19th -21st February
The steadily increasing wind and worsening weather over
this period produced the main talking point which consisted of another influx
of white-winged Gulls to the island starting with a single Glaucous Gull on the
19th, rising to 3 the following day and then a good total of 6 birds
on the 21st along with a second-year Iceland Gull. Other highlights included the Northern Harrier making several appearances around Brides Loch, the
drake Smew commuting between Bewan
and Hooking and the drake Green-winged
Teal happily residing on Gretchen Loch.
Peak
wildfowl counts included 2 Whooper Swans, 440 Greylag Geese, 175 Wigeon, 146
Teal, 15 Pintail, 25 Shoveler and 36 Tufted Ducks along with 15 Great-northern
Divers, 16 Red-throated Divers and 6 Herons.
Waders
showed a general upturn in numbers (although increased coverage may have had
something to do with it) as counts included 186 Lapwing, 92 Dunlin, 54
Sanderling and 95 Purple Sandpipers.
Other birds over these few days included single Peregrine and Merlin
whizzing around and the few Passerines lingering on the island included counts
of 8 Redwing, 7 Linnets and single wintering Robin and Chaffinch.
Glaucous Gull - photo Simon Davies
The Fulmars at least were having fun in the strong winds - photo Simon Davies
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