Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th September

Another two days of sunshine and heavy showers.

Yesterday's news: Ed B. confirmed that the Short-toed Lark was present at Cornabus (but no news today). Ed also found just fledged Snipe at Cornabus - a late brood indeed. There were 4 Little Egrets at Bun an Uillt, seen by Clive Mc., while Gary T. had 20 Brent Geese at Gartmain and Mary Redman saw a Chiffchaff at Port Wemyss.

Today there were two adult White-tailed Eagles noted by Gary T. up on their usual grassy island in the flats at the top of Loch Indaal. Clive Mc. had 19 Brent Geese flying up Loch Gruinart this morning, counted 234 Gannets at Frenchman's Rocks in the early afternoon, 9 Choughs at Lossit Bay then 8 Common Scoter in Loch Indaal off Bruichladdich a little later, finishing with 43 Golden Plover at Ballinaby. He also commented on several flocks of up to 100 Goldfinches and Linnets in various locations today.

In the last couple of days there have been up to 6 Pied and White Wagtails feeding on my lawn - freshly cut and providing lots of hapless crane flies as food.

Friday 13th September

More wind, sun and showers today, the wind now coming from a more southerly direction.

Ed reports that the Short-toed Lark is still in situ at Cornabus. This waif from southern climes is in stark contrast to a sighting by James How of an early Iceland Gull (a juv/1Y) at Saligo this morning - the first of winter. Elsewhere Clive Mc. saw a total of 10 Greenshanks below Creag Mhor, Gruinart this morning - a quite high count for the species.

Thursday 12th September

The weather continued in much the same vein - showery, cool, blustery from the west and sunny in between.

Gary T. and Ed Burrell both reported that the Short-toed Lark was present again in the same field at Cornabus. Gary also reported a Merlin after Meadow Pipits near Ballygrant and David Dinsley noted a 3CY White-tailed Eagle over the Oa RSPB car park.

Other news concerned migrant Pink-footed Geese, with Linden K. noting a flock of 48 on the flats at Gruinart, with possibly two flocks of c.40 each going over. Clive Mc. saw another flock of 55 going over Gruinart this evening, so a possible tally of c.183 birds.

Wednesday 11th September

Another day of breezy conditions from the NW with sunshine and heavy rain showers.

Despite the iffy weather, there was great excitement when Ed Burrell reported an "odd" lark down at Cornabus at lunchtime on a field he had cut for silage and was now taking off the bales. It was quickly suggested it could be a Short-toed Lark and various of the resident birders made their way there to take a look. Luckily the bird was, although quite flighty, also very faithful to this one field and I believe everyone who went to Cornabus came away successfully having seen the bird in question. It has some odd pale wing markings, but otherwise has good features for a Short-toed Lark. If accepted it will be only the 4th Argyll record and a first for Islay. The previous records were 2 on Tiree and the last in 2011 on Oronsay. When Val Peacock and I arrived, David D. was already there helpfully taking record shots of the bird which he shares with us here.

Other news for the day comes from Clive Mc. spotting 2 Arctic Skuas flying south down Loch Gruinart and seemingly overland towards Loch Indaal, while Janette Mc. had our first migrant Pink-footed Geese of the autumn this evening - an impressive flock of 200 over their house and then landing in loch Gruinart.

Tuesday 10th September

Blustery winds from the WNW bringing patches of sunshine between short, heavy showers of rain. 

Clive Mc. hinted yesterday that a seawatch at Frenchman's Rocks might be worthwhile this morning, given the wind direction. He duly went there this morning watching from 7.50am to 10.30am - a good long period to once again show that Islay is a very poor second-best to Tiree! Among the more interesting birds seen, he counted 74 Brent Geese, single Wigeon, Pintail, Arctic Skua, Bonxie, plus 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 5 Red-throated Divers. Numbers of commonly encountered seabirds noted were low - just 30 Kittiwakes, 52 Razorbill/Guillemots and 25 Manx Shearwaters. Jim Dickson later sent us the tally for a one hour seawatch from Tiree this morning that included over 28,000 Manxies and 3 Sooty Shearwaters.

Other than the above, Linden saw a Sparrowhawk on Gruinart Flats.

Sunday 8th & Monday 9th September

The previous three days of "summer" turned into grey, breezy and drizzly on Sunday, with more rain and breezier from the NW on Monday.

Yesterday Martin A. had a Dipper on the River Sorn and a Little Egret and 2 White-tailed Eagles on Bridgend Merse. Clive Mc. witnessed the unusual sight of a couple of dark-phase Arctic Skuas  close by Carnain in Loch Indaal in the evening.

