Monday 31st March

Fairly cloudy, but only light winds and no rain.

Lots of discussion on the WhatsApp group today about migrating Greenland White-fronted Geese as small groups were noted headed NW more or less into the wind. The discussion revolved around whether they'd be better off waiting for the wind to swing round in their favour, with tales of tracked groups going north before that had to just island-hop or return from whence they came when setting off with the wind against them.

Ed Burrell  noted Lapwings incubating eggs on nests, Pied Wagtails nest building and Grey Wagtails nest prospecting at Cornabus. Val Wilson spotted a Pink-footed Goose with White-fronts on the High Road and Mary R. had 20 Brent Geese at Blackrock and a pair of Bullfinches at Carnain.

Andrew Whitehouse was birding in various locations on the Rhinns with the following results:  Loch Gorm - 1 Slavonian Grebe (unusual to find this species on freshwater lochs on Islay), Loch Gruinart - 6 Black-tailed Godwits and single White-tailed Eagle and Little Grebe, Blackrock - 6 Slavonian Grebes, 7 Long-tailed Duck, 27 Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Great Northern Divers, Bridgend - 4 Sandwich Terns, Loch Skerrols - 50 Sand Martins.

Sunday 30th March

A fine, dry, quite calm day, with more of the same in the offing, with a substantial high pressure system over the UK for much of the coming week.

There were 4 Pink-footed Geese at the top of Loch Indaal seen by Andrew Whitehouse and Valerie Wilson, both of whom noted 2-3 Sandwich Terns there. Later Valerie found the Hoopoe still with us up the Ardnave road north of RSPB Gruinart offices. Andrew later noted Great Spotted Woodpecker calling and Chiffchaff singing at Loch Skerrols and 2 White Wagtails at Ardilistry.

Mary R. down at Claddach scored Islay's first Swallow of summer - well done Mary!

Clive was out birding on a flat calm Loch Indaal this evening finding that a lot of the species more associated with winter are still with us: 52 Great Northern Divers, 41 Eider, 26 Long-tailed Ducks and 23 SDalvonian Grebe - many of the latter now in their lovely breeding plumage.

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Saturday 29th March

A quite cloudy, windy day, starting out dryish, but increasingly with squally rain showers blowing in.

There were several of us heading down to the Portnahaven area this morning to see the Pied Crow. Mary Redman was watching it early on, when it had moved over to Port Wemyss, where I found it a little later. Still very approachable, but being bothered at times by gulls and Hooded Crows. However, it was still managing to scavenge food from back gardens and was seen by others right through the day. Below are a couple of photos that I took on my visit.

Other than that, it has been a quiet day for bird sightings, with Andrew Whitehouse reporting 4 Sand Martins at Easter Ellister and 11 Manx shearwaters off Frenchman's Rocks this afternoon and a high count of 7-8 Siskins on Val P.'s feeders at Port Charlotte.

Friday 28th March

A quite cold day with blustery winds from the north-west and occasional sleety downpours between bright sunshine.

An extra record of 25+ Sand Martins over Loch Skerrols yesterday came in from Nigel Scriven who also noted the following for today: White-tailed Eagle adult Kildalton Chapel, Çlaggain Bay 2 Shelduck, 2 Great Northern Diver, Ardtalla Farm fields 33 Golden Plover, 17 Ringed Plover, plus uncountable mixed flock of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks.

Andrew Whitehouse saw the first White Wagtail for Islay o 2025 today at Machir Bay. 

Other than that, there were no sightings sent in today until the afternoon, so I was going to have to make do with mention of the 40 Goldfinches on my feeders supplemented by 20-25 at Malcolm O's further along in Bruichladdich and the 15 or so at Val Peacock's feeders in Port Charlotte.

Then a message came in this afternoon from Fiona McG. of a PIED CROW at Portnahaven that had been there apparently for a few days feeding on suet in people's back gardens! This is an odd record to say the least as Pied Crow is native to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and some of the Indian Ocean islands and not on the British List. Outside of the species' native area there has been presumed genuine vagrancy in N. Africa and the Middle East, but most that have rarely been found in Europe have been considered escapees (quite a few are apparently kept in captivity) or ship-assisted birds. I think the first British record that wasn't traced back to being an escapee was in summer 2018, and that wandered widely across the UK - but that bird is still, I believe, "in limbo" as far as its status.

