Outer Hebrides and Mull - Birdwatching Tour Friday 5 th - Saturday 13 th June Tour leader Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

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1 Outer Hebrides and Mull - Birdwatching Tour Friday 5 th - Saturday 13 th June 2015 Tour leader Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Participants Keith Baker, David Bosworth, Chris Brock, Karen Hunt, Peter Leach & David Murphy Corncrake Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

2 Accommodation The tour was based on 5 star self-catering accommodation & 4 star Bed & Breakfast. The accommodation on North Uist is extra special! A fantastic architect designed & re-fitted house with amazing moorland & machair views to the sea. It has a very large lounge, diner & kitchen area with 2 fridge freezers and 4 En-suite rooms at ground floor plus 2 twin rooms with dedicated bathroom at first floor. Further details can be seen by visiting Food Whilst on North Uist we visited the Supermarket on North Uist on Day One & bought breakfast provisions & foods for making up packed lunches. We mainly ate out in the evenings at two different pubs/restaurants in Lochmaddy. On two of the evenings we cooked and ate at the accommodation. Whilst at Ardnamurchan packed lunches were provided by the accommodation and we ate out at two different pub/restaurants in the evening. Transport to and from Scotland Transport was from an agreed meeting point in Glasgow. Transport was via our 9 seater minibus, so there was ample space for luggage, scopes & cameras etc. Day 1 Friday 5 th June We all met up in Glasgow at Stepps, Premier Inn with the exception of Karen who joined us at Oban ferry terminal on the Saturday morning as she was already staying in Scotland. Friday we had an enjoyable evening meal and then headed off for an early night, ready for leaving the next morning at 4.30am. Overnight Premier Inn Northwest Glasgow. Evening meal in restaurant area here. Day 2 Saturday 6 th June We left Glasgow at 0430am. As the weather had deteriorated and the forecast was for gusty to strong SW winds, I decided to arrive early and find out if the ferry was still set to cross! We were all keeping our fingers crossed!! The journey passes through some spectacular mountain scenery and a few birds were noted en-route from the minibus - Hooded Crow, Buzzard plus Willow Warblers could be heard singing from most bushes with the windows down. As we neared Oban harbour, Red-breasted Merganser, Eider with young, plus a Common Sandpiper were all noted.

3 Despite 25-30mph winds we were informed by Calmac, that the ferry was still set to travel. It s a big boat and the crossing wasn t too rough, but was certainly memorable for the seabirds we encountered! We had around 60 minutes before the ferry was due to leave and we had time to scan the harbour area, although the wonderfully obliging Black Guillemot didn t need much scanning for! They were bobbing around and diving just 25 metres away off the harbour wall, providing lovely views. We were soon boarded on the Oban to Lochboisdale ferry in the now windy and squally conditions!! Once on the ferry we had our breakfasts (a brave or foolish decision!) on board and then headed up to one of the covered areas on the ferry, ready to view seabirds during the crossing. The crossing proved to be the most productive I have ever experienced at this time of the year! The early part of the crossing took us through the relatively shallow and rich waters off Mull and Ardnamurchan, producing good numbers of auks, Puffin, Guillemot & Razorbill, plus smaller number of Black Guillemots. Gannets were noted very close, plus a few Common Tern and Arctic Terns also Shag, Cormorant, Eider and Red-breasted Merganser. As we passed Mull, we were fortunate pick out 5 different White-tailed Eagles. After Mull, the ferry heads out into the deeper waters, in between the mainland and the Uists. At this point some of the more sought after seabirds quickly started to appear. Several groups of Kittiwake, Gannets then a Great Skua, a distant Red-throated Diver flew by, then a few Manx Shearwater. Suddenly, lots of Manx Shearwater, then almost constant views with many of the groups up close to the boat, many shearwatering right past us, providing excellent views! Another Great Skua appeared, this one closer providing good views. We then noted 2-3 Storm Petrels, and over the next 2 hours 29 Storm Petrels were recorded, with birds in and out of view throughout. The exception to previous years was the Storm Petrels were on view for long periods, and everyone was able to get good views of these diminutive and delightful pelagic species. Also 3 Arctic Skua, one gave reasonable views and two distant birds. Adding to the great number of seabirds were 5 Whitestriped Dolphin seen fairly well breaking the surface off the side of the boat. The ferry arrived at Lochboisdale harbour, South Uist at around 2PM with the grey skies breaking up, some blue sky appearing and with the windy conditions abating!

