WeBS counts for January 2010

Holy Loch, Cowal.
Wildfowl: 19 Eurasian Wigeon, 24 Eurasian Teal, 75 Mallards, 102 Common Eiders, 15 Common Goldeneyes, and 3 Red-breasted Mergansers.
Divers, grebes, herons etc: one Red-throated Diver, 11 Little Grebes, 3 Shags and one Grey Heron.
Waders: 430 Oystercatchers, 20 Ringed Plovers, 2 Red Knots, one Common Snipe, 18 Eurasian Curlews, 20 Common Redshanks and 22 Turnstones.
(George Newall).

 

Kilfinan Bay, Cowal.
Wildfowl: 38 Greylag Geese, 11 Canada Geese, 2 Eurasian Teal, 11 Mallards, 22 Common Eiders, 3 Common Goldeneyes and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers.
Divers, grebes, herons etc: one Great Northern Diver, one Great Cormorant, 7 Shags and one Grey Heron.
Waders: 21 Oystercatchers, 4 Eurasian Curlews and one Common Redshank.
Other species: Dipper.
(Tom Callan).
 
Ruel Estuary and Loch Riddon, Cowal.
Wildfowl: 36 Greylag Geese, one Common Shelduck, 23 Eurasian Wigeon, 17 Mallards and 5 Common Goldeneyes.
Divers, grebes, herons etc: 2 Little Grebes, 2 Shags and 5 Grey Herons.
Waders: 112 Oystercatchers and 22 Eurasian Curlews.
 (Daphne Campbell).

 

Loch Etive, North Argyll.
Wildfowl: 27 Mute Swans, one Pink-footed Goose, 65 Greylag Geese, 133 Eurasian Wigeon, 42 Eurasian Teal, 239 Mallards, 23 Common Eiders, 21 Common Goldeneyes, 8 Red-breasted Mergansers and one Goosander.
Divers, grebes, herons etc: 21 Little Grebes, 10 Great Cormorants, 23 Shags and 35 Grey Herons.
Waders: 33 Oystercatchers, 8 Ringed Plovers, 17 Eurasian Curlews, 3 Common Redshanks and 2 Turnstones.
Other species: two Eurasian Sparrowhawks and 7 Common Buzzards.
(Mike Harrison).

 

Loch Sween, Mid-Argyll.
Wildfowl: 16 Mute Swans, 26 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 5 Greylag Geese, 4 Common Shelducks, 43 Eurasian Wigeon, 49 Eurasian Teal, 38 Mallards, 22 Common Goldeneyes, 20 Red-breasted Mergansers and 3 Goosanders.
Little Grebes, 2 Shags and 7 Grey Herons.
Waders: 23 Oystercatchers, 16 Ringed Plovers, 4 Dunlin, a Common Snipe, 21 Eurasian Curlews and 2 Common Redshanks.
Other species: male and female Hen Harriers.
(Paul Daw).

 

Sound of Gigha, Kintyre:
Wildfowl: 30 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 4 Common Shelducks,16 Mallards, 92 Common Eiders, 30 Long-tailed Ducks (an impressive count), 29 Common Scoters, 2 Common Goldeneyes, 16 Red-breasted Mergansers and 3 Goosanders.
Divers, grebes, herons etc: 11 Red-throated Diver, 19 Great Northern Divers, 35 unidentified divers, 16 Slavonian Grebes, 35 Shags and one Grey Heron.
Waders: Oystercatchers (no count), 26 Ringed Plovers, 10 Northern Lapwings, 2 Sanderlings, 39 Dunlin, one Common Snipe, 8 Eurasian Curlews, 5 Common Redshanks and 2 Turnstones.
Other species: 10 Meadow Pipits, 21 Rock Pipits and 7 Pied Wagtails.
(Katie Pendreigh).  

 

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Wildfowl (and Gamebirds)

03 January 2010. The female Surf Scoter was still at Hough Bay, Tiree today with three Common Scoters and two Long-tailed Ducks, and 116 Whooper Swans, 3 Pintails and 90 Tufted Ducks were at Loch a' Phuill (John Bowler).

