Wed 19th Aug

There is an old Islay saying which simply states that the weather goes downhill after the Show and also that the days start to draw in. The weather certainly has gone all to pieces, with rain and more rain, you would almost think that we had had a dry spell! Still, while speaking with a former work mate from the Scottish Borders last night, by the sound of it, they are also getting rain too, not exactly harvest weather. With "The Glorious 12th" now past, he was saying that he had heard of one of the Grouse shoots having a bag of over 100 brace of Red Grouse last Saturday. We do not have 100 Red Grouse here on Islay let alone 100 Brace! As the weather has been so poor, obviously not much birding has been done, but there was a Black backed Gull tucking into the carcase of a Seal pup down at Blackrock on the tide line at lunchtime.