Curlew Sandpiper & Dunlin

A day in North UIst was the plan, but en-route we might as well check out Coot Loch, Loch Mor & Stinky Bay on Benbecula again, and again being a backblip I'm surprised that there's not a single photo from these sites. Again a probable but very distant view of a Red-necked Phalarope so this time I decided to walk along the road and see whether there was a closer vantage point. There was, but all that was there was a Redshank. The ins and outs of the loch and the undulations of the road made it very difficult to be sure that I was scanning the same bit of the loch where I thought I'd seen the Phalarope, perhaps I hadn't seen one at all. At least now I understood the geography of the loch a bit better and there's always tomorrow. Time to move on to North Uist.

A wee hold up on the road though as there was a bull standing right in the middle of it and a couple of farmers keeping their distance. Eventually the bull started moving of its own accord and a farmer on a quad bike managed to coax it into a nearby field.

First stop on North Uist was Committee Road, the unclassified road that cuts across the centre of island. Good moorland birdwatching from the car stopping off in the various passing places. Lots of photos from this part of the day - completely out of focus shots of two separate male Hen Harriers, lots of not just quite sharp shots of two separate Short-eared Owls that we spent quite a while watching and some very close but again not quite sharp photos of a female Hen Harrier. Good birding, shame about the photography and just look at the time, it's 17:00 and we've yet to get to RSPB Balranald.

The Visitor trail at Balranald is 4.5 km long and they suggest allowing two to three hours to walk round it - it took us four and that was only because we were rushing to get back home in time to get something to eat before it was tomorrow. So much to see, just going through the excellent photographs there's Meadow Pipit, Twite, Great Black-backed Gull, Dunlin, Arctic Tern, Redshank, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Common Gull and Skylark along with views out to St Kilda & Hasgeir Island. But best of all just as we'd almost completed the circuit and were scanning a mixed flock of Dunlin & Ringed Plover feeding among the seaweed debris and came across something different. First thought was a Knot, but no the bill was wrong. Then I thought Curlew Sandpiper, the bill was right for that but I wasn't sure of the plumage - checked the book and it turned out to be a Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper - got a few photos before it flew off, magic. Scanning further flocks I then found another bird this time a full breeding plumaged adult and this bird was really quite close so got some cracking photos.

Back at the visitor centre there was no mention of Curlew Sandpiper in any of the sightings so I wrote it up and then back home checked the internet, but no mention of Curlew Sandpiper either so put up a report there too, and with this being a backblip it's nice to note that it's been reported daily since then so other birders are having the pleasure of seeing this gorgeous bird.

Of course RCB's Blipped the Curlew Sandpiper too.