Isle of Eigg Bird Report 2012

02nd January 2013

Its been a pretty grey day on Skye and I've been trying to put to bed my section of the 2011 Highland Bird Report. Just arrived to brighten up my day is John Chester's Isle of Eigg Bird Report for 2012!! Congratulations to John for not wasting any time, apparently helped by a few days stormbound in Mallaig.

A total of 142 species were recorded on the island in 2012, one more than in 2011 & a new record for Eigg. As happens every year a few reasonably regular species failed to appear with omissions from the 2012 list including Barnacle Goose, Sandwich Tern &, surprisingly, Wigeon. Two new species were however added to the island list; Glossy Ibis & Snow Goose though the latter were undoubtedly feral birds. The number of species breeding during 2012 was also high with 72 species known to have bred & at least two further species attempting to do so. John's report will shortly be available on the Isle of Eigg website - http://www.isleofeigg.net/

THE BOOK

"A glorious little gem"

AMAZON

"A book such as this has to look backwards and the author does so succinctly, looking at the work of several of the pioneering naturalists before picking out the publications of JA Harvie-Brown and the Rev. Hugh Macpherson. I know this book fills a real gap in the information available for the Isle of Skye and it will surely sell well at local bookshops."

Andrew Currie Miscellany West Highland Free Press

"A total of 238 species have been recorded, with 14 of those 'red listed' as of high conservation concern ... another innovation has been the inclusion of Gaelic names for some birds. While this is not uncommon in a few other books, the addition of some regional Gaelic names is very unusual and very welcome."

Ray Collier Country Diary 'Up in the Skye' The Guardian

"Illustrated with beautiful photographs of current birdlife on the island, the publication also features sketches by Jean Thomas of The Little Gallery, Portnalong, stimulating the reader's interest further and allowing them to identify species they encounter on Skye."

The Hebridean