Spring migration

The day after the first Wheatear was seen on Islay this spring, a party of about 20–25 Whooper Swans flew north past Bruichladdich this morning. They will presumably stop one or more times before heading for Iceland, but here are two signs of migration. The photograph is not of the birds I saw, but one taken by the late Gordon Langsbury here a couple of years ago.
Malcolm

Bird Flight Diverter

Following the unfortunate deaths of a number of Whooper swans and other birds this autumn passage due to collision with overhead power cables, particularly where these cables cross arable fields sown with barley, Rop from SSE has brought me examples of three different 'Bird Flight Diverter' systems that he has had experience of on Islay. 
Rop believes that the most effective device is that shown on the left of the picture.  It can be attached to the cables without 'powering down', using a pole handled from the ground.  The clamp is powerful and very good at not moving down the wire once in place.  The connector between the white flight diverter and the black clamp assembly uses a swivel bearing which spins in wind speeds upwards of 3 or 4 knots.  This is not only an additional deterrent, it also lasts longer.  The other, simpler systems break relatively quickly. 
The yellow and buff patches on the white rectangle are made from a special luminous material that absorbs light, which improves the systems effectiveness at night for up to ten hours.
Rop is proposing to do a test installation between Sunderland and Rockside with these flight diverters in the next  couple of weeks and has invited me along to see what happens and take photographs.  The plan is to do an assessment of the numbers required and the locations where they need to be deployed.  We will of course keep you updated...
Carl

Whooper Swans At Cruach - Dave Protherough

Or more properly Dave's Mum and Dad were here a couple of weeks ago and took this top sequence of  our largest passage migrants feeding near Cruach.  Many thanks to them for these lovely shots...

Whooper Swans and Barnacle Geese - Armin Grewe

Lovely shot from Armin of Whooper swans and Barnacle geese, taken last week I believe, on the fields of barley stubble between Sunderland and Rockside Farms on the Rhinns.  Many thanks Armin...

Whooper Swans at Rockside

The big flock of Whooper Swans is still gracing the stubble fields at Rockside.  It will be interesting to see how long they stay before moving on to their traditional winter destinations in Ireland.

Whooper swans killed by overhead wires

Louse Muir of the RSPB on Islay is seen with one of two young Whooper swans that were killed yesterday following collisions with overhead wires on Sunderland Farm.  Power companies have installed high visibility discs on their cables in some areas that are particularly susceptible.  On Islay, that should probably mean eveywhere that cables cross open fields. 
Reducing the number of collisions ought to make commercial, as well as ethical, sense because wires are quite often brought down.  This can cause significant power outages which are of course, very expensive to fix.
Carl

298 Whooper Swans on the Rhinns

I counted a total of 298 Whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) between Rockside and Sunderland Farms on the Rhinns this afternoon.  201 were in a big flock on the half-cut barley field at Sunderland (top photo) and 97 on stubble at Rockside.
Carl

Whooper Swans in Flight - James Deane

Cracking shot from James of these Whoopers in flight.  Many thanks...

Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus) at Loch Skerrols

George had told me that there were around 130 Whooper swans on Loch Skerrols yesterday - so I had pedalled over on a perfect afternoon to take a look.  It really was a very dramatic sight - and one which I could not even begin to capture on camera.  Skerrols was alive with wildfowl - hundreds of Widgeon and a scattering of other duck, flocks of Greylag geese and a backdrop of Greenland White-fronts feeding on the fields surrounding Octovullin.  We get a good passage of Whoopers ever autumn, but they do not usually hang around in these kind of numbers for very long before moving off to Ireland which is their winter destination.  There were good numbers of juvenile birds with them - and they all seemed to be mingling very happily with the resident parties of Mutes...
Carl

Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus)

Taken from the hide at Gruinart.

Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus)

A pair of Whoopers on Ardnave Loch a couple of days ago.