4 We had all done a lot of travelling in the last 24 hours and so we decided to collect our food provisions from the CO-OP and head up to the accommodation on North Uist. The supermarket is well stocked and had everything we needed for the next 5 days food and drink supplies. The drive up the islands from south to north, gave everyone an introductory perspective of the islands geography and landscape. A male Hen Harrier flashed by as we got close to our accommodation, a sign of things to come! We settled into our fantastic accommodation, offloaded the luggage and got everyone into their rooms, followed by cups of tea and an admiration of the view and the birds from the curtain glass walling in the lounge area. Mugs of tea were nearly spilt as a male Hen Harrier went racing past the side of the accommodation!! All around the garden and visible from the lodge were calling and displaying Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Dunlin and Snipe. I was soon shouting the group as a Golden Eagle circled majestically above the hillside behind the accommodation, a wonderful start to the trip!! We set out early evening for a meal at Lochmaddy Hotel and it wasn t too long before we were getting super views of the first of many Short-eared Owl. Overnight Self Catering Cottage Clachan Bay, North Uist Evening Meal in Lochmaddy Hotel. Day 3 Sunday 7 th June The weather forecast wasn t so great for today, so I suggested we start breakfast around 7.15am. For those eager to go out before breakfast we headed out at 6am and did a short circular walk. There was Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Dunlin, Redshank all in fine voice and displaying overhead. A Peregrine was a good bird, as it whizzed past us along the shoreline. After breakfast around 8am, we headed south towards Benbecula, but stopping off en-route in several locations. Soon we were admiring stunning views of 9+ Short-eared Owl, 2m & 1f Hen Harrier, 1 Whooper Swan, 3 Greenshank, a calling Cuckoo. A late Teal was another good species addition to the list! We soon arrived at an area of lochans that I have visited many times before. After an initial sweep of the first area I couldn t locate the quarry species. I left the group scanning whilst I checked some of the pools. I soon found the target species, I beckoned the group over and we all studied 2 Red-necked

5 Phalarope. Further searching eventually revealed 5 Red-necked Phalarope. These very rare breeding birds were delightful to watch as they pirouetted and interacted around the pools. Almost as stunning was a beautiful plumaged male Ruff, rarely do you see these in the UK with a full neck dress, sadly there was no females around and it seemed to be hanging out with a group of stunning Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit. Several Dunlin could be heard delivering their strange vibrating song, all these superb waders vying for attention in full summer attire. A Corncrake was also calling nearby but was well hidden in the thick iris beds and didn t warrant further attention! Nearby a Short-eared Owl couldn t help its curiosity when I started squeaking it, this bird came within a few metres of the minibus, staring us down with its piercing yellow eyes!! We then visited the shoreline and a nearby bay. This gave us lovely point blank views of a mixed group of shorebirds, many in full breeding plumage Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstone. We then headed east along one of the minor roads, first we had a ringtail Hen Harrier and then after some patient scanning we located a distant Whitetailed Eagle soaring high in the skies. A late lunch break stop proved well worthwhile! Close by a beautiful pair of Golden Plover, strutted atop the moorland. Then several Twite, with a pair dropping close on the ground and giving superb scope views, this was topped off with several Stonechat, an abundance of Wheatear and a flyover Red-throated Diver. We finished the afternoon off with a visit to the Langass area, the woodland gave us several singing Willow warbler, Cuckoo, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest. As we walked up the hillside we were stopped in our tracks as a superb Golden Eagle soared above us, great scope views and on view for quarter of an hour. Just to round off a great day, continual scanning of the Loch eventually produced an Otter hunting and eating crabs. It eventually came ashore on the far shoreline, nice scope views with the Otter unaware of us. It eventually made its way up the hillside and into a freshwater pool, where it bathed presumably cleaning off the saltwater and washing down its crab supper. What a wonderful first full day on the islands!! Evening meal in Lochmaddy Hotel Overnight Self Catering Cottage Clachan Bay, North Uist

