Outer Hebrides for Oriole Birding - 13th May 2025

As I stepped outside a little before 6am the following morning two plump grey Redpolls were sitting on the wall before grovelling for seeds in the driveway.  They were Mealyesque but appeared bigger and darker than any true Mealy.  I know that no one dares even contemplate Redpolls now that they have all been homogenised but I will always savour the challenge and I suspect that these two fall into the north-western group.  Both also had almost yellow-orange polls rather than red not that I think that is of any significance.

 North-western type Repoll

Some of the crew emerged but the Repolls had disappeared but it was a glorious still morning and we were surrounded by the sound of displaying Lapwings, Oystercatchers, fence line Snipe kip kipping and Curlews. Every garden seemed to have a psychotic Sedge Warblers and showy Willow Warblers that even sung from the telephone wires.

A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling on a bramble clump between houses and sat up nicely and Whinchat, Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit were in the damp areas.  The Whinchat would surprisingly be the only one we saw.

Willow Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Starling

Starling

Starling

Two male and female Cuckoo were doing their thing with Mipits in attendance and the local Hebridean races of Wren and Song Thrush were seen too. And all the while there were Short-eared Owls…

Short-eared Owl

Cuckoo 

Cuckoo - Chris Darby

Short-eared Owl - Chris Darby

Almost every time you looked up there was one gracefully hunting the landscape, often passing through gardens.  Full display was seen with high slow flapping following by a shivering tumble back down again.  There were wide smiles as we walked back for breakfast.

After feasting we drove south a little way and bumped down to Pollachara beach on the west coast.  There was a good flock of Sanderling, Dunlin and Turnstone to check through but there was nothing different with them.  Twelve Whimbrel were on the fields and four glorious Great Northern Divers were snorkelling in the bay.  Both Grey and Harbour Seals were seen with the latter wailing on the furthest rocks.  It always amazes me how far this travels and it is always cited as the answers to many a mariners myth story.  While watching them an Otter appeared and swum purposefully between them, with head searching the clear waters below just like the Divers.

Looking South to Barra

Rock Pipit  - Chris Darby

Back north now to another stunning bay – Kildonan.  I would very quickly run out of superlatives for the coastal vistas. A circling immature White-tailed Eagle was found on the drive down and an adult the size of a small house was perched up on a small island where the local Oiks were giving it grief. More wader checking and then time spent watching some close Eiders and Mergansers before the young White-tail reappeared and circled overhead.  Two more adults were tussling to the north and a distant shimmer of shimmering gulls resolved themselves into a group of angry Common Gulls giving an Osprey some serious grief.

Whimbrel

Hooded Crow

Turnstones

Turnstone and Sanderlings

White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle

Harbour Seals

White-tailed Eagle - Chris Darby

Like the Eagle it flew towards us and then over our heads as it headed strongly south. Seemingly this is an excellent bird for the islands.   Common and Arctic Terns were off shore but there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull so we looped around the bay to check some big ones on the beach about a mile away.

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

We passed Loch Bornish on the way in and Chris D quickly picked up the 2cy Glaucous Gull roosting on the foreshore.  Amazingly it did not linger and came straight at us and circled low overhead although I am not sure which one of us looked most like a dead seal…

Glaucous Gull - Chris Darby

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

We checked the machair and fields from here on finding a male White Wagtail, Pied Wagtails, Wheatears and breeding waders.  Dunlin fizzed and there were British Ringed Plovers here which were noticeably bigger and paler than the Tundra migrants on the beaches.

Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover

Redshank

Redshank

Oystercatcher nest in post - Chris Darby

Wader time as usual at the end at Rubha Ardvale.  I will not tire of sifting through such colourful flocks.  A Little Tern headed inland and an Arctic Skua briefly freaked out all the waders.  The lochan inland of the beach held a pair of Whooper Swans as well as Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon, Shelduck and Mallard.  The drake Merganser already seemed to be heading into eclipse plumage.

It was a little breezy but there were insects to be seen on the Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Daisies, Sand Pansies, (Viola tricolor subsp. urtisii) and Storksbill.  Bombus muscorum and lucorum were seen along with Red Admiral, Green Veined and Small White and Small Tortoiseshell.  A single Blue-tailed Damselfly was seeing shelter on the Thrift.

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Inland from here and up towards Loch Druidibeg but we could not find any raptors or Red-throated Divers so we dropped back down to Loch Bi (pronounced Bee).  

There were Mute Swans all over it and I am not sure why there are so many congregated out here – must do some digging.  We found a couple more drake Wigeon and Teal and amongst the waders the first two Bar-tailed Godwits were seen but it was the single Avocet that was the most notable find.

The red flags were down so we headed through the MoD base and searched the giant Rabbit Warren landscape for errant plovers and such like but only found the expected breeders, Wheatears, Skylarks and smart Rock Doves. Ardivachar Point is where you rejoin the road and gave us more waders, Eider, Great Northern Divers and Arctic Terns (some of which were nesting in the seemingly bare fields – must do some research about the farming system here too).

Rock Doves

Two Oriole vans went in...

Yellow Dung Fly

Scratch that itch

We finished at Lochdar – a large sandy flat estuary and despite the haze we did quite well and found 35 gleaming Grey Plovers mostly decked out in their best tuxedos, 12 Knot and two more Bar-tailed Godwits. A sneaky Twite flew over calling.

Back for dinner where the Short-eared Owls were already on the wing and the evening chorus had begun in earnest. 

Common Gull