Sun 10th May

What a difference a day makes, after writing the entry last night, I headed over to the cottages to meet this weeks guests, members of the RAF Ornithological Society (RAFOS), but before actually seeing any of them I heard a Corncrake calling, and so did they as they got out of their cars! Better still tonight, rather than listening to it calling, we were all fortunate to watch it for about quarter of an hour, unfortunately the sun was behind it, so we were unfortunate not to get any decent images. So for the majority of the RAFOS group present, it turned out to be a new tick on their list, perhaps they had heard one before, but now they have all seen one in the flesh! The weather too has been a lot better, with more Swallows and House Martins here at home today, and there have been Whitethroats seen down at Loch Gorm and also over at Gruinart, James had 3 at the reserve today while Michal seen several over at Bunnahabhain. James had heard 2 separate Cuckoos, and also 6 Grasshopper warblers, while some of the RAFOS group had heard some singing down beside Loch Gorm. James also had seen a male Red Grouse and a Peregrine. Another of the RAFOS group had a pair of Dunlin up at Ardnave on the Loch, where there was also a couple of Whooper Swans. The RAFOS folk also reported several groups of Whimbrel being seen at different locations.