Menu
One Sunday morning in May, walking on the shore by the Kinloch Hotel, the rain had stopped, the sea was flat calm and the bay was full of the haunting, evocative, eerie calls of courting great northern diver.
There was a feeling that while spring was arriving, it was late. Conditions were generally good for birds trying to get on with breeding with, for example, familiar garden birds flourishing.
Spring is an exciting time of year, awaiting the arrival of our summer visitors and seeing the last of our winter visitors leaving. The timing of the northerly spring migration is dependent on the weather, not just locally, but throughout the whole length of the migration route.
Are there magpie on Arran? Where can I see flocks of starlings on Arran? Are short-eared owls resident on Arran? For all your birdwatching questions on Arran, the best place to start is the annual bird report.
Living on an island, we know only too well the impact of winter storms on our lives but what impact do these storms have on birds, particularly sea-going birds?
In comparison to last February, this February was milder, the mean temperature was two degrees higher, and it was wetter with 15 per cent more rain … but the story of the month was the wind.
In comparison to last January, January 2022 was warmer and drier. The mean temperature was 3.7 degrees higher. The rainfall was about 30 per cent less.
The mild weather of November continued into December with no negative temperatures. December was wetter with about 50 per cent more rain than November.