6 Clachan Lodge, Clachan Sands Chris Mills Norfolk Birding North Uist Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

7 Short-eared Owl Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Hen Harrier Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

8 Day 4 Monday 8 th June With a good forecast and with little wind, we headed pre-breakfast to RSPB Balranald arriving there at 06.20am. It is always a wonderful experience along these lanes, breeding waders abound, and we stopped several times to let wader chicks get out of the road and back to their noisy, concerned parents! I was heading straight to the areas where I had seen Corncrakes previously. We were moving slowly, taking in the waders, when David asked if we could reverse back up as he thought he may have seen something. I reversed the minibus 20m and we couldn t believe it! Two Corncrakes completely out in the open, 10m from the minibus!! We watched these birds and one individual particularly for the next 20 minutes, it showed tremendously well, also throwing it s head up and delivering it s highly audible crex, crex call! Whilst watching the Corncrake we took in the wonderful chorus of breeding waders, the Uists is unsurpassed in this respect Snipe, Redshank, Oystercatcher Lapwing, Dunlin, Ringed Plover all present in very good numbers, with plenty of chicks in attendance. After another hour we had seen at least 4+ Corncrake and we had enjoyed the wonderful drumming and singing Snipe overhead. With Snipe and Redshank sitting on posts just metres from the vehicle this is an experience you will never forget! We then took a quick a look on the sea, where a Great Northern Diver was loafing around offshore. A nearby loch also held a pair of Whooper Swan, plus 6 Bar-tailed Godwit and Little Grebes. En-route back we stopped off at Eagle watch where a pair of adult Golden Eagles were watched at their nest site complete with a youngster. It was wonderful to watch these Golden Eagles at their nest site and a big thank you to Alan Fawcett who has been watching over the nest for many weeks and sharing the birds with interested visitors. All very satisfied we headed back for a late breakfast! With the weather improving I decided to head towards Loch Portain, this proved a great decision. Over the next couple hours, stopping and scanning resulted in good views of 2 Golden Eagle first soaring then perched atop the hillside, a superb male Hen Harrier, a Peregrine, Kestrel and our raptor fest was capped off with great views of 2 White-tailed Eagles, on view for quite a length of time. They went up and down the ridge before eventually sailing past us overhead! Our run of good fortune continued when I stopped for a preening diver on one of the larger sea lochs, a superb and to my mind the best of all water dwellers! Breeding plumage Black-throated Diver! Having seen two species of diver

9 today, I decided to head for some small lochans and see if we could find the third congener. After a bit of searching a smart summer plumage Redthoated Divers was found - the icing on the cake. We headed back towards Clachan, having another great view of a male Hen Harrier as it criss-crossed the track in front of the minibus. We did a circular walk near the Clachan sands and noted a Corncrake calling just audible from the accommodation early evening and then settled down to a evening meal at the accommodation Another stunning day on the Uists!! Overnight Self Catering Cottage Clachan Bay, North Uist