However, there has been a recent flurry of records in UK and elsewhere in Europe in 2025, with 2-3 still present over a long period of time in Ireland and the Scilly Isles, these individuals also wandering quite long distances with the latter thought to now be in Northern France.

Whatever the verdict (wild or escapee) on this and the current birds elsewhere in the UK, it is a fascinating record, a first for Argyll and I'll be on a twitch to Portnahaven tomorrow morning! Here are a couple of photos courtesy of Mary Redman:

Thursday 27th March

An overcast, cloudy and rainy sort of day, though winds still light.

The only bird news today was of 15 Fieldfares seen by Wendy & John Mattingley at Lyrabus. But there are further bird notes from yesterday.

Wendy & John Mattingley report "We had a group of 110 Common Scoter and another of 66 on Loch Indaal, also 4 Slavonian Grebe, with another at Kilnaughton Bay. A flock of 18 Ravens with 4 Buzzards near Mulindry Bridge and 17 Tufted Duck on Ballygrant Loch. At Loch Skerrols there was 1 Chiffchaff, but no Sand Martins. Highlights at Gruinart 4 Little Egrets, 2 Black-tailed Godwits going into summer plumage and 60 Pintail".

(They had also counted 20 Great Northern Divers in Kilnaughton Bay on Monday 24th).

Nigel Scriven (Chairman of Argyll Bird Club) was on the island on Monday 24th and sent in some notes from Ardnave: 75 Bar-tailed Godwits, 60 Sanderling a Wheatear and a flock of 17 Chough.

There has been no further definite indication of why so many small dead fish washed up at Port Ellen yesterday, though apparently two prawn boats were tied up in Port Ellen on Tuesday evening and it is thought that they might have been cleaning out their holds. Whether this is correct and is the source of the fish, and if so a legal thing to do is all uncertain. Lets hope that it wasn't a poisoning incident and that at least the gulls, corvids, and perhaps a White-tailed Eagle or two benefitted from it?

 

Tuesday 25th & Wednesday 26th March

 Two days of reasonable springlike weather - mostly, dry, sunny with light winds.

Not much of the news on the posts was very pleasant though!

Yesterday there was a report of a roadkill Buzzard that probably met its end while scavenging a roadkill Pheasant. There were also several reports of Wheatears arriving in ones and twos at Cornabus, Ardnave, Gruinart and Portnahaven.

Today, Martin Armstrong posted a note of large numbers of fish washed up dead on the beach at Port Ellen. I'm still unclear what caused this - it was suggested that it could be discards from trawlers as they were all small. If anyone knows of a definite answer, then do let me know,

Bird-wise, Louise M. had a Crossbill at Sanaig forest on Jura. David D. had 2 Wheatears at Lower Killeyan (plus a pod of Bottle-nosed Dolphins off Glen Astle), while Andrew Whitehouse saw the Hoopoe again, still along the road north of Gruinart for a 6th day. Finally, Gary T. had a tern sp. off Blackrock.

Monday 24th March

The day started out fairly sunny and dry, but clouded over in the afternoon and began to rain, becoming quite persistent by evening with an increase in the wind from a westerly direction.

Some additional records for yesterday from Andrew Whitehouse included: 6 Sanderling, 8 Black Guillemots, 6 Great Northern Divers, 1 Redwing, 2 Stonechats at Machir Bay/Kilchoman. Up at Ardnave were 4 Wheatears, 4 Canada Geese, single Golden and White-tailed Eagles, a pair of Hen Harriers, 16 Choughs. Back at Gruinart he found 3 Little Egrets, 1 Greenshank, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 15 Whooper Swans, 4 Gadwall, 44 Pintail and single Little Grebe and Fieldfare. Another  Wheatear weas at Blackrock and a count on Loch Indaal from Blackrock to Bruichladdich produced 4 Slavonian Grebes (some coming into summer plumage), 20 Great Northern Divers, two Red-throated Divers, 17 Red-breasted Mergansers, 18 Common Scoters.

