A 'first' for Bulgaria!

Fantastic news today as I received an email from the BNRC (Bulgarian national rarities committee) to say that the Black-throated accentor I recorded in the Black sea late last year has been accepted as a first for Bulgaria! (see post 'siberian stunners' 21.10.2013 for photos.) I have never considered the possibility of being fortunate enough to record a country first so it is an excellent result. The BNRC have also asked for descriptions of the Pallas's and yellow-browed warblers that I recorded during the autumnal migration as apparently they are rarities for Bulgaria too. 

In fact this January has been a really good birding month for me, with the BTO bird track system telling me that I have a year list of 111- that in itself is a bit of a result for the highlands and islands at this time of the year and with some pretty difficult weather conditions.

Highlight birds early on included glossy ibis and American coot. these were followed by a trip to North Uist where I caught up with the marvellous marsh sandpiper that had been frequenting the shoreline at Kyles Paible. A birding friend also took me to a hen harrier roost where I was lucky to see two ringtails and an adult male bird. Also at the site were greenland whitefronts and a snow bunting. I also saw white-tailed eagle and corn bunting on North Uist although I failed to get decent enough views to 'tick' the Pied -billed grebe at Balranald. 

Kyles Paible, North Uist- during the months only hour of sunshine?

approaches to Uig, Isle of Skye

It has been a good month 'locally' for gulls, with the ring-billed seen briefly in Dingwall and a lovely  little gull seen at Brora. I also managed self-found glaucous and Iceland gulls on a couple of local patches- other 'good' finds have included brambling and velvet scoter- both species being surprisingly scarce on the NW coast of Scotland. 

Iceland gull- Achnahaird

Little gull- Brora

out for a duck (2)

24.04.2013

After the Strontian fiasco it was inevitable that I still felt the need to go on a major and hopefully successful twitch! The only bird of real interest and that remained do-able in terms of distance, was the Harlequin duck at Balranald on North Uist. After looking at the ferry and b n b  options I decided to go for it the following day. After a 3.5 hour drive I arrived in Uig on the isle of Skye at 07:15 and settled down to wait for the ferry. A couple of hours later I enjoyed the first manx shearwaters of the year and a bonus great skua. I arrived on a very windy but dry North Uist and after swiftly checking in to the b n b I started out across the machair towards the coast. On reaching the coast I was surprised not to see any other birders and realised I would have to settle down and search for the bird in a westerly force 6/7 and rough seas. Unfortunately the tide was also way out leaving a mass of exposed rocks behind which any number of sea ducks could hide- things did not look good!

coast just west of Balranald

Anyway, I won't go into all the details but needless to say that I finally got onto the bird after a very stressful 4.5 hour search- the umpteenth distant black speck on the sea finally proving to be the bird!

difficult finding a sea duck in that!!

distant record shot as they say!!!!

After watching the duck for 30 minutes or so I eventually lost it in the surf but my visit was certainly worth it as the bird was seen the next day and has not been reported since! I also enjoyed some other good birds including ring-necked duck, corn bunting and hen harrier.

corn bunting

shoveler

whooper swan

Butt of Lewis-sea watching!

Just back from a great 4 day birding break at the Butt of Lewis- the most northerly point in the outer hebrides and one of the more remote points in NW europe! Although rather early for a sea watching stint I had to visit now as I'm heading back to work next week and so will miss the more traditional sea passage time- in the UK at least!

Since I was a child and saw my first light house at Lands end Cornwall, I have always had a fascination  for the way they dominate land and sea scapes. I always fancied working as a light house keeper in my youth.

looking across the machair at Eorpie towards the butt light house 

looking NNE

Despite being early in the season for sea- watching, there was enough to keep me occupied for four days:- in addition to the usual suspects of fulmar, gannet, kittiwake, puffin, guillemot, razorbill, common, herring, gbb and a few black-headed gulls,  there was a light passage of sooty and manx shearwater and sporadic sightings of great skua, arctic skua, arctic tern and red-throated divers. Around loch Stiapabhat I also recorded hen harrier, peregrine, golden plover and lapwing. On occasion it was great to see whimbrel and redshank coming in off the sea.

Other marine sightings of interest included a basking shark and an ocean sunfish. On the cetacean front I also recorded minke whale, Risso's and bottle-nosed dolphins, harbour porpoise and two orca! Not bad for a shore-based sea watch stint! 

golden plover

gannets 

distant ocean sunfish (Mola mola)