Monday 28th July 2025

A fine and calm day with a little sunshine, though not particularly warm.

A good number of observations today, especially from Gary T and Clive McKay. Gary was in the Cornabus-Kilnaughton area in the early afternoon and saw a White-tailed Eagle spoofing the Greylags there, and watched a Peregrine fly into Kilnaughton Bay over the skerries and disappear over Cairnmore wood, and then, while he was sitting above the lighthouse, he saw it moving around over the plantation and around the skerries. Ed B saw 3 Peregrines at Cornabus earlier in the day, probably an adult male and two juveniles. Gary also reported 30-40 Shags and Cormorants landing in the middle of Kilnaughton Bay where fish were jumping. This gives me the opportunity to pass on a useful tip on how to distinguish these two  species, which is that the Shag has 12 tail feathers and the Cormorant has 14!

In the evening, Clive was down at Port Wemyss watching a constant stream of Manx Shearwaters moving west with a total of 680 in half an hour from 8pm, coming out of Loch Indaal or crossing from The Oa. After seeing 330 Greylags on Loch Gruinart below Garra Eallabus earlier in the day, he counted 110 more at Claddach Loch, with Mary R's pair of White-tailed Eagles munching on number 111.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, visitor Karim Labib saw 2 Common Terns and 2 Sand Martins at Port Charlotte, while today, at the same place, he saw a Bottle-nosed Dolphin, 3 Red-throated Divers and 2 Razorbills in the morning and 2 Guillemots in the afternoon, when 2 Redpolls flew over calling. He was at Machir Bay in the early afternoon and saw 3 Choughs and 5 Sand Martins, and watched an immature White-tailed Eagle flying over heading south.

Thank you all for your contributions.