Tuesday 24th, Wednesday 25th & Thursday 26th September

 Decent, warmish, sunny weather for Tuesday and Wednesday, deteriorating into grey and rainy for Thursday. Winds mainly from the north.

On Tuesday, with the wind from the north the Pink-footed Geese were on the move south. Clive Mc. had several groups moving through at Gruinart totalling 143, while over on the other side of the island, probably different flocks included 80 over the American Monument at the Oa and 28 at Kinnabus c/o David D. then 110 from Ed Burrell at Cornabus - so probably a minimum of 361?

Other sightings sent in from Linden included a White-tailed Eagle over Bowmore, with 2 chasing Greylags in Loch Indaal where a little group of 6 Barnacle Geese and 9 Brent Geese lurked. Over at Kildalton, Mary-Ann Featherstone noted 14 Red-breasted Mergansers.

Wednesday kicked off with Martin A. seeing 12 Brent Geese at Gartmain on Loch Indaal and David D. counting 3 Merlins on The Oa. Clive Mc. vis-migging at Gruinart had 19 Barnacle Geese flying up the Loch along with 2 Little Egrets. Later, Linden had 3 Great White Egrets over the woodlands at Gruinart - a small part of a big influx into Scotland at the moment. Clive Mc. also had a flock of 220 Golden Plovers and upped the Little Egret tally to 6, finishing with an interaction between a Hen Harrier with prey being buzzed by a female Peregrine. The Harrier managed to avoid giving up its lunch.

Today (Thursday) had Mary Redman spotting 3 Greenland-type Wheatears at Claddach and Louise Muir commenting on many Swallows feeding over the road at Gruinart flats after some unpleasant wet weather.

Barnacle Geese are beginning to arrive! Clive Mc. had 80 this morning at Gruinart along with groups of 50 and 13 Pink-footed Geese, followed by a further 180 Pinkies in the afternoon (242 total). By the evening James How had racked up 95 Barnacle Geese, 17 Brent Geese, 26 Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Pintail, 4 Little Egrets and single Peregrine and White-tailed Eagle on Gruinart. 

Elsewhere, David D. had another 3 Merlins at Bein Mhor, plus 9 Golden Plover and a Buzzard with a Hedgehog at Kinnabus. Linden had150 Golden Plovers at Gruinart, with another 14 at Laphroaig and the "summering" Whooper Swan on fields with Greylags at Leorin.