vanishing for a couple of weeks and then returning there in March.

The first obvious migrants to return to the island included adult Black-headed Gulls with their full dark brown hoods and pinkish breasts (from 12th) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (from 28th), whilst there was an unprecedented influx of 4 Mistle Thrushes to West Tiree (18th). Other signs of spring included the first snippets of Skylark song-flights on brighter days, the eerie “drumming” and “chipping” sounds of displaying Snipe on moonlit nights, plus widespread display by pairs of Lapwing and noisy groups of Oystercatchers on the wet grasslands and machairs. Otters also became more noticeable with records from various parts of the island including a very early observation of a mother carrying a large cub in her mouth crossing the road (4th March). 6 Pink-footed Geese and a Light-bellied Brent Goose were identified on the all-island goose count (16th and 18th), which also found high totals of 3,362 Barnacle Geese, 3,592 Greylags, 691 Greenland White-fronts, 137 Whooper Swans, 4,910 Lapwing and 2,960 Golden Plovers.

A number of people expressed their concerns about the apparent decline in the number of House Sparrows visiting their gardens during the month. In response, Janet conducted a survey of sites known to host sparrows during the winter by contacting people on the island who have sparrows regularly using their gardens and barns. While the number of sparrows visiting some sites had indeed declined, in other places the numbers were the same or had increased. It would appear that, while there is likely to have been some normal winter die-off during the cold period in Jan/Feb, birds had simply redistributed in response to food availability and/or the presence of Sparrowhawks. It is reassuring to know that Tiree’s important sparrow population has not been suffering from any unusual influences. Many thanks to those who brought the issue to our attention and to those who provided information for the survey.

March brought typically mixed weather with days of strong westerly winds bringing heavy squalls and rain, interspersed with calmer periods of light southerly winds and increasing warmth. The warm spells brought some early summer migrants and encouraged some early vegetation growth but these were knocked back by later periods of colder air from the north.

Early returning migrants included the first Sand Martin at Loch Bhasapol (26th) - the earliest yet for the island, whilst there were Chiffchaffs at Kilkenneth (17th) and Balephuil (21st), 5 Wheatears at Beinn Hough (18th), a White Wagtail at Balephetrish Bay (23rd), 2 Linnets at Cornaigbeg (30th) and a Swallow at Sorobaidh Bay (31st), plus at least 8 Goldcrests (from 15th). Large numbers of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits returned to the rich grasslands during the month, the latter with their distinctive descending parachute song-flights, whilst the vast spring flock of Golden Plovers staging at The Reef on their way north to Iceland, peaked at 3,620 birds (19th).

A spell of wild NW winds was probably responsible for bringing the biggest rarity to the island during the month. On 24th, Neil Munn spotted a large white falcon feeding on a dead goose at Kilmoluaig. This proved to be a 1st-winter Gyrfalcon of the rare white form (see photo). This spectacular falcon should have been feeding around the ice flows south of Greenland but together with an adult bird, which appeared on Islay around the same time, must have been blown off-course by the strong winds. The bird obviously found Tiree to its liking as it stayed at Kilmoluaig for 5 days before moving on and re-appearing at Caoles in early April. Other rarities included the long-staying drake Ring-necked Duck, which remained at Loch an Eilein all month with occasional forays to Loch Bhasapol, the female Surf Scoter, which re-appeared at Hough Bay (10th and 28th) and the vagrant small-race Canada Goose, which remained with Barnacle Geese in West Tiree until at least 7th. Up to five Glaucous Gulls remained from the big influx in January-February, whilst there were further large influxes of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls returning to breed once more on the island. The late March goose count found 3,725 Barnacle Geese, 3,363 Greylags and 979 Greenland White-fronts, as well as 2 Pink-footed Geese and
2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

APRIL 2009

April brought some warmer dry spells interspersed with periods of wetter southerly and westerly winds, which kept the lochs and wetlands topped up, but also kept many fields wetter than normal. In general, spring migration was a little earlier than last year with the Barnacle Geese departing en masse from Ruaig on the evening of 12th - three days earlier than in 2008, with the bulk of the Greenland White-fronts setting off northwards the day before. Some spring arrivals were also early with the earliest ever record for the island of a Blackcap at Balephuil (11th) and the earliest ever Cuckoo at Carnan Mor (17th). By the end of the month, most of the regular breeding migrants were back, albeit in small numbers so far, including Willow Warbler (from 10th), Little Tern (from 14th), Arctic Tern (from 25th), Sedge Warbler (from 28th) and Common Sandpiper (from 29th). The first Corncrake was also early (9th) and some 30 or so calling males had been widely reported around the island by the month-end. Co-ordinated night time counts of calling male Corncrakes will start later in May to see how numbers compare to last year. With numbers of birds dropping on both Coll and the Outer Hebrides in 2008, Tiree’s currently thriving Corncrake population has become even more important

The wetter spells of weather helped to ground many migrating birds on the island as they attempted to head north. There was a large influx of Pale-bellied Brent to the beaches on 20th including a flock of 375 birds at Sorobaidh Bay, which included one bird that had been colour-ringed in County Down in Northern Ireland, six birds from Iceland, and one from Axel Heiberg Island in Arctic Canada, giving a good idea of the migration route of this species. The following day saw a large arrival of Black-tailed Godwits in their brick-red breeding dress (see photo), and in amongst a flock of 285 birds at Loch Bhasapol were two colour-ringed birds from Iceland, one from the Wash in Eastern England and one from the Tagus Estuary in Portugal, again highlighting the range of countries that these birds visit. Very large numbers of Golden Plovers also passed through on their way north to their breeding grounds in Iceland and the traditional flock at The Reef built up to an impressive 5,125 birds (16th). A strong passage of Greenland Wheatears and White Wagtails throughout the month included island totals of 60+ and 40+ respectively on 28th, whilst a high tally of some 20 Goldfinches was noted at various locations around the island.

April rarities included the white morph Gyrfalcon from March, which re-appeared in east Tiree at the start of the month being seen at Balephetrish and then at Caoles (7th). The long-staying drake Ring-necked Duck remained at Loch an Eilein until 10th and was joined there by a second drake on 6th, which remained until 28th. Other spring scarcities included a Jack Snipe at Balemartine (1st), a very early Pomarine Skua off Coll (1st), a Coal Tit at Mannal (11th-12th), a Brambling at Mannal (15th-16th), a drake Scaup and a 1st-winter Iceland Gull at Loch Bhasapol (20th), plus an early Woodpigeon at Balephuil (30th). Lingering Glaucous Gulls from the winter’s influx included 2nd-winter birds at Sorobaidh Bay (4th) and Baugh (15th), plus 1st-winter birds at Gott Bay (13th) and Sorobaidh Bay (20th). A handful of Lapwing chicks were observed on The Reef at the month-end, together with the first Mallard broods, indicating that summer was not so far away.