Pintail is a barely annual visitor on Barra. Pleased to see one flying over Garrygall this morning , but surprised when it came back and landed in the road just in front of us! We stared at each other for a moment before it flew again, settling in the bay. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Busy skies over Barra: Kestrel, Hen Harrier and Hooded Crow taking it in turns to mob a White-tailed Eagle over Eoligarry. #BirdingScotland

Scores of Common Dolphins from the Oban-Barra ferry this afternoon plus a Minke and c40 Storm Petrels. Yesterday morning's crossing produced a juv Sabine's Gull, 24 Stormies, a Minke and Bluefin Tuna. Surprisingly few shearwaters out there today or yesterday. #BirdingScotland

The Swainson's Thrush was still present at Cuithir today. Though it's not getting any easier to see, we had the briefest of views late afternoon on our third visit of the day. #BirdingScotland #RareBirdsUK

Barra's 4th Swainson's Thrush was still at Cuithir late afternoon, though elusive in the blustery conditions: two five-second views in the couple of hours I was there. #BirdingScotland #RareBirdsUK

Swainson's Thrush at Cuithir this morning, a well deserved find by Stuart Beeby, incredibly the 4th Barra record, making it our second most frequent North American vagrant passerine. #BirdingScotland #RareBirdsUK

Black-throated Divers are starting to return to their wintering area off Vatersay. This one still in summer plumage was close in today. What an absolute stunner! #BirdingScotland

A day behind the Pink-feet, our first Whooper Swans of the autumn touched down on Barra. This family of 3 were resting in the bay when we got home this afternoon. #BirdingScotland

The fine adult American Golden Plover still hanging out with the Goldies north of Barra airport today. I finally got in on the Sabine's Gull fest when a 2 hour seawatch off Vatersay produced 4 Sabs heading south alongside a steady passage of Red-throated Divers. #BirdingScotland

Our first migrating Pink-footed Geese of the autumn over Barra this afternoon battling high winds and rain, looking tired and disorientated after a long hard day on the wing. #BirdingScotland

Pleased to find a handsome American Golden Plover this afternoon on my way up to Eoligarry to lead another walk for Barra and Vatersay Ranger Service. Hopefully a sign of more Nearctic birds to come. #BirdingScotland #Birds

After 2 very wet and windy days, better weather revealed a few new migrants on Barra. Pick of the bunch was our 1st Barred Warbler of the autumn at Nask, absolutely not posing for photos, though this Spotted Flycatcher in the same spot clearly was! #BirdingScotland #Birds

Highlights of a blustery day on Barra included a Turtle Dove at Eoligarry this evening, a Great Shearwater heading north past Brevig this afternoon and about 40 Sooty Shearwaters heading the other way! #BirdingScotland #Birds

Great Yellow Bumblebee lapping up the evening sunshine at Eoligarry. They're not had a good season on Barra, though they're finishing with a bit of a flourish.

Ruff is a regular visitor to Barra in small numbers at this time of year. This one was scampering about on the machair at Eoligarry this morning. Nearby a juvenile Little Gull was hanging out with the Common Terns on the airport beach. #BirdingScotland

Our first migrant geese of the autumn on Barra today. 32 Pale-bellied Brents sheltered at Traigh Mhor and 49 settled on the stormy sea off Craigston, all adults. Must've had a hard journey flying into this gale. Also c35 Sooty Shears and a Pom Skua off Brevig. #BirdingScotland #Birds

2 summering Pink-footed Geese hanging out at Allasdale today; not long now until the autumn's first migrant geese appear on Barra. Speaking of migrants, our first Pied Flycatcher of the year was at Northbay, hopefully a sign of things to come. #BirdingScotland

4 more Cory's Shearwaters off the east side of Barra today bringing my total so far this week to 42. Numbers are clearly not in the same league as some Irish or Cornish headlands, but in a Scottish context it's pretty startling! #BirdingScotland

Had a pretty decent post-work seawatch by Barra standards off Brevig this afternoon. 2 Cory's, 8 Great and 27 Sooty Shearwaters, 1 Long-tailed Skua and a Pom plus 2 Puffins all heading south in 3 hours before the rain hit. #BirdingScotland

Statistically speaking, our lounge is still the best place to see Cory's Shearwaters from on Barra. We had 36 south past Brevig in 5 hours this afternoon, a record count for the Outer Hebrides. Also 3 Great Shears, 2 Sooties and c40 Bonxies. #BirdingScotland

The young Mediterranean Gull was still on Vatersay this evening, hanging out with the locals on west beach, probably feeling right at home in such warm and sunny weather. #BirdingScotland #Birds

It's an exceptionally good year for Short-eared Owls on Barra. Normally we're lucky to see 1 or 2 in late summer, but this bird near Rhulios yesterday evening was our 9th of the season. Hopefully more to come. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Kathy found our first sea bean in months on the west side of Barra today after a week of strong west winds. This Brown Hamburger Bean has drifted a minimum of 4000 miles from the Caribbean before washing ashore on the Outer Hebrides.

