Sunday 17th July

Sounds a bit repetitive, but guess what, it has been damp again, not a lot but wet all the same. At one point I looked out at the bird table outside the kitchen window, and 24 birds were making the most of the food on offer, Starlings, House Sparrows, Great Tits, Chaffinches, Greenfinches and also a Siskin. The Great Tits were the most numerous with several young to the fore. Out on the grass were the "resident" Pheasants along with an odd Jackdaw and a Song Thrush there too. Luckily Peter had been out and about for something different yesterday. Up at Ardnave he saw the Rose coloured Starling, later on at Carnduncan there was a Whinchat feeding young. In the afternoon down close to the American Monument on the Oa, a pair of Wheatears were seen with their newly fledged youngsters. A Golden Eagle was also present on the Oa too. Back at Bruichladdich pier, the Black Guillemots are still active at their nest site, going by the noise and also the changeover of the adult birds.