 

05 January 2010. A total of 23 Red-breasted Mergansers off Otter Ferry today were mainly in pairs (Tom Callan).

 

06 January 2010. Counts around the Tiree lochs produced high totals of: 145 Whooper Swans, 12 Pintails and 160 Tufted Ducks (John Bowler).

 

08 January 2010. A total of  440 Barnacle Geese were found, just south of Toberonochy, on Luing, Mid-Argyll today (Anya Lamont per Richard Wesley) and two Goosanders were feeding in the sea close to the shore at of (Tom Callan).

 

09 January 2010. The Craobh Haven Snow Goose was back at its usual location near the turn off the Oban-Lochgilphead road today, together with 150 Greylag Geese (Bill Allan) and five Black Grouse were seen near Loch Nant, Mid-Argyll (Roger Broad).
 

11 January 2010. A small Canada Goose showing characteristics of "Richardson's" Canada Goose was seen with 1,100 Barnacle Geese at Cornaigmore, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

14 January 2010. Three Common Scoters and an impressive 19 Long-tailed Ducks were at  Hough Bay, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

16 January 2010. Despite the hard weather the white, adult Snow Goose stayed at same spot at the Craobh Haven turnoff all week with 150 Greylags (Bill Allan).

 

17 January 2010. There were 137 Greylag Geese between Kildavie and Pennyland, S. Kintyre today (No sign of any Bean Geese!) (Neil Brown).

 

18 January 2010. Wildfowl at Ormsary (Knapdale) Mid-Argyll at midday today included 12 Common Shelducks, 30 Mallards, ca 70 Common Eiders and 70 Common Goldeneyes.

 

19 January 2010. The all-island goose count on Tiree (18-19 Jan) found 139 Whooper Swans, 787 Greenland White-fronted Geese, 3,532 Barnacle Geese and 3 Pink-footed Geese at Cornaigmore with 1 at Heylipol John Bowler)

 

21 January 2010. A total of 32 Tufted Ducks on Loch Seil (Mid-Argyll) this evening was a good count for the mainland (Bill Allan).

 

22 January 2010. Approx. 319 Eurasian Teal and 49 Mallards were at the head of Loch Striven, Cowal today (Tom Callan).

 

23 January 2010. A total of 158 Common Goldeneyes were counted at the head of Loch Caolisport and at Ormsary today (Jim Dickson). A count of wildfowl on Loch Nell (nr Oban), which, unlike many smaller freshwater lochs remained unfrozen, found just 3 Mallards, 10 Tufted Ducks and a single Common Goldeneye. This is usually a good site for Pochards but none were present (Bill Allan). John Bowler reports “Pochard numbers have also crashed (on Tiree) in the last few winters with very few/no wintering birds - last winter saw 4 in Nov 2008 and 1 in Feb 2009. There have been none at all so far this winter, and I think it's a very similar situation on Uist. There are lots on Orkney however, this winter so not quite sure what is going on”.

 

27 January 2010. Ten Whooper Swans were on Loch Ederline (Ford) Mid-Argyll today (Karl Pipes).

 

29 January 2010.  Two drake Pochards (at last!) were on Loch nan Druimnean (nr Kilmelford) this morning (Bill Allan).

 

31 January 2010. At least 20 Tufted Ducks were at Loch Seil, Mid-Argyll today with 10 more at Dubh Loch, Oban (Bill Allan). At least 3 Indian Peafowl were seen at Corra (Ardlamont) Cowal today (Tom Callan).

 

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Seabirds, Divers, Grebes, Shearwaters, Herons etc. (and other seawatch species)

 

03 January 2010. A good count of  18 Great Northern Divers at Hough Bay, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

04 January 2010. Loch Caolisport had 4 Red-throated Divers, 17 Black-throated Divers, 15 Great Northern Divers and 4 Slavonian Grebes today (Jim Dickson).

 

08 January 2010. The Little Egret has been reported again at Loch Gruinart, Islay in the last couple of days (John Armitage).

