Bute Bird Report 2014 Compiled by Doug Menzies (Assisted by R. W. Forrester and I. Hopkins) This is the third annual Bute Bird Report. This report is a record of bird sightings on the Isle of Bute, including Inchmarnock and the Burnt Islands, for the period 1 January to 31 December 2014. It is produced principally from records submitted to the Bute Bird Group web site and logged on its recent sightings pages. It updates The Birds of Bute (2012), which detailed all bird records on Bute to the end of 2011 and follows the Bute Bird Report 2013 (2014). Thanks are given to all contributors of records for this report. This report includes species that were not recorded on Bute during 2014 but have been recorded in recent years on more than five occasions. During 2014 a total of 147 species were recorded on Bute. This is 2 species less than were recorded in 2013. Notable omissions from this year are Woodcock, which undoubtedly occurs in small numbers and Golden Plover a bird that is usually seen at some time during the year. The Bute list now stands at 215 species. One of the highlights of this year was a pair of Garganey first observed on Greenan Loch by Ian Hopkins on 23 April. This pair was seen frequently by a number of local birders until they were last recorded on 28 April. This was only the 2nd Figure 1: Garganey (male) at Greenan record of this species Loch on 23 April, D Menzies. for Bute, the first being a male photographed at the Kirk Dam on 27 April 2000 by Norrie Mulholland. The Green Woodpecker from Kildavannan on 04 June is only the 3rd record of this species for Bute, the last being from 2009 and a Red Kite found at Ettrick Bay on 15 April is a 5th record of the species for the island but the 3rd to be found at Ettrick Bay. Another bird of note was Bute’s first record of a Red-breasted Goose. This bird, of unknown origin, was found by Neil McKirdy in a field with Greylag Geese at Mecknock on 05 June. The bird was watched for several hours before it flew off north. It was later reported at a number of sites in Argyll and elsewhere in the west of Scotland. As this birds provenance is unknown it is listed in an appendix under Cat E at the end of the species accounts. Species Accounts Mute Swan - Cygnus olor - Resident breeding species. The Rothesay Castle pair hatched 5 signets on 23 April (NMcK). A pair at Greenan Loch raised 2 young (RF). Other records include a winter flock of 17 at Kirk Dam on 08 December (DM). Whooper Swan - Cygnus cygnus - Winter visitor in increasing numbers with a winter flock gathering at Kirk Dam. Last date for spring – 3 at Kirk Dam on 18 April (DM). Arrival date for Autumn - 7 at Kirk Figure 2: Whooper Swan at Loch Quien Dam on 12 on 14 September, D Menzies. October (IH). Other records include - 23 at Kirk Dam on 11 February (PP), 34 at same site on 22 February (IG), 23 at Ashfield Farm on 09 March (IH) and 16 at Kirk Dam on 30 March (IH). End of year records include - 16 at Kerrrymenoch Farm on 19 October (IH), 18 at Loch Quien on 28 October (DM) and 12 at St Ninian’s Bay on 12 November (IG). Pink-footed Goose - Anser brachyrhynchus – Passage migrant in small numbers, usually in mixed flocks with migrant Greylag Geese. Records include - 5 with Greylag Geese at Ettrick Bay on 19 January (IH), 1 at Kilchattan Bay on 12 October (BBG) and 2 near Cranslagvourity Farm on 26 November (BS). White-fronted Goose (Greenland sub-species) - Anser albifrons - Winter visitor. Small flock winters on Bute each year. Flock of 131 at Ballycaul on 14 December (IH) included a bird with a collar “X3J” ringed in Wexford, Ireland, in the winter of 12/13. Greylag Goose - Anser anser – Resident breeder and winter migrant visitor, with resident population increasing rapidly in number during recent years. Hybridization with Canada Geese recorded with 2 hybrids in Greylag flock at Langalbuinioch on 29 September (IH). Records include – c.1000 at Langanbuinioch on 29 September (IH). Maximum, island count of c1300 on 30 December (IH). Canada Goose - Branta canadensis – A resident breeder with numbers increasing rapidly in recent years. Hybridization with Greylag Geese recorded. 170 at Kilmory on 26 November was a high count (IH). Barnacle Goose - Branta leucopsis – Winter passage migrant, in small numbers. Records include - 2 with Greylag Geese at Cranslagvourity Farm, Ettrick Bay on 7 January (DM), 46 in flight over Ardencraig House on 27 January (PP), 4 at Upper Ardroscadale on 15 March (BBG), 1 with Greylags at Langalbuinoch on 29 September (IH) and 36 at Kilchattan Bay on 12 October (BBG). Brent Goose - Brantabernicla – Rare winter visitor to Bute. Not recorded in 2014. Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna – Resident, with increased numbers during winter. Records include 34 in fields at Straad on 30 March (IG) and 9 at Kilchattan Bay 30 December (IH). Wigeon - Anas Penelope – Primarily a common winter visitor, often in large flocks, recorded at all of the islands fresh water lochs and increasingly around the coast, however numbers at inland lochs have significantly declined over the last ten years. 60 at Ettrick Bay on 11 February (IG), 194 at Loch Quien on 26 February (IG) and 6 still at Greenan Loch on 06 April (IH). 130 at Greenan Loch on 19th January was highest count of the winter at this site, a continuation of the recent trend following regular peak counts of 1,000 plus during the previous decade (RF). First arrival – A female at Loch Quien on 28 August and 6 at same location on 02 September (DM). Gadwall - Anas strepera – Scarce winter visitor with records becoming more frequent. A female at Greenan Loch on 01 October (DM) and 3 (2 males and a female) at the same location on 11 October (RF), 2 at Kirk Dam on 12 October (BBG). Teal - Anas crecca – Common winter visitor. 26 at Loch Quien on 26 February (IG), 6 at Greenan Loch on 05 August (DM), 140 at Greenan Loch on 01 October (DM) and 104 at Greenan Loch on 05 December (RF). Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos – Common resident breeder. Female with 8 young at Greenan Loch on 24 April (DM). Other Records include 66 at Greenan Loch on 05 August (DM) and 160 at St Ninian’s Bay on 08 September (IG). Pintail – Anas acuta- Scarce winter visitor. Not recorded in 2014. Garganey – Anas querquedula – Scarce winter visitor. Pair at Greenan Loch on 23 April (IH) recorded daily until 28 April (IH, DM). This is only the second record of this species on Bute. Shoveler – Anus cypeata – Scarce winter visitor. A male observed regularly at Kirk Dam between 19 January (RF, BS) and 11 February (PP), a female on Greenan Loch on 24 September and again on 09 November (DM) and a pair at Kirk Dam on 12 October (IH). Pochard - Aythya ferina – Scarce winter visitor. Male at Loch Quien on 27 August (IH). Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula – Common winter visitor and scarce breeder. Records include – 35 at Greenan Loch on 19 January (RF), 26 at Greenan Loch on 06 April (IH), 106 on Loch Quien on 31 July (IH), 2 at Greenan Loch on 05 August (DM), 48 at Greenan Loch on 07 (RF) and 08 November (IH), and 1 (male) on the sea in Rothesay Bay off sailing club on 30 September (DM). Scaup - Aythya marila- Scarce winter visitor. Not recorded in 2014. Eider - Somateria mollissima – Resident breeder with population decreasing. On 07 September DM witnessed a Grey Seal kill and partially eat 3 drake Eiders during the course of 20 minutes, 100 meters offshore at Ascog. The remains of a further 2 dead drake Eider were seen floating nearby, being scavenged by Great Blackbacked Gulls. During a round island bird count on 14 September only 23 birds were seen (IH). Other records include – 68 off Ascog on 01 August (RF), 35 at Port Bannatyne on 30 September (IH) and 50-60 at Kilchattan Bay on 29 December (IH). Long-tailed Duck – Clangula hyemalis – Scarce winter visitor. Not recorded in 2014. Common Scoter – Melanitta nigra – Scarce winter visitor. Not recorded in 2014. Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula – Common winter visitor found on both, freshwater lochs and around the coast. Records include - 4 at Greenan Loch on 19 January and 3 at same location on 15 February (RF), 1 male and 3 females at Kirk Dam on 11 February (PP) and 2 females at Kames Bay and a male at Loch Ascog on 09 November (DM). Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator – Common resident breeder found in small numbers around the coastal waters of Bute. Records include – 15 at saltmarsh, St Ninian’s Bay on 06 September (IG), 44 near Ardmaleish on 25 October (IH), and 25 at St Figure 3: Red-breasted Merganser at Craigmore Pier on 23 October, D Menzies. Ninian’s Bay on 11 November (IG). Goosander - Mergus merganser – Winter migrant with occasional summer records with Greenan Loch, Kirk Dam and Loch Ascog the favoured freshwater sites. Records include 8 males at Greenan Loch on 13 January (IH), a pair at Kirk Dam on 16 February (PP), 3 males and 2 females at Kirk Dam on 22 March (DM), 2 pairs at Kirk Dam on 29 March (IH), 4 at the mouth of the Drumachloy Burn on 09 May (IH), a female at Greenan Loch on 01 October (DM), 2 pairs at St Ninian’s Bay on 25 November (RF) and 9 at Loch Ascog on 3 December (IH).