Lewis Trip Report Days 1 & 2

In August, I was contacted by fellow Warwickshire birder, Matt, offering me a space on a trip he was doing to the Outer Hebrides this September.  After some juggling, I managed to secure the week off work and started researching the birds we were likely to see during the trip.  Top on the list were Great Shearwater and any american vagrants.

The 19th September arrived quickly and soon myself and Matt found ourselves immobile on the M6 not relishing the prospect of a further 11 hours of driving ahead.  As the rush hour subsided, we started to make progress without any incidents except for a stationary car facing us on the same side of the carriageway, a scary moment.  After crossing our way over the border of a non-independent Scotland, we joined the A82 near Glasgow and drove around Loch Lomond.  The first birds of the trip during this part of the journey were 2 Tawny Owls as they flew across in front of the car.  We also almost knocked over a possible Pine Martin as it dashed across the road.  As we carried along the A82 past Loch Lomond and onto Glencoe, the driving became more hazardous with many Red Deer at the edge of the road, we must have seen at least 30+ animals.  The drive across Skye was easier and we arrived at Uig Ferry terminal in good time at about 6am.

At dawn, as we still had a couple of hours before our ferry, we decided to do some birding round the harbour and nearby gardens.  During this time, we managed to clock up a good number of species, including:- Eider, Lesser Redpolls, Pied Wagtails (100+), Meadow and Rock Pipits, Ravens, Buzzards, Black Guillemot, Red Breasted Mergansers, Common Gulls, GBB Gulls, Oystercatchers, Curlews, Robins, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting.  The ferry crossing itself to Tarbert produced a Bonxie (Great Skua), Kittiwakes, Common Scoter, Fulmars, some Manx Shearwaters, Guillemots and a Razorbill.

For the rest of the day, we investigated the area around Harris, which has a variety of habitats from mountains down to sandy beaches.  After just leaving Tarbert and near East Stocklett, we had fantastic views of a Golden Eagle as it took off and soared above us.  We then searched the Sound of Taransay for rafts of Common Scoter to see if any held Surf Scoter but alas that proved fruitless and only produced a few Common Scoter, Red Breasted Mergansers, Eider and Greylag Geese.  We gave the edge of the vegetation round Horgabost a good bash for passerines but could only find, Hebridean Wren, Goldcrest, Blackbird and Coal Tits.  The area around Seilebost and Losgaintir was very good for Stonechat with several birds seen.  Losgaintir proved a great place to view the Sound of Taransay and the Estuary for waders although, by this time tiredness was beginning to set in.

We decided at 14:00pm to make our way to the self catering cottage in West Lewis.  The drive along the A859 from Tarbert to Stornoway gave us our first Hen Harrier for the trip and the area near the cottage at Tolastadh Chaolais had Hebridean Wren and Hebridean Song Thrush.  The Dunnocks in the surrounding gardens appeared much darker than the ones we have in the south.  At 21:00pm, after being up 38 hours and with tired red eyes, I collapsed into bed.

Matt finally emerged the following morning (these young birders need all the sleep they can get to keep up with us middle-agers) and we headed over to Stornoway to have a look in the woods around Stornoway Castle.  This area is massive, with a nearby golf course in the middle.  Rareities have been found in the woods in the past but lost again quite quickly, and I can see why. After an hour, we managed to find a large tit flock with lots of Blue Tits, Goldcrests, 1 Great Tit, Treecreepers, 1 Blackcap and 2-3 Chiffchaff.  The golf course had a large number of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails and some Jackdaws nearby.  Despite an extensive search, we could not find any other birds and decided to head to the nearby Estuary to have a look for waders instead.  Unfortunately, upon arrival, we found that the tide was out but did manage to find some Redshanks, Greenshanks, Curlews, Ringed Plovers and Turnstones before they were flushed by a local dog walker.

After lunch, a message came up via Birdguides of Sooty and Great Shearwaters being seen from the Butt of Lewis, so, we decided to head up North.  We parked near the lighthouse and spied a birder, the first we had seen for 2 days.  The birder turned out to be local birding legend Tony Marr, who was thrilled to see us and have the company for his seawatch.  He informed us that we had missed a Great Shearwater just minutes before...darn it.  We spent the rest of the day with Tony and managed to see many Manx Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, Bonxie and Arctic Skuas as they passed by.  He then took us for a walk near the Lighthouse and we managed to find Golden Plovers and about 6 Snow Buntings.  Tony then showed us some other sites nearby which are good for waders, including a local nature reserve at Lionel (Loch Stiapabhat) where we had great views of our second Hen Harrier for the trip.  We then swapped mobile numbers so we could stay in touch for the remainder of our stay Lewis.