Little Sign of Spring

24th March 2013

The website is now in its 10th year and the archive provides a good source of comparison for arriving spring migrants over these years. Though we had an early March report of Wheatear this may well have been a mis-identification. The cold weather is undoubtably a factor and local migrants such as Pied Wagtails, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits have yet to arrive in any number. In the south of England there were 120 Wheatears at Portland Bill to-day, and other reports of Ring Ousels along the south coast, birds clearly held up by bad weather. By this time we would normally have several reports of Wheatears, Chiffchaffs, Sand Martins and the occasional Swallow or House Martin. The cold weather and snow looks set to continue until the end of the week so it may be April before we start seeing our first long distance migrants. Meanwhile keep feeding our resident species because they will need it.

Bob

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