Over at Kilnaughton and Carraig Fhada Wendy & John Mattingley found a dead Kestrel plus adult and immature White-tailed Eagles, with a female Hen Harrier on The Oa.

Today was the first (quite late) record of Chiffchaff, found singing at Kinnabus by Hannah Stanger. Wendy & john Mattingley confirm that the Hoopoe is still with us, and still in much the same area - about a mile north of the Gruinart RSPB car park. Marc Eden had 4 Pink-footed Geese at Ard-Chruaidh/Gartnatra where a couple of Sandwich Terns were displaying to each other. Later at Loch Skerrols he found 20 Sand Martins hawking for insects over the loch.

This evening Clive McK. was up at Bridgend Merse looking at the gull roost and found a first winter Mediterranean Gull.

Sunday 23rd March

 Back to pleasant sunny weather with a light breeze again today.

John and Wendy Mattingley, over on Islay for another visit, found our first Sandwich Terns of the year - two this morning in Kilnaughton Bay.

Saturday 22nd March

Cloudier with a moderate northerly breeze and light rain a lot of the time from late morning onwards.

The Hoopoe was present again in the same area of the road between Gruinart and Ardnave - Martin Armstrong taking some better photos. The bird is still keenly feeding a lot of the time on the grass growing down the middle of the road - a dangerous thing to do, but apparently productive, with Clive McK. identifying Cranefly larvae and pupae in its diet.

Other news:

A total of 6 Coal Tits seen by Louise Muir at Craighouse on Jura this morning, apparently rallying round another that had flown against a window and was temporarily out of action. Clive McK. had a count of 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls at the Bridgend gull roost this evening, and arriving visitor Andrew Whitehouse had an impressive count of birds from the ferry this afternoon - most of them between Kennacraig and Gigha: Great Northern Divers 89, Red-throated Divers 17, Red-breasted Mergansers 33, Common Scoters 8 and a single Manx Shearwater.

Thursday 20th & Friday 21st March

The fine weather continued on Thursday - dry, sunny, light breeze from the SE. This continued into Friday morning, but, as predicted, the clouds came in, the wind increased and began turning to come from the NW and it became colder.

For yesterday there were two reports, both from Jura - a Wheatear seen by Louise M. and a flock of 45 Skylarks at Ardfin golf course noted by Malcolm O. On Islay, Billy Stitchell had a drumming Great spotted Woodpecker at Lily Loch up at Dunlossit - the site where breeding was first proven in 2013.

The first posting today was from Clive McK. in mid-morning who was alerted by his neighbour, Kate Hannet, to a Hoopoe in their garden, which obligingly popped into his garden too. I went up after lunch with Val P. David & Ruth Beaumont to try and find it. No luck for ages, checking form Clive's at Creag Mhor all the way to Ardnave. Back at Clive's we gave up and started driving down to Gruinart when it popped up on the road in front of us. It seemed fixated on feeding on the grass growing down the middle of the road, gave some fine views and only flew up when it dodged a passing Hen Harrier. Malcolm O. points out that this is Islay's 12th record, six of them being in spring with the previous earliest on 22nd April.

Other news comes from David W. of a Sand Martin at Kinnabus this morning, and "lots of divers" including 5 Black-throated seen by James H. as he returned on the ferry this afternoon.

Morven Laurie from NatureScot kindly sent in the last goose count of the winter, carried out on 18th & 19th March. Totals were:

31,566 Barnacle Geese; 4,268 Greater White-fronted Geese; 1,364 Greylag Geese.

 

 

Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th March

 Another two days of dry, sunny weather with light winds and cool temperatures.

Just two notes from yesterday: Clive McK. watched a White-tailed Eagle that had an Adder in its talons, and David Killick watched a Dipper nest-building on the Sorn near the Woollen Mill along with a couple of Grey Wagtails.