10 Day 5 Tuesday 9 th June A slightly more relaxed start today was planned after the hectic first two full days! This morning we started off looking for a few species that were missing from our list thus far! We were soon successful with finding 2-3 Little Terns hunting up and down the shoreline, also a local race Rock Pipit was showing well and we were also treated to exceptional views of a female Cuckoo, that was keeping a pair of local Meadow Pipits occupied and in attendance as they tried to drive the Cuckoo away. We then headed to RSPB Balranald and took the walk up to the beautiful headland of Aird an Runair. This walk is a mosaic of the beautiful machair and rocky shorelines of North Uist. We were soon listening to 3-4 Corn Bunting and one showed very well at close range. The walk produced stunningly close views of breeding Arctic Terns and Common Gulls. We settled on some rocks and watched the terns coming and going, washing and feeding in the freshwater pools, occasionally harrying the gulls as they passed over the colony! Along the weedy shoreline there was stunning views of a lovely mixture of migrant and breeding waders, the Dunlin were calling and displaying, these were interspersed with arctic bound Bar-tailed Godwit, 20+ Turnstone and a stunning group of 40+ Sanderling. All wrapped in their unfamiliar breeding browns and brick orange tones. Ringed Plover were on the flowered sandy meadows, and 1-2 Curlew plus a Whimbrel were also seen. As we did the return walk, I shouted over to the group as they were ahead of me, a 2 nd calendar year Iceland Gull flew past, another great bird for the trip! After lunch we explored some of the fantastic machair areas just to the south of Balranald by driving the rough tracks out into these westerly areas. Whilst we didn t see any new species, everyone agreed that it was a wonderful uplifting feeling. From the minibus on the tracks we watched the vast numbers of Redshank, Oystercatcher, Snipe and Ringed Plover with their chicks and a small colony of Little Terns which gave lovely views overhead as they flew in and out. Also lots of Meadow Pipit and Skylark. Late afternoon we returned via the moorland, stopping off at a vantage point and yet again were treated to more spectacular views of 3 Hen Harriers, including food passes between a pair, also 2-3 Short-eared Owl, 2 Buzzard and Kestrel. Evening meal at accommodation and evening walk complete with Hebridean Marsh Orchids along the verges. Overnight Self Catering Cottage Clachan Bay, North Uist

11 Dunlin Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Sanderling Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

12 Turnstone Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Redshank Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

13 Day 6 Wednesday 10 th June We did another early morning walk. Then left at just after 8am and didn t get too far from the accommodation before we were watching 2 Short-eared Owls. We returned to the phalarope pools hoping to add a few more species, this proved a wise choice as we also had great views of the Red-necked Phalaropes, today in sunshine, good light and much closer than the previous visit. Nearby, we also found Wigeon, Gadwall and Coot, all additions to the trip list! We then headed to the coast and had 2 Great Northern Divers, one a nice breeding plumage bird with good scope views. We then headed south to explore two of the remote lochs and valleys in the south east of South Uist. During our first stop, birding for the first time on the trip was a little less productive, but a Short-eared Owl kept us satisfied. The next valley proved much more productive. We had brief views of an Otter swimming along the loch edge, then several Red-breasted Merganser, Black Guillemot and Grey Heron. Then further along a patient vigil, scanning the ridge a White-tailed Sea eagle. But much closer were lovely views of 2 Red-throated Diver in full breeding plumage. A short walk amongst the woodland and moorland edge to the loch also added a few commoner species that we hadn t yet encountered, Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit were to be expected. But Chiff-chaff, Sedge Warbler and Redpoll were more notable! Then further views of another or the same Otter. En-route back to the accommodation we again watched Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl a daily occurrence on this years trip! Plus just north of Lochmaddy a low flying immature White-tailed eagle had us coming to an abrupt stop, and tumbling out of the minibus as this flying barn door flew close overhead!! I was just a bit late grabbing the camera! We arrived back late afternoon with time to pack our bags ready for the early ferry on Thursday morning. We had dinner and took our last walk around the local walk! Evening meal at accommodation Overnight Self Catering Cottage Clachan Bay, North Uist

