Ivory Gull on Skye

29th December 2014

There is only a single historic record of this species in Skye when one was sent to Harvie-Brown by Mr Ross from the Broadford Hotel on 6th February 1901. It is a winter visitor to Scotland from the high Arctic, with less than 100 records most of these from the Northern and Western Isles. The Uig bird was found by Bill Allan and Martin Lumb on 23rd December, and has remained in the area since. As I have been away for Christmas I only managed to catch up with the bird today, and we found it typically confiding. It only left to join a creel boat heading out to sea and we suspect it is being well fed, picking up discards, and bait scraps. This is a first winter bird and although there was a bird recently on Benbecula, from photographs taken, this looks altogether a different bird.

Bob and Martin

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