Monday 28th April 2025

A dry day but less sun than promised/hoped for, but lots of bird records came in so here goes.

David D started it off with a Merlin hunting Swallows at Upper Killeyan, while Mary saw a leucistic Collared Dove at Port Charlotte Primary School. There was a Concrake calling at Gruinart in the middle of the day, reported by Ella, and then Gary had an Osprey fly over his house, being mobbed by gulls from the nearby Loch nan Cadhan, Ed Burrell saw the first House Martins of the spring, two of them flying over the Laphroaig warehouses, and later heard a Sedge Warbler singing at Lagavulin. Clive finished off the day with, as he said, a hint of Iceland on the Gruinart Flats with several Greenland Wheatears and White Wagtails, along with 20+ rusty-coloured and very vocal Black-tailed Godwits, plus 300 Dunlin on the north floods. He also posted this amazing video of a pair of Lapwings nesting on the Flats trying to see off a male Pheasant who seemed very reluctant to move away.

 

Thanks to everyone for their records. And welcome back to Alan and Karami Ure returning to Islay after a two-year gap and delighted to report seeing and hearing Sedge Warblers, Willow Warblers and Snipe at on Monday at the RSPB at Gruinart, as well as watching the Snow Goose fly in with five Greylags. Their mammal highlight yesterday was a pod of dolphins, they thought Bottle-nosed, swimming along the shoreline at Machir Bay. This is not a usual place for them to be seen.