Today there were three reports of summer migrants: Shona Isla had a Wheatear at Portnahaven and Dave Killick had another at Kilchiaran. Ed B. found Islay's first sand Martin of 2025 at Cornabus.

Other good news was of a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in the woods at Laphroaig, heard by Steve & Lyn Rogers.

Sunday 16th & Monday 17th March

 Two further fairly pleasant if cold days with plenty of sunshine on Sunday, a but less on Monday, but dry and quite calm.

Yesterday Ed B. had a flock of 33 Whooper Swans heading north through Cornabus and commented on the start of nesting for Redshank and Lapwing on his patch.

At Gruinart James H. had a further 43 Whoopers and noted the Barnacle Geese gathering more on the reserve - further suggestion that the winter birds are thinking of heading up to their arctic breeding grounds. James also saw the Red-breasted Goose, a flock of 100 Skylarks and 2 Black-tailed Godwits on the floods.

David D. found one of the Great Crested Grebes still at  Loch an t-Sailean, while George Jackson had a pair of Dippers upstream on the Sorn from the Woollen Mill. Steve & Lyn Rogers watched a pair of Golden Eagles over Beinn Mhor at The Oa where 22 Twite were on the feeders at the car park.

Today, apart from a Kingfisher seen by Gary T. on the Sorn at Bridgend, all the talk was of feral Canada Geese after Louise Muir reported a count of 69 in front of the Manse on Jura - a substantial flock. 

Saturday 15th March

Continuing lovely sunny weather today with clear skies and calm seas.

Reports of other wildlife include a Red Admiral seen yesterday afternoon by George Jackson, and fish jumping in Loch Indaal.

Steve & Lyn Rogers did a WeBS count at Loch an t-Sailean, near Ardbeg today, finding a good variety of the regular species with a high count of 160 Dunlin along with a report of 2 Great Crested Grebes - the latter quite rarity for Islay.

Jim Wells was over on a day trip by boat from N. Ireland with birding friends and managed to find the Red-breasted Goose up at Gruinart and had a high total count of 8 White-tailed Eagles.

Both he, and Nick Webb yesterday noted the absence of Hen Harriers on their visits - presumably a good number of our breeding birds head south in winter?

Over on Jura Louise Muir was pleased to find Yellowhammers back in her garden along with a Great Spotted Woodpecker as a first for her garden list in Craighouse.

Thursday 13th & Friday 14th March

Very little to report over the past two days other than the lovely weather - bright, cool, clear sunny and dry.

Nick Webb has kept us going with reports yesterday of a couple of Red-throated Divers (one in winter plumage, the other in breeding plumage) at Bowmore, followed by a Dipper on the River Corran on Jura.

Today Nick counted 70 Fieldfares near Loch Gorm.

There must be some summer migrants on their way soon....................?

Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th March

Two days of bright, sunny, mostly dry weather, but with a cold nip from the light to moderate northerly winds.

Nick Webb enjoyed a good day out yesterday in the decent weather up at Ardnave and Gruinart. He doubled the Wheatear tally from one on 10th March to two birds up around Craigens. At Ardnave were the usual Whooper Swans on the loch, a flock of 14 Choughs milling about and a group of 5 eagles that looked to be 3-4 White-tailed in aerial display joined/investigated by 1-2 Golden Eagles. Later he was delighted to watch a Kingfisher fishing in the shallows at Bowmore.

Dave & Jean Killick reported a flock of 100 Fieldfares at Ballinaby. Mary-Ann Featherstone noted "noisy" Canada Geese at Ardilistry and Ed B. had a small flock of Lesser Redpolls at Cornabus.

Today, Fiona McG. was up at Ardnave and saw 5 White-tailed Eagles towards the Point, and a Peregrine with prey at Bun-an-Uillt. 

Nick Webb had another White-tailed Eagle scattering the geese down at Nerabus and a flock of 30 Fieldfares at Cultoon, a further 20 near Gruinart and over 100 Skylarks in the fields around Kilnave chapel. David D. over on The Oa flushed a pair of Red Grouse and a Jack Snipe.

For the lepidopterists among us, Mary-Ann Featherstone confirms after consultation, that the Oak Beauty seen on 10th was indeed a first for Islay.

