V 14 No.4 - The Scottish Ornithologists' Club

1987
Scottish Bird Report 1986 225
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus Breeding:
Shetland, evening count Wick of Tresta revealed
37 on 17 Jul; Orkney, max counts at Rackwick,
Hoy c200 on 1 and 4 Jul, 40-50 calling birds at
another site 4 Aug; Highland, only 66% of
monitored burrows occupied Canna (normally
75%); Strathclyde, estimated 200+ prs Lunga,
Treshnish Isles 21-27 Jun. Counts/passage:
Shetland, 1 off Skerries 11 Mar; Highland, 1
Chanonry Pt 12 Feb; Grampian, 1 Peterhead 1 Jan;
Fife, max 200Slhr Fife Ness 5 Oct, last one Isle of
May 29 Oct; Lothian, largest ever movement 25-26
Aug with min 400 Hound Pt 25 Aug, 4500E in 3 hrs
26 Aug, 742 Barns Ness 26 Aug; Borders, max
333S St Abbs 26 Aug; Strathclyde, 1800-1900 off
Garvellachs 27 Jun, peaks in Clyde showed most in
N of area, 4000 Troon 17 Jul, 3500S in 2 hrs
Ardrossan 7 Sep, late singles Turnberry Pt 23 Nov,
Pladda 12 Dec; Dum! & Gall, 3000S in 2 hrs
Corsewall Pt 7 Sep. Balearic mauretanicus: Fife,
IN Fife Ness 12 Oct; Strathclyde, I Troon 16 Aug,
2S Tumberry Pt 7 Sep.
Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus Breeding:
Shetland, suggested poor breeding activity Fair
Isle; Orkney, churring birds heard Eynhallow,
Rusk Holm, Sule Skerry, Switha; Strathclyde,
estimated 2000 birds Lunga Jun. Tape-luring etc:
Orkney, controls included 20 birds ringed at Noss
Head, Caithness Dist, after 1984, other controls
involved birds from Sutherland (1) , Aberdeen (3) ,
Sanda, Kintyre (1) , and Copeland Is, Co Down
(1) ; Highland, 246 ringed Noss Head, 125 ringed
Holbom Head; Grampian, 181 caught Girdleness
and 135 caught Collieston early Jul-early Aug;
Strathclyde, c40 ringed Ailsa Craig Jul-Aug.
Counts/ passage: Shetland, late one Sumburgh
Head 22 Nov; Highland, 50+ off Summer Isles 18
Aug; Grampian, I found dead Burghead 11 Nov;
Lothian. 2 found dead Craigleith 7 Jun;
Strathclyde, first 2S Tumberry Pt 27 May, low nos
in Clyde in summer, max 47S in 2 hrs Ayr 16 Aug,
last one Newton on Ayr 30 Oct; Dumf & Gall, late
one S Corsewall Pt 9 Nov.
Leach's Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa Counts/
passage: Shetland, tape-luring attracted 20 Foula
3-5 Aug, 2 singles trapped Fair Isle 5, 10 Aug;
Orkney, 3 trapped 25 Jul-9 Aug, last one Brough of
Birsay 30 Sep; Highland, 5 ringed Noss-Holbom
Heads 21 Jul-14 Aug, 2W Sandside Head 6 Sep, 2
Vig-North Vist 10 Oct, singles dead Corran Ferry
17 Nov, Fort WiIliam 18 Nov; Grampian, 15
sightings or captures ColliestonlGirdleness 10 Jul-
10 Aug, 1 on board MY St Clair near Aberdeen 8
Oct; Fife, lE North Queensferry 1 Feb; Borders,
lW up R Teviot, near Nisbet 12 Oct; Strathclyde,
IN Doonfoot 10 May, IS offCatacol, Arran 28Jul;
ISE Lismore 9 Aug, IN, 2S Tumberry Pt 7 Sep, 8S
on 25 Oct; Dum! && Gall, 12S Corsewall Pt 19
Oct, 14-15S on 25 Oct.
Gannet 5ula bassana Breeding: Shetland,
population stable Hermaness with 9904 nests, 258
nests Fair Isle is big increase; Lothian, still
spreading Bass Rock; Strathclyde, breeding about
2 weeks later than usual Ailsa Craig, 1156 chicks
ringed; Dumf & Gall, continued increase Big Scar
Rock. Counts/passage: Orkney, 35001hr Tor Ness,
Hoy 12 Oct; Highland, 500WIhr Sandside Head 26
May; Grampian, monthly totals at Peterhead were
39,325 May and 15,951 Jun; Fife, 800 Anstruther
17 Sep; Lothian, 150W Dalmeny 14 Sep;
Strathclyde, dead adult Tarbolton 18 May, singles
Lanark mid May, East Kilbride 29 May; Dum! &
Gall, 800SIhr Corsewall Pt 19 Oct.
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Breeding:
Shetland, 361 nests at 6 colonies is a slight decrease
from 1985, mbs 3.05 chicks; Orkney, 338 nests at 6
colonies; Grampian, 7 prs bred on coast; Lothian,
231 nests at 3 Forth island colonies; Borders,
decrease to 22 nests Green Stanes/The Rooks (44
in 1984); Dumf & Gall, 415 nests Mochrum L,
Wigtown Dist, 160 nests at 4 colonies Stewartry
Dist where egg-laying late and small clutches!
broods. Counts/passage: Shetland, 131 Yell
SoundlSullom Voe 26 Mar, main passage Fair Isle
31 Aug-26 Sep, max 14 on 16 Sep; Highland, 1620
at 5 roosts 17-18 Jan; Grampian, 132 Strathbeg 15
Dec; Tayside, 45 Perth 12 Jan, 163 on R Tay 21
Sep, 121 L Leven 23 Nov; Central, 256 Forth
estuary 21 Jan, 114 A1loa 23 Feb; Lothian, 120NE
Hound Pt 14 Feb; Strathclyde, 137 Ayr 8 Feb, 447
Clyde estuary 9 Feb; Dumf & Gall, 65 L Ken 15
Feb.
Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis Breeding: Shetland,
decrease noted ranging from 11 % at monitoring
sites Sumburgh Head, to 25% Noss, 1099 nests
Fair Isle; Orkney, 750 nests at 5 sites; Highland,
436 nests Canna (1690 in 1985), only 58%
contained eggs; Grampian, 625 nests on coast;
Fife, 1310 nests Isle of May where weather
conditions disrupted breeding, 917 pulli ringed;
Lothian, 862 nests on 6 Forth islands; Borders, 364
nests St Abbs Head; Strathclyde, 148 nests
Treshnish Isles, 120 nests Colonsay; Dumf & Gall,
72 nests Mull of Galloway, decrease to 60-70 nests
Big Scar Rock. Counts/passage: Shetland, 1380
Horse Island 12 Oct; Grampian, 3340N in 2 hrs
Peterhead 22 Mar; Fife, 3000W in 1 hr Anstruther
6 Nov; Lothian, 145W in 30 mins Musselburgh 11
Nov, m450 Tyninghame 30 Nov; Strathclyde, 200
Campbeltown 19 Aug.
· Bittern Botaurus stellaris Two: Lothian, I
Duddingston 18 Oct, 14 Nov, 7 Dec probably into
1987; Strathclyde, 1 Aird Meadows, Renfrew Dist
25 Mar.
t·Night Heron Nycticorax n ycticorax The situation
with this species needs clarification, the previous