American Herring Gull – Garrygall, Barra, Outer Hebrides, 17^th April 2016

Calum Scott and I had been ‘planning’ a night out for a catch-up over some beers forever, and it had just never happened. I had texted him on Tuesday the 5th April 2016, soon after returning from my trip to North Uist for the Gyr Falcon, to chase him up about the same, and also to enquire whether he had any plans to go to see the American Herring Gull and White-billed Diver on Barra.

For what were to become understandable reasons (he and his Dad had been struggling with his Mum’s ill-health) Calum didn’t respond to my text, or at least not until Thursday the 14th April, when he texted me asking whether I, ‘fancied that beer tonight’.

As I was driving back from a couple of days away, involving meetings in both Inverness and at SNH Battleby, near Perth, I failed to respond.

Also, as, due to my travels I was tired, I intended having my tea and then ‘phoning Calum to decline his kind offer, but propose we do so on another occasion. However, just as I was sitting down to my tea Calum ‘phoned me. I explained my situation and he agreed that he wouldn’t be too keen to go out under similar circumstances. However, he then suggested he was making plans to go to Barra, and, in effect, I invited myself along. Calum explained the complications with the CalMac ferries and also indicated he had made arrangements with friends to stay with them on the island, so he indicated that he would have to check out that they were okay with an extra guest.

So, all of a sudden, it looked quite likely I was off on another Hebridean twitch! Calum and I liaised over the next day or so, and we both monitored the CalMac website about sailing times. Finally it was resolved that we would catch the Saturday sailing at around 13:00, enabling a sensible departure from Edinburgh for Oban. Also, Calum informed me that he had successfully negotiated with Bruce and Kathy Taylor for an extra guest...... .

Game on! Calum picked me up at just after 09:00 on Saturday the 16th April, and we then had an uneventful journey to Oban, where we parked up, walked to the ferry terminal, purchased our ferry tickets and then lunched on the front in Oban having visited the ‘seafood shack’ near the ferry terminal.

We also walked to the Tesco's store and service station and purchased a large amount of bottled beer and wine (plus a 5 litre fuel plastic storage can for Bruce) and then returned to the ferry terminal, before we took turns to go back to Calum’s car and bring our rucksacks back. Finally, we had both assembled everything we were taking with us to Barra, and so we then moved into the waiting lounge area before we finally boarded to Clansman.

The crossing from Oban to Castlebay, like the journey from Edinburgh to Oban, was large uneventful; whilst on deck Calum and I managed a White-tailed Eagle in the Sound of Mull and a Great Skua and Manx Shearwaters in The Minch, plus a couple of bottles each of very good beer from Colonsay, and whilst not on deck we managed a meal each in the restaurant.... . But all in all, it was ‘uneventful’... . ‘twas though, enjoyable, especially chatting to Calum and watching Barra appear in the distance and then come ever close..... .

Once the Clansman had moored, we loaded ourselves up, and disembarked, to be greeted by Bruce on the harbour-side. We loaded up the car, and then journeyed around the west side of the island and north to Eoligarry. The strategy was to check out places such as Allasdale for the American Herring Gull on the way north, and then to try for the White-billed Diver off Eoligarry ferry.

As it happened, we were unsuccessful in both cases, so we returned south to Breivig and the home of Bruce and Kathy, where we were welcomed in by Kathy and then settled in for a very convivial evening of chatting, drinking beer and wine and eating nibbles.

The following morning, having breakfasted, we journeyed south to Garrygall and (unsuccessfully) looked for the gull there, before we again continued around the west side of the island, stopping off at various places including Allasdale, where we visited the Glaucous Gull and then north to Eoligarry. Here this time, we successfully located the White-billed Diver, a Scottish tick for me. We then returned south and checked out Aird Mhor (for old times’ sake!) and then returned to Garrygall.

This time we were successful, as various Herring Gulls were hanging around the crofts there, and were accompanied by the American Herring Gull.

We watched it over the course of the next couple of hours (either side of our scheduled visit to the Co-op in Castlebay) as it effortless hung in the wind over the road and crofts, and occasionally landed on the rocky outcrops in the nearby fields.

Despite my now increasing problems with streaming eyes (I had ‘itchy’ eyes before I set off with Calum and it would appear, with hindsight, that the previous owner of Bruce and Kathy’s place had kept cats and I had what in effect, was an allergic reaction to the cat hair that probably remained) meaning I was struggling with the bright light, it rapidly became easy to pick out amongst the other gulls when in flight (though less so when on the ground).

In flight it was obviously structurally – in terms of size and shape – identical to the rest of the Herring Gulls present. However, even in the relatively bright light through streaming eyes, it was invariably ‘obvious’ as the darkest bird and was, as suggested, ‘easy’ to pick out.

In flight, as can be seen from my attempted flight shot, it had very dark (and almost uniformly so) under-wings, and a dark under-tail, together with ‘dusky’ dark under-parts, contrasting with a paler head. It also had an all dark bill. As a result, I even (stretching a point) invoked Heerman’s Gull...... .

When on the ground (and it did occasionally land and provide the chance of ‘scope views) its appearance was strangely changeable. At times it similarly appeared very dark, but equally, at other times was occasionally passed off as a 1st winter Herring Gull; its appearance was obviously variable depending on the way it was affected by light and shade, its stance, etc.. But more generally, it was a brute, sometimes appearing particularly large-headed and heavily-billed.

It had a pale head (with a faint darker ‘mask’) and a darker shawl or necklace. Its bill was all dark with perhaps a hint of a paler base. The eye was dark too. The under-parts were dusky dark and ‘smudgy’. There was dark barring on the lower belly and under-tail. The tail was all dark. The primaries were also all dark, as were the bunched tertials. The wing coverts were spangled dirty off- white with darker brown centres, and two bands comprising feathers of different ages / shades / states of coverts were apparent.

A stonking bird – very informative and instructive, and not at all a dodgy Herring Gull half-a-tick....... .