Hornemann's Arctic redpoll, Glenn, Barra

Just a couple of hours before we were due to board our ferry home, this little beauty turned up at Glen near Castlebay, a Hornemann's Arctic redpoll. This was my first sighting of this race having previously seen two Coue's Arctic redpolls, and it was a real snowball of a bird, by far my best and most convincing Arctic redpoll.

Hornemann's Arctic redpoll originate from Greenland, so it's appearance is not totally surprising given the mass arrival of geese, swans and redwings from that direction over the past few days. We didn't see it with other redpolls, but after we left the island it was joined by a couple of lesser redpolls which it apparently dwarfed. The wide bill base of the race is particularly noticeable in this photo. This is the third record of Hornemann's Arctic redpoll on Barra and the first since 2009.

Earlier in the morning we witnessed a large movement of snipe over Eoligarry in the north of the island, with many flocks of 20 - 30 birds flying over at speed, all heading south west. In the same area there was a redwing, my first of the winter and a bird of the Icelandic race T.i.coburni. Apparently there have been quite a few redwings on the island today, but this was the only one I saw.

A Hebridean song thrush, T.p.hebridensis.