 

18 January 2010. A single Red-throated Diver at Loch an Eilein, Tiree was a very rare inland record for there (John Bowler). Three Red-throated Divers and a Slavonian Grebe were off Otter Ferry (Tom Callan).

 

22 January 2010. Just before sunset at least 7 Fulmars appeared at Treshnish Point, Mull, one of which landed briefly on the cliff ledges whilst another 4 were paired up on a the ledges. Possibly prospecting for possible nest sites (Anand Prasad).

 

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Raptors, Rails etc

01 January 2010. A male Hen Harrier was hunting at Kilfinan Bay, Cowal today (David Warden).

 

02 January 2010. Two Golden Eagles, a White-tailed Eagle and a Hen Harrier were seen in the Treshnish area of Mull today (Anand Prasad).

 

03 January 2010. Water Rails were showing well on Tiree, with at three or more at Balephuil, two (including 1 taken by a cat)West Hynish and one at Mannal (John Bowler).

 

06 January 2010. Three Coots were at Loch Bhasapol, Tiree today with at least one elsewhere on the island (John Bowler).

 

10 January 2010. Three Coots on Loch Seil, Mid-Argyll were a very unusual sighting (Richard Wesley). 

 

14 January 2010. Three Merlins were seen between Loch Bhasapol and Hough, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

16 January 2010. A Gyr Falcon was reported from Portnahaven, Islay at 12.30 today (per Jim Dickson). It was reported as a white-morph bird and was seen again in the Portnahaven area on 17 January (Simon Pinder per Angus Murray).

 

19 January 2010. A Merlin was seen to catch and kill a Snipe at Barrapol, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

20 January 2010. A Water Rail made a brief appearance in a garden at Lochdon, Mull today. It picked up a piece of bread and scurried off (Alan Spellman).

 

21 January 2010. Three Coots were seen on Loch Seil (Mid-Argyll) again today and were still present on 31 January (Bill Allan).

 

30 January 2010. During the Argyll Bird Club field trip to Ormsary (Knapdale) today (described elsewhere on the website and in the March 2010 Eider) the highlight was magnificent views of two Golden Eagles soaring over the forest in bright sunshine.

 

31 January 2010. Two Golden Eagles harried by 4 crows flew over the house at Otter Ferry today. Only Tom’s second sighting there in 30 years! (Tom Callan). A Common Kestrel was at Ardencaple "lagoons", Seil today and 2 more were at Loch Nell (Bill Allan).

 

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Waders

 

02 January 2010. Two Woodcock were flushed on Cruachan Treshnish, Mull today: in previous years they have been common in Treshnish wood but only occasionally met with on open moorland but this cold spell has caused them to be much more common in the open and now it is impossible to go for a walk without flushing several (Anand Prasad).

 

06 January 2010. Six Common Snipe were flushed from roadside ditches between Otter Ferry and Strathlachlan Cowal today (Tom Callan).

 

08 January 2010. The Long-billed Dowitcher has been reported again at Loch Gruinart, Islay in the last couple of days and Common Snipe and Woodcock have become very obvious on Islay generally, with quite a number of sightings reported (John Armitage).

 

14 January 2010.  A single Jack Snipe was found by the Seil Natural History Group on Luing today as well as 30 Eurasian Curlews (per Richard Wesley) and approx. 45 Turnstones were at Otter Ferry (Tom Callan).

 

18 January 2010. Waders at Ormsary (Knapdale) Mid-Argyll at midday today included 40 Ringed Plovers, 9 Purple Sandpipers, 40 Common Redshanks and 50 Turnstones (Bill Allan) and a single Jack Snipe was seen at Milton, Tiree (John Bowler).

 

23 January 2010.  A total of 38 Ringed Plovers and 72 Dunlin  were counted at the head of Loch Caolisport and at Ormsary today (Jim Dickson).