Bad news if you're a caterpillar: Cuckoos have had a great breeding season on Barra! We've seen 21 juveniles in recent weeks and there's still time for more. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Our second juvenile Mediterranean Gull of the season was sheltering from the wind on blustery Vatersay this afternoon. As usual for this species here, it was tucked in among young Common Gulls. #BirdingScotland

A flock of migrating Whimbrel hurtling south through the Sound of Barra this afternoon. Flocks like this are more of a feature in spring than autumn here. #BirdingScotland

Pink-footed Goose among the Greylags at Scurrival this evening, presumably one of the three that summered on Barra this year. A brief seawatch off Cleat in the tail end of Storm Floris produced a smart Pomarine Skua and a couple of close Storm Petrels. #BirdingScotland

It's been another roller-coaster season for Barra's Little Terns. Despite early success with 4 juvs fledging in late June, later nests failed. Big thanks to all who heeded the signs and fences and gave these birds the space they need. Here's hoping for a better year in '26! #BirdingScotland

Irish Lady's Tresses are starting to flower on Barra. Over the past decade we've found them in 3 areas, but numbers vary year to year depending on grazing. Over-grazing is bad, under-grazing is worse, but when it's just right they flourish. @ukorchids.bsky.social

Evidently Common Crossbills are still on the move. This streaky juvenile dropped into the garden where I was working at Bruernish today, then sat up calling for a few minutes before bounding off high to the south. The first I've seen on Barra for several weeks. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Young Cuckoos are still popping up around Barra. This is one of two being attended by Meadow Pipits at Cuithir. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Bottlenose Dolphin, one of seven cavorting in Brevig Bay this afternoon. Although they are resident on Barra, they tend to be reported most frequently in the summer months when the sea is calmer and there are more folk looking.

Mediterranean Gull is still a very scarce visitor to Barra, but careful searching through flocks of young Common Gulls in late July can sometimes reveal a juvenile Med, which is exactly what happened at Scurrival this afternoon. #BirdingScotland

Birding on Barra today has felt distinctly autumnal, with several hundred migrant waders, mainly Dunlin and Sanderling, grounded on the island's beaches. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Another young Cuckoo keeping the Meadow Pipits busy behind our house today. It looks like Cuckoos have had a good breeding season on Barra. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Lucky to get close views of this Corncrake "crex-ing" beside the road this morning. The season is flying by and there's only a couple more weeks until these birds stop calling and the days and nights on Barra get quieter! #BirdingScotland #Birds

And still they come. There was another wave of Violet Sea Snails washing ashore on the west coast of Barra this afternoon. We've seen about 150 in the past few days. For context, during the '22 influx we only had 35 in the whole of July and August.

Violet Sea Snails were pushed ashore on Barra's west coast by brisk westerly winds today. We counted 35 in just over a mile at Traigh Eais among hundreds, possibly thousands, of By-The-Wind Sailors.

Fabulous views of Short-eared Owl (a scarce visitor on Barra) yesterday evening, along with Corncrake, 3 species of tern, displaying Snipe and Moss Carder Bumblebee: the highlights of a session guiding for @barraranger.bsky.social at Eoligarry. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Juvenile Cuckoos are now appearing on Barra, just a few days after the last of the adult birds departed. Meadow Pipits are their usual host here and they've got their work cut out keeping up with the demand for caterpillars! #BirdingScotland #Birds

Six-spot Burnet Moth on a Pyramidal Orchid behind Barra airport yesterday - both are out in large numbers at present. #teammoth

Beachcombing at the far end of Traigh Eais when we had a call about a Ring-billed Gull at Cleat. Cue our best "Chariots of Fire" impression as we legged it back down the beach! Luckily it was still there when we got to Cleat, our first Ring-bill out here since 2018. #BirdingScotland #RareBirdsUK

A Violet Sea Snail freshly washed ashore on the west side of Barra this evening, complete with its raft of bubbles to keep it afloat and hitch-hiking barnacles.

A lovely family of Red-breasted Mergansers, one of two broods we encountered on Barra this morning. #BirdingScotland #Birds

Birding highlights today included this flock of 23 Common Scoters wheeling about over the sea at Cleat before heading SW, one of the biggest flocks I've seen here. Also a Hobby going south over Eoligarry this morning, only the 5th I've seen on Barra. #BirdingScotland

Plenty of chacking and tacking in the bushes at Nask this morning as the next generation of Common Whitethroats appears. This species continues to go from strength to strength on Barra. #BirdingScotland

Sandwich Tern heading south past Cleat this evening. We get a few on Barra in early spring and again in late summer/early autumn but don't often see one in June. #BirdingScotland

The Snow Goose that we first saw on Wednesday is still on Barra, trying to blend in with the Greylags but sticking out like a sore thumb! #BirdingScotland

It's hard to concentrate on anything else when there's a brood of Common Sandpipers outside the lounge window! #BirdingScotland #Birds

This isn't what I expected to see this afternoon: a Snow Goose flying south past Allasdale on the west side of Barra! Chances are it's the closest this particular bird has ever been to North America... #BirdingScotland