The weather in December could best be described as changeable. There were mild periods with heavy rain, and cold, bright, dry spells. There were days with snow on the hills and occasionally on lower ground and the year ended by the island being swept by a storm force Atlantic front.
Following on from the report of two juvenile whitetailed eagles on the west coast in November, which was the first report of this rare vagrant to Arran this year, an adult bird was reported in Clauchan Glen on 2nd December. The observer’s attention was drawn to a commotion with three buzzards and a raven calling and wheeling around a white-tailed eagle perched at the top of a broken-off lone pine. The mobbing by the smaller birds drove the eagle off. It dwarfed the other species and gave great views of its short white tail and broad long wings as it flew south.
Other visitors in December included: seven purple sandpiper in Silver Sands on 1st, seven rook in Sliddery on 9th, a brambling also in Sliddery on 12th, 12 yellowhammer also in Sliddery on 15th, a female blackcap in Cordon on 19th and 120 fieldfare with 45 redwing on Corriecravie Moor on 23rd. In addition there was a report of a chiffchaff in Sliddery on 2nd. This regular summer visitor has been increasingly reported over-wintering in more southern parts of the UK.
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13 January 2018
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