 

30 January 2010. An impressive count of 120 Purple Sandpipers was made at Hough Bay, Tiree today (John Bowler).

 

31 January 2010. Two Greenshanks were with two Common Redshanks at Ardencaple "lagoons", Seil today (Bill Allan). A flock of 34 Northern Lapwings were near Ardlamont Point, Cowal today (Tom Callan).

 

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Skuas, Gulls, Terns and Auks

03 January 2010. Approx. 3,800 gulls feeding off Otter Ferry today included at least 1,000 each of Black-headed, Common Gull and Herring Gull. Similar numbers were present there until 12 Jan and again on 29 Jan (Tom Callan).

 

09 January 2010. The adult Ring-billed Gull was on the foreshore at George St, Oban tonight (only the 3rd time this winter it’s been seen there(Bill Allan).

 

13 January 2010. A nice couple of Mediterranean Gulls (adult & 2nd winter) found at lunchtime today by Andrew Stevenson, just offshore at Ardrishaig, Mid-Argyll in with 200+ Black-headed Gulls. So far this winter there have just been a handful of Black-headed Gulls on this side of Loch Fyne.....Tom Callan has been getting the usual large numbers on his side of the loch so the SE gale probably helped to push some back across to L. Gilp (usually get 1000+ off L Gilp in winter) (Jim Dickson).

 

14 January 2010. Still an adult Mediterranean Gull off Ardrishaig (with extensive black on head) at 12.50pm today. Also a new adult off front green at Lochgilphead on Loch Gilp but with very little black on the head (Jim Dickson)
 

15 January 2010. All three Mediterranean Gulls still in Loch Gilp today: and adult and 2nd winter feeding with Black-headed Gulls well out in loch off Ardrishaig and the paler headed adult, again with Black-headed Gulls on the green in Lochgilphead (Andrew Stevenson).

 

16 January 2010. An adult Iceland Gull was at Port Askaig, Islay today and an adult Glaucous Gull flew north past Feolin Ferry, Jura at 1.15pm (Simon Pinder per Angus Murray).

 

17 January 2010. Yet another Mediterranean Gull (the 4th in Mid-Argyll this month) was found in the bay near Craobh Haven today and the adult Ring-billed Gull was showing very well at 18.00 hours on foreshore in Oban (Bill Allan).

 

18 January 2010. At least 1,000 gulls, incl. ca 250 Black-headed, 300 Common, 500 Herring and  80 Great Black-backed Gulls, were at Ormsary (Knapdale) Mid-Argyll at midday today (Bill Allan).

 

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Doves, Owls, Woodpeckers etc.

 

03 January 2010. An optimistic Wood Pigeon was singing from a conifer plantation near Kilfinan, Cowal today (David Warden).

 

16 January 2010. A Long-eared Owl flew across the Oban-Lochgilphead road after dark today, just south of the turn off for Craobh Haven (Bill Allan).

 

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Passerines

01 January 2010.An impressive total of 27 Bullfinches were feeding on deep (500mm) heather on a hill near Otter Ferry today. When flushed they flew into a stand of Sitka Spruce about 50m away (Tom Callan) and 18 Common Crossbills were seen at Kilfinan, Cowal (David Warden). A Dipper was seen at Eredine waterfall (Loch Awe) - it was more of an ice-fall at the time! (Karl Pipes).

 

02 January 2010. A single Magpie was at Baddens Nursery, just north of Lochgilphead, today (Jim Dickson).

 

03 January 2010. A Brambling was seen among the Chaffinches at bird feeders in a garden at West Loch Tarbert, Kintyre this week (Barbara McMillan). 

 

04 January. The whole area around Loch Caolisport was remarkably snow/frost free, which probably explains the small parties of mixed thrushes dotted about, including 60 Fieldfares, 18 Blackbirds, 15 Song Thrushes a Redwing and 2 Mistle Thrushes (Jim Dickson). Four Bramblings were feeding near the shore at Otter Ferry today (Tom Callan).

 

08 January 2010. At least 8 Bramblings were feeding in leaf litter under Beech in a field by the spit at Otter Ferry today (Tom Callan).