Today Clive weas busy recording near his house at Loch Gruinart with a substantial tally of the first southerly passage of Brent Geese this autumn - 168 passing through and a further 86 staging on the loch in the evening. Along with them were 54 Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving south and 26 Black-tailed Godwits newly arrived with 10 Knot. Over at Cornabus Ed Burrell had 4 Whimbrel on the move.

Thursday , Friday and Saturday 5th, 6th & 7th September

Summer is finally here, with three days of bright sunshine and temperatures in the 20s.

White Wagtails were mentioned for Thursday - David D. seeing 3 at Kinnabus and James H. with 17 at Gruinart where he also had Peregrine and a Carrion Crow.

Friday produced a Brent Goose between Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich, temporarily associating with Greylags in a field. 

Also in the news was a confusing duck posted by Jim Dickson from his recent visit, looking very much like a hybrid Mallard x Pacific Black Duck. Who knows where this one came from? There was a report last year from Dan Brown on 3rd November of Pacific Black Duck hybrids at Port Ellen, though today's correspondence from Dan suggests that the sighting was of a hybrid and a pure Pacific Black Duck. Either way, these are the only records of this presumed feral/escaped species.

Today Clive Mc. reported continuing high numbers of Sanderling in Loch Gruinart, while he and Gary T. noted good numbers of Dunlin (270) and Ringed Plover (30) around Smelly Corner on Loch Indaal along with 30 Knot, 185 Oystercatchers and 150 Bar-tailed Godwits. I counted 70 Ringed Plover on the beach at Machir Bay.

Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th September

 

Jim Dickson sent in details of birds seen on his brief visit:

1st September: 2 Storm Petrel on crossing near Islay; 4 Shoveler & 24 Wigeon at Gartnatra; 110 Woodpigeon at Coullabus Plantation, 1 Sparrowhawk; 2 juv Whinchat at Craigens; 4 Goosander, 6 Greenshank, 2 WTE, imm Peregrine, 1 Arctic Tern, 2 juv Black-tailed Godwits at Loch Gruinart; 2 White-tailed Eagle, fem Hen Harrier, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe at Ardnave

2nd September 120 Goldfinch at Portnahaven, 5 Chough at Easter Ellister; 120 Swallow, 75 House Martin, 5 Sand Martin, 1 Wheatear at Craigens; 2 White-tailed Eagle, 21 juv Black-tailed Godwits, 2 juv Little Stint, imm Peregrine, 26 Red-breasted Mergansers off Bridgend/Carnain; m Hen Harrier NW of Bowmore

3rd September: 4 juv Little Stint, 42 Knot off Carnain; male Hen Harrier S of Bowmore; 44 Ringed Plover, Sparrowhawk at Loch Leodamais, Port Ellen.

Other records for yesterday, 3rd, were 3 White-tailed Eagles at Whin Park, Loch Indaal and a Red Kite between Portnahaven and Port Charlotte seen by Gary T. Linden had a count of 25 Whimbrel around the mouth of the River Sorn at Bridgend.

Today, the weather improved from the grey, drizzle of yesterday into a mostly bright and sunny day. David D. had a good count of 32 Ravens over Ben Mhor in the morning. I was at the RSPB Oa reserve where 2-3 Golden Eagles were seen far in the distance, while another and 2 White-tailed Eagles were noted at Cornabus. On the return, the lone Whooper Swan was still present in Port Ellen bay, cosying up to a couple of Mute Swans.

Saturday 31st August, Sunday and Monday 1st & 2nd September

 Pleasant enough weather on Saturday and Sunday, but greyer and drizzly on Monday morning.

On Saturday 2 White-tailed Eagles were again in situ c/o Gary T. up at the Bridgend area of Loch Indaal, with another at Easter Ellister seen by Emily McGarva. Linden reported a Whooper Swan at Port Ellen while Clive Mc.  had 2 Storm Petrels on the crossing back to Islay.

Billy Stitchell sent in a photo of a lovely red, male Crossbill seen on Saturday up at the Bunnahabhain forestry.

Gary T. upped the game on Sunday with an Osprey on the shoreline at Bridgend, upsetting the gulls then heading towards Gruinart where Linden report adult and juv White-tailed Eagle. 

No sightings reported today, other than 2 Little Stints at Carnain this evening seen by Jim Dickson, over on a short visit and 2 Bonxies flying up Loch Indaal while I was out in the boat on my first fishing trip of the summer - an indication of what a rotten summer it has been!