Monday 10th March

The day started out fine and sunny, but by the afternoon had clouded over and become a bit breezier and colder, with winds going round towards the north - but no rain at all.

The only bird news came from Nick Webb who was pleased to see plenty of Twite at the feeders in the RSPB The Oa car park, and from newly returning visitors Dave & Jean Killick who found the Red-breasted Goose near Craigens and our first summer migrant of 2025 - a Wheatear just a bit further north.

Clive McK. saw a group of 5 Whooper Swans heading resolutely north over Gruinart this evening

Sunday 9th March

A fine, warm and sunny day with very light winds. It certainly feels more like spring with lots of birds singing, but no summer migrants yet.

Despite the fine weather, there were no birds reported on the WhatsApp today, though visitor Nick Webb was out enjoying the day and seeing some of the more regular species including an adult White-tailed Eagle up at Gruinart. Mary-Ann Featherstone did use the WhatsApp to show us a fine looking moth that she'd found last night -an Oak Beauty, which may be a first for Islay.

Saturday 8th March

The weather didn't seem quite as good as forecast, but it was mainly dry, with only a light wind. Cloudy to start, with brighter spells during the day.

Not many birds being reported today: Malcolm O. reports a probable first for his garden feeders with a Redpoll showing up along with a Siskin again. Ed Burrell heard three, possibly four,  male Tawny Owls calling in woodland around Cornabus, plus his first drumming Snipe of the spring.

Thursday 6th & Friday 7th March

Yesterday was grey, cool and rainy. Today was calm, bright and sunny - at least until late afternoon when it clouded up and drizzled at times.

There were no bird sightings reported yesterday, but it has been quite busy today. "Great minds think alike" - well, at least Theo's and mine did as we both took a look at the flat calm waters of Loch Indaal and decided to check out the ducks and divers in such perfect conditions. I did a count from Bowmore right around to the south of Port Charlotte, while Theo concentrated on looking from Blackrock. We arrived at some extremely similar counts, which is always reassuring!

Our combined totals, provided the following:

Red-throated Diver 65, Great Northern Diver 22, Black-throated Diver 1, Cormorant 40, Slavonian Grebe 36, Eider 108, Red-breasted Merganser 72, Common Scoter 189, Long-tailed Duck 34 (one of the highest counts for the species on Islay), Goldeneye 6, Razorbill 2.

The Common Scoter were divided almost equally with c.90 well up into the loch around Blackrock, and another 90 far out into the loch off Port Charlotte. The latter group, after prolonged scrutiny, proved to have a drake Surf Scoter in their midst.

(There was also a pair of White-tailed Eagles on the shore at Crosshouses, feeding on something washed up on the tideline).

Elsewhere, Steve & Lyn Rogers had Red-throated Diver in Port Ellen Bay. Ed B. had a pair of Bullfinches at Cornabus - an unusual sighting for him there, Clive McK. had his first Goldfinches (5) in his garden at Creag Mhor since last autumn, plus 6 White-tailed Eagles over the garden.

Theo went over to Jura later in the day and reports 45 Canada Geese, 15 Great Northern and 2 Red-throated Divers in the bay at Craighouse. NW of Ardfin in the conifers were 3 Crossbills and a Kestrel. On the east side of the island he found 3 Golden Eagles, 2 2CY White-tailed Eagles and 3 Hen Harriers. At Feolin were 25 Brent Geese.

Here at Bruichladdich, I seem to add a single extra Siskin on my feeders each day - there were 3 today!

Wednesday 5th March

 A cool, dry, but mostly cloudy sort of day - the winds moderate, from the SW, but not as strong as predicted?

Gary T. was up at Kilchoman and Machir Bay this morning watching 2 White-tailed Eagles riding the wind and finding 2 Snow Buntings on the beach along with a "white-winged gull" that flew off with the main gull flock before he could get close enough for a definite ID.

Theo, from Nature Scotland was out and about, firstly finding 30 Choughs at Sanaigmore with a further 4 at Coull. He had both the Red-breasted and Cackling Goose in the field closest to the RSPB Visitor Centre, then Peregrine, Black-tailed Godwit and 5 Gadwall from the RSPB hides.