 

09 January2010. Another Brambling was reported at a bird feeder in a garden today, this time in Campbeltown (Janette Fiander). Two Eurasian Nuthatches were seen at a peanut feeder in a garden at Cairndow and flying  between there at Ardkinglas Gardens (Roger Broad). Theses birds have now been seen there regularly by several observers and we have hopes that they might become the first breeding pair in Argyll! A female Black Redstart was seen sitting on the gate post at the entrance to Tangy wind farm, Kintyre this afternoon (Neil Brown). Given the rarity of this species in Argyll there must be a strong possibility that this is the same bird that was reported at Tangy on 1 November last year.

 

10 January 2010. A Eurasian Jay was a new visitor to a garden at Eredine Loch Awe today (Karl Pipes). As mentioned in the December Latest Reports, Jays have been more widely reported this winter than usual and have even appeared in several gardens, presumably driven by the hard weather. In Cowal, approx. 50 Meadow Pipits were at Kildavaig Farm and two Dippers were interacting vigourously at Otter Ferry. A flock of 50 Fieldfares with approx. 10 Redwings were at Ardlamont Bay with similar flocks at two other locations in the area (Tom Callan).

 

13 January 2010. A Eurasian Jay was another garden visitor at Otter Ferry today (Tom Callan).

 

15 January 2010. A large flock of approx. 500 Fieldfares with approx 30 Redwings and 40 Common Starlings were at Kilfinan, Cowal today (Tom Callan).

 

16 January 2010. Karl Pipes reports the first Siskins of the winter arriving at his garden feeders at Eredine 9Loch Awe) today: 8 in all.
 
17 January 2010. Four Siskins (2 males/2 females) at the garden feeders at Lagganmore (Glen Euchar) Mid-Argyll  today were the first there since late autumn 2009. A party of 10 Long-tailed Tits were at the southern corner of Asknish Bay (Craobh Haven) (Bill Allan).Siskins were definitely back - in force. During the Loch Sween WeBS count today a flock of 60+ were counted at Loch Scotnish (nr Tayvallich) Mid-Argyll (Paul Daw).
 

18 January 2010. A Magpie was seen on the Meadows Road going out of Lochgilphead, between Badden Farm and Monydrain Cemetery (NR853894) (Blair Urquhart) and a surprising total of 22 Goldfinches were noted on Tiree (John Bowler). A big closely-knit flock of up to 300 Fieldfares were on wires at Kilberry (Knapdale) Mid-Argyll (Bill Allan) and a flock of 12 Long-tailed Tits that had survived the cold weather were seen during an Atlas Timed Tetrad Visit at Silvercraigs (nr Lochgilphead) (Paul Daw).

 

20 January 2010. A Brambling was seen in a Salen (Mull) garden today and a male Blackcap visited a bird table at Lochdon, Mull (Alan Spellman).

 

22 January 2010. Approx. 190 Common Starlings entered a roost-cave at Treshnish Point, Mull from just before sunset until the sun disappeared over the horizon. They came singly (very few) and in flocks from 2 or 3 up to about 60. They did not circle around much (most groups entered the cave immediately) (Anand Prasad).

 

24 January 2010. A single Lesser Redpoll was with Siskins at a bird feeder in a garden at West Loch Tarbert today (Barbara McMillan). The only one reported in a garden recently.

 

31 January 2010. Six Yellowhammers were in and around a garden nr Slockavullin, Mid-Argyll today, the first for several weeks, including a female eating birdseed on the front lawn (Brian John).

 

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Other sightings:

 

08 January 2010. A record 8 Red Squirrels were around the feeders at Otter Ferry today (Tom Callan).

 

Paul Daw’s neighbours at Tullochgorm (Minard) had been mystified by what had been tearing open the fat balls they put out for the birds and removing the contents. Until they happened to look out of the window at the right time (approx. 21:00) one night to see a Pine Martin scoffing away happily. He (or she, or even they!) has/have been a regular visitor throughout January and February and getting through an impressive number of fat balls… (Adam & Christine Smith).

 

 

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