14 Day 7 Thursday 11 th June Today we were up early at 5.30am and we arrived at the ferry back to Skye at 7am. We watched Arctic Tern and Common Tern feeding side by side, plus 2 Common Sandpiper before boarding the ferry. The crossing produced, small numbers of Puffins, Guillemot, Razorbill and Black Guillemot, Arctic tern, Fulmar a few Manx Shearwater and 1 Storm Petrel, but less birds than on the outbound sailing. However, we were treated to a fantastic show by around c40 White-sided Dolphin they came in onto the bow wave of the ferry just short of reaching Skye, many of the pod leaping clear of the water. They were also joined by the much larger c10 Bottle-nosed Dolphin. From Uig, Skye we set off on the long winding journey down towards Ardnamurchan and Mull. After a couple of hours I stopped off in the lovely wooded valley at the head of Glen Shiel. We had a good walk around the area and it proved very productive with several Goosander, 2-3 Grey Wagtail, Spotted Flycather, Treecreeper, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Siskin and Redpoll seen along with some commoner woodland birds. But a nice find was a male singing Wood warbler eventually seen with a female carrying food. We continued south stopping off for a coffee & late lunch before a brief stop in Fort William where a Dipper was present. We arrived late afternoon in Strontian, Ardnamurchan, taking in some smart Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and Goosander along the shoreline of Loch Sunart. A walk near the accommodation produced several singing Cuckoo. Evening Meal Strontian Hotel Overnight accommodation Bed & Breakfast, Strontian, Ardnamurchan

15 Arctic Tern Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Cuckoo Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

16 White-tailed Eagle a tatty immature! Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Cuckoo Chris Mi Lapwing Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

17 Day 8 Friday 12 th June A pre-breakfast walk with drumming Snipe, Cuckoo, Willow warbler, Skylark numerous Meadow Pipit and a singing Whinchat was a nice start. After breakfast we headed for the ferry crossing from Lochaline to Mull. The weather was now superb, blue skies and sunshine. A pair of Redstart were vocal but difficult to see from a quick roadside stop. Once on to Mull I headed south to follow a circuitous route that I expected to yield most of the target birds. I stopped off for one of the known White-tailed Eagle locations. The nest and chick were just visible, but just a distant adult White-tailed Eagle was seen circling in the distance We then headed on and stopped several times, despite the good weather, raptors for the first time on the trip seemed to have deserted us! We stopped off for a singing Whinchat, several singing Whitethroat, plus singing Sedge Warbler and Reed bunting. We scanned from a beautiful river bridge and this provided views of Redbreasted Merganser plus some obliging Skylark and Meadow Pipits. We had no luck with Otters at a known location, so headed on. Another stop produced Curlew and Common Sandpiper, the latter fairly numerous along the shoreline here. We then made a longer stop for lunch and then walked to a view-point, after around 30 minutes, Peter spotted 2 Golden Eagles, majestically soared just above the treeline, providing excellent views. These were soon overshadowed as eagle eyed Peter called out, as an adult White-tailed Eagle came soaring in! A few minutes later the other adult White-tailed Eagle arrived. Over the next hour we were very fortunate to watch this pair of White-tailed Eagle at fairly close range, 1000m feeding young, sitting in trees preening. A truly huge and awesome bird to watch at this range! We wound away back to the ferry and then made a couple of stops on the Ardnamurchan peninsula where we noted singing Redstart, Tree Pipit, Willow Warblers and Treecreeper. We returned to Ardnamurchan and walked down to our last evening meal in the Ariundle Centre. Overnight accommodation Bed & Breakfast, Strontian, Ardnamurchan

Day 9 Saturday 13 th June We left Ardnamurchan at 8.15am, we dropped Karen off en-route and the rest of the group in Glasgow. We said our farewells and wished everyone well with their onward journey.

18 Day 9 Saturday 13 th June We left Ardnamurchan at 8.15am, we dropped Karen off en-route and the rest of the group in Glasgow. We said our farewells and wished everyone well with their onward journey. A fantastic trip with 125 species of bird recorded, but as always with this trip the raptors and breeding waders will live long in everyone s memories. Corncrake Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Chris Mills chrismills@norfolkbirding.com Mobile

Corncrake Chris Mills Norfolk Birding

Corncrake Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Outer Hebrides and Mull - 2nd June - 10th June 2017 Tour leader Chris Mills Norfolk Birding Participants:- Bryan Buffery, Chuck Butler, Jeff & Val Caunt, Peter & Vivien Chapman and Peter Leach. Corncrake