Monday 26th October

Dan Brown is over with several top filmmakers at present. No doubt today would have challenged them, but Dan sent me through some sightings seen by themselves so far... See what effect of some great home baking does for your birding...

"I just wanted to drop a few sightings to you as we are out and about every day (except today in my case).  There is currently a juvenile Iceland Gull on the west side of Loch Gruinart (I can see it from our window :)).

 24/10 Todd's Canada on the merse at Bridgend

23/10 Yellow-browed Warbler in the woods at Bridgend plus what sounded like Spotted Sandpiper calling from the merse creeks

Plenty of GNDs in Loch Indaal, plus 3 Long-tailed Ducks and a handful <10 Scaup."

Neil McMahon along with his guests from Naturetrek had braved the elements and went out birding ...

"Yesterday, and my colleague Keith had a brief view of the Rose coloured Starling, at about 7.45am on TV aerials in Shore Street, Bowmore opposite The Lochside Hotel. It didn't linger! Other birds from the hotel looking out on the loch included the female Long-tailed Duck again, a Black-throated Diver, one or two Red-throated Diver(s), 3 Eider, a Slavonian Grebe, 2 fly-over Twite, a small flock of Knot and a flock of 18 Pale-bellied Brents just north of the village on the edge of the loch (plus 2 more Long-tailed Ducks including a drake). 

We looked for the Hoopoe around the old corn mill but didn't see it. There was a Treecreeper in the woods there. We drove down the west side of Loch Indaal in very blowy conditions. We couldn't find any Purple Sandpipers at Bruichladdich just a Grey Wagtail, 2 Rock Pipits, a Red-throated Diver and an Eider. A roadside Ring Ouzel and Mistle Thrush south of there quickly vanished into the bracken and it was an awkward piece of road for us to park anywhere near so we reluctantly had to leave them!

The journey south was mostly quiet but there were good numbers of Grey Seals at Portnahaven against a very dramatic backdrop of crashing waves, strong gusts etc! A male Merlin and 2  Choughs were nearby at Claddach. We took the minor road back north doing a circuit to Port Charlotte which resulted in a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier and 5 Red Deer. We saw the striking leucistic Common Gull on floodwater at Machir Bay and a distant flock of Choughs nearby. 6 Pale-bellied Brents were at Loch Indaal by Rubha Ban late this afternoon. Apart from some close Roe Deer and a series of Brown Hares during the day that was our lot! Hoping to ferry over to Jura tomorrow in gentler conditions!"

This morning George E. Jackson phoned in to say that he had just seen a large Canada Goose amongst the Barnies, down close to Sunderland Farm, by the sound of things, probably a Todd's Canada goose.