Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Tuesday 13th November

Hello, Ian is away so it is the assistant blog master for a few days. I have been out counting geese all day in the Gruinart area as part of the international goose count. A long day and a lot of geese: 18,638 barnacle geese, 967 White fronted geese, 122 greylags and 1 lesser Canada goose hutchinsii. I also saw 655 lapwing and 25 golden plover on the reserve and 34 turnstone, 1 purple sandpiper and a chiffchaff (tristis) at Ardnave.
At Ardnave I met Mike Reid and Friend who had seen the adult Iceland gull at Bunnahabain (back again for another winter).
I have some records in from Ken Reeves and colleagues (thanks again) :
On the 11th on their way over to Islay they had: 31 great northern divers, 5 red throated divers, 1 black throated diver, 50 red breasted mergansers, a golden eagle and white tailed eagle. when they arrived on Islay at An Innis, they managed to see 2 brambling and a short eared owl. On the 12th they had a good day with 6 whooper swans and 17 twite at Ardnave, 11 pintail, 1 greenshank, a hen harrier and whimbrel on Loch Gruinart. A golden eagle at Saligo and a yellowhammer on the Kilchoman road.

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