Red-rumped Swallow

08th November 2011

The Red-rumped Swallow seen at Talisker in June has now been accepted by the Scottish Birds Rarities Committee and has become No. 246 on the Skye List. There was an interesting history to this bird in that it was first seen on Sanday, Orkney on 9th June. It was then seen at Talisker by Steph and Ray Hamilton on 17th June. David and Christine Hammond saw and photographed the bird on 25th June though at the time were unaware of the significance of their observation. It was only when Ian Fulton saw and photographed the bird on 29th June that news of its presence broke, unfortunately too late for a couple of local twitchers! The story does not end there as there is a suggestion that the bird may belong to an eastern sub-species yet to be recorded in the UK. The record will now be assessed by the British Birds Rarities Committee and the British Ornithologist's Union Record Committee - dont expect a decision too soon!

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