Having kept a close eye on the looming weather fronts and NW winds approaching the Northwest corner of Scotland, it felt like a safe bet to venture that way in the hope of witnessing the annual Long-tailed Skua movement.
Now, North Uist is and always will be the best place to see them, in excellent numbers and close range, but the best I could summon on mainland was one of my favourites. Rubha Reidh Lighthouse to the north of Gairloch juts out enough to warrant a seawatch. With squally showers predicted from mid-afternoon onwards, it felt like a perfect 'storm'.
Despite my morning session proving fruitless with just a single Pomarine Skua north, reports of Long-taileds from Uist and further north of mainland Scotland gave me hope, and with showers forming out to sea from 2pm, I finally latched onto my first flock, comprising nine birds. Although distant, absolutely unmistakable.
Over the course of the next three hours, a total of 70 Long-tailed Skuas flew north, including a superb flock of nine that were relatively close in. It is thought most of these birds would have missed Skye altogether, and instead come through the Sound of Harris, as Skye reported no birds yesterday, but I'm unsure whether anyone was actively searching for them. The close group of nine presumably did come up the western peninsula of Skye?
Once the showers stopped, passage ceased abruptly.
Totals 0945 - 1745
Long-tailed Skua- 70 (groups of 9, 13, 3,9,11,15,10)
Pomarine Skua - 14
Arctic Skua - 14
Great Skua - 3
Skua sp. - 7
Manx Shearwater - 10
Puffin - 8
