Isle of Gigha Birding

Bird recording research and conservation on The Isle of Gigha Gighalum and Cara.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Ringing under Clyde Ringing Group, licensed by the B.T.O.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

@_Stickybeak I believe a ringing team would be able to catch them on Rathlin for sure. They can be tricky however, as young birds do develop a 'brood patch' even if they are not breeding on site. Ringing could confirm it over a couple of breeding seasons.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

This control of a ringed Storm Petrel is the first from the Isle of Gigha. It demonstrates the quite typical behaviour of a younger bird being ringed while exploring a potential breeding colony and then being retrapped in breeding condition at another location the following year.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

@_Stickybeak There is no proven breeding on Gigha. The Mink infestation is an enormous problem for all grond nester. More likely to breed on smaller Islet of Carra off southern Gigha.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

An Osprey over Ardminish Bay at 1500hrs. Ospreys are scarce on Gigha with only 3 records in the last 3 years.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

Corncrake calling on the island last night. This follows a similar record last spring. There is real potential to get this species back and breeding on Gigha.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

A stonking male Greenland Wheatear caught this morning with a wing of 107mm and weighing 36gms. Also managed to colour-ring another pair of Stonechats at North Ardminish.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

A stonking male Greenland Wheatear caught this morning with a wing of 107mm and weighing 36gms. Also managed to colour-ring another pair of Stonechats at North Ardminish.

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

A very smart male Stonechat caught and ringed at North Ardminish this afternoon. The colour rings allow this individual to be identified as part of a long term study by the Clyde Ringing Group. All birds are ringed under licence from The British Trust for Ornithology.

[BirdGuides @BirdGuides]

Rathlin Island's population of Corncrakes is being supported by an annual nettle dig, the RSPB has explained: https://t.co/1WTrsdzorN

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

Fifteen species of butterfly were recorded on Rathlin in 2024 - we started with a Small Tortoiseshell on 21st January and finished with a Red Admiral on 12th November. Here they all are, arranged by family 🤓

[RareBirdAlertUK @RareBirdAlertUK]

Scottish Corncrake project reaches milestone thanks to farmer efforts https://t.co/dnvRC8VmKI

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

For all those interested in Seabirds, this book is indispensable.

[Kartong Bird Observatory 🇬🇲 @kartongbirdobs]

We were very pleased to host the renowned bird illustrator and artist Hans Larsson at our ringing session today.
Hans kindly donated a signed and personally illustrated copy of his renowned work; 'Seabirds, The New Identification Guide', to the KBO Research library.

[Rathlin Stickybeak @_Stickybeak]

Hello Fulmars, welcome back 🤩 Looked down on dozens and dozens swirling around the cliffs this morning, with more around their other nesting sites stretching away into the distance. Always the earliest of Rathlin's seabirds to return - first week of December is bang on schedule

[Seabird Ecology Lab @SeabirdEcology]

Feral cats are destructive invasive predators, responsible for driving to extinction > 200 bird, 100 mammal, and 90 reptile sps. In our forthcoming @ESR_IR, we reveal how #CapeVerde #petrel populations decline mainly due to cat predation📸@projecto_vito

https://t.co/dA5y8Xd7Oi

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

Great news, perhaps one day we can enjoy them back breeding on Gigha.

[BirdGuides @BirdGuides]

The breeding population of Corncrake on a small Hebridean island has shown promising signs of increase: https://t.co/rmtOQOnk4A

[Isle of Gigha Birding @IsleofGighabird]

A fascinating ringing recovery for Gigha. The ring was found on a local beach by Catriona Walker. The Common Buzzard was ringed as a pullus on 27/5/1978 by Eddie Maguire on the Isle of Cara over 46 years ago. Eddie went on to establish Sanda Bird Obs and Machrihanish Bird Obs.

[Tim Mackrill @timmackrill]

“Your chances of seeing an Osprey flying over are now greater than at any time in living memory. Not only is this book well constructed and engagingly written, but it is also very timely”

Thanks @KEITHBETTON for your review of The Osprey in @britwildlife

https://t.co/ikglJrx47m

[Steve Percival @stevepercival63]

Finally caught up with the Islay Red-breasted Goose this morning on the merse at Craigens

[Corncrake Network @crexcrexnet]

Sadly many people have never heard or seen a corncrake, learn about how RSPB and other land managers on Coll have been helping #corncrakes.
https://t.co/yarUPGRVKE
@RSPBScotland
@HeritageFundUK
@CorncrakeLife
@NatureScot
@Naturebroking
@NFFNUK
@ctshirts

[Skokholm Island @SkokholmIsland]

Manx Shearwater chick EM82816 was last seen on 26th August, its wing about 10mm short of fledging length. It was found exhausted on a Brazilian beach on 8th October, 43 days later. So 216km a day and in reality a lot more than that