Malcolm O. messaged in to give the details of the neck-collared Greenland White-fronted Geese seen yesterday. One of them was ringed on Islay at Ballinaby in winter 2019/20 and has shown up each winter since, in much the same area of the island. The other is a little more interesting, having been ringed at Loch Ken, Dumfries and Galloway in winter 2008/09, wintering there the following year, but moving to Islay in the winter of 2010/11, where it has returned every winter since. It has also been seen on migration in south Iceland in autumn 2010 and 2016, and in spring migration in 2022 and 2023.

Monday 3rd March & Tuesday 4th March

 Monday's weather started fair - dry, light breezes and patchy sunshine, but clouded up and drizzled a little towards the end of the day. Today was dry, but dull with light cloud cover and with a moderate SW breeze, though it turned quite rainy by early evening.

There were no birds recorded on Monday. Today, Theo arrived with a group and sent in a good list of sightings. Up at Ardnave, around the point, Nave Island and the loch they found 3 Purple Sandpipers, 40 Sanderling, a juvenile Golden Eagle, 2 Tufted Duck, 5 Whooper Swans, 5 large Canada Geese 120 Golden Plovers and 70 Bar-tailed Godwits.

Up at Ballinaby were 30 Skylarks, 20 Ringed Plover and 10 Turnstone, while at Carnduncan they found two Greenland White-fronted Geese bearing neck collars: CZK and V3C - anybody know who these are??

Finally at Craigens,  a Russian White-fronted Goose was photographed.

Here in Bruichladdich there were 2 Greenfinches on my bird feeders - such a shame that they are so scarce nowadays. Val Peacock had 2 Siskins on her feeders at Port Charlotte and saw the usual 2 White-tailed Eagles up at the top of Loch Indaal at Bridgend.

David Wood tells us that the two colour-ringed Twite seen a few days ago at The Oa were both ringed there - one in November 2023, the other in November 2024.

Clive McK. reminds us that he will be giving a talk at the Islay Natural History Trust AGM on this coming Thursday - do try and be there if you can.

Sunday 2nd March

Another day of reasonable weather - dry, light breezes and cool with at least some sunshine at times.

Kathy Evans was up at Bunnahabhain this morning finding 12 Black Guillemots at the pier, plus 6 Great Northern Divers offshore and a White-tailed Eagle to the north. Then, down at loch Skerrols she found 4 Lesser black-backed Gulls a Sparrowhawk and several Crossbills. This afternoon Kathy relocated the Red-breasted Goose in the usual fields at Gruinart, mentioning that it called, described by her as a "funny repeated squeak".

Other than her welcome records, David D. reports Merlin and Peregrine at Kinnabus, while Mary-Ann Featherstone sent in a couple of lovely photos of Bullfinch and Coal Tit gracing her garden this week.

Saturday 1st March

 A dry and fairly calm day with more sunshine than cloud.

I missed out a record from Clive McK. yesterday of 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls at the Bridgend gull roost - the largest count so far this spring.

Today was very spring-like, with Curlews singing on territories heard up at Gruinart by Clive McK. 

Kathy Evans found the Red-breasted Goose on the flats near the RSPB Visitor Centre this morning and David Wood made the most of the calm sea conditions to make a good count of birds on Loch Indaal. He found 85 Common Scoter, 32 Slavonian Grebes, 11 Long-tailed Ducks, 21 Great Northern, 8 Red-throated and 1 Black-throated Diver, 64 Red-breasted Mergansers, 56 Eider, 6 Goldeneye and 2 Cormorants - some of these totals being the highest of the winter.

Gary observed a Merlin at Uiskentuie and the usual 2 White-tailed Eagles out on the sand flats at Bridgend.

Ed B. supplied some information on the colour-marked Greenland White-fronted Geese seen a couple of days ago by David Astins. He tells us they were caught as adults at Cornabus this time last year and have been one of very few pairs to have successfully bred this past summer, returning with 6 young this winter.