Manx Shearwater

12th October 2016

For several years Martin Carty has been coordinating searches for grounded Manx Shearwaters. When young Shearwaters leave their nests on Rum they can often be disorientated in darkness by ambient light. Systematic searches around Mallaig by Martin, Stephen MacDonald and other volunteers found 159 birds between August 29 and October 7. All birds were ringed and processed and returned to sea safely from the Mallaig - Armadale ferry. We reported previously that 21 birds were found by Martin Benson and returned to sea at Broadford. Without such help these birds would perish.

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