Earlier this year we came across a birdwatcher on the coast of Assynt clutching a rather dog-eared copy of the Birds of Assynt – an annotated checklist (photos 1-2). He was making good use of the feature on pages 6-10 entitled Where to watch birds in Assynt, which consists of a map of the parish with 16 recommended localities and notes on their particular interest (photos 3-6).
This A5 booklet, compiled by Doug Mainland and myself, was first published by the Field Club, with generous grant-aid from some four organisations, in 1998. It was 40 pages in length, sold at £2.80, ran through three editions of 500 copies, and generated a steady income for Club funds.
The original entries gave the English, scientific and Gaelic names for 190 species, with notes on their status (residents, summer breeders, winter visitors, passage migrants and vagrants) and supporting information on habitat preferences, changes in numbers over the years and other features. The text was illustrated with sketches by four Club members (photo 7). The third edition, published in 2004, contained supplementary Additions and corrections, adding a further 20 species to the list (photo 8).
Since this booklet is now out of print, we thought that it might be worth lodging the text on the web-site and to that end Alan Blakemore has kindly scanned it. Birds of Assynt <– click to download.
Updates
Since 2004 much more information has accrued about Assynt birds, especially after the creation of the web-site and its recording schemes in 2010. David Haines summarised the state of play late in 2022 under the title Bird species recorded in Assynt.
This added a further 28 species to the list, giving a total of 238. They are (in alphabetical rather than systematic order): Bewick’s swan, Canada goose, collared flycatcher, common rosefinch, crane, curlew sandpiper, dark-eyed junco, Franklin’s gull, gadwall, golden oriole, goshawk, great white egret, grey phalarope, king eider, little egret, little gull, little tern, long-tailed skua, mandarin duck, pintail, ruff, Sabine’s gull, surf scoter, Temminck’s stint, tundra bean goose, Wilson’s petrel, woodchat shrike and yellow-browed warbler.
I have scanned the bird observations logged on the website since 2022 and can find only one further addition to the overall list, although there may be others. It is the glossy ibis seen at Culkein Stoer on 11th October of this year, and at Clachtoll two days later.